Manuel Pardo

P·P·O·W is pleased to present an exhibition of historic work by Manuel Pardo. This presentation marks the gallery’s first show of Pardo’s work, and the artist’s first exhibition in New York in more than fifteen years. Bringing together works that span the artist’s career — from his early portraits investigating gender expression and sense of self, to his later series “Mother and i in Technicolor” and “Stardust” — the drawings and paintings on view evince a singular style that refigures glamor, gaudiness, and femininity as markers of strength, resilience, and agency.

Anchoring the exhibition is a selection of Pardo’s astonishingly intricate drawings from his “Stardust” series, 2003-2012. Due to his declining health in the early aughts, Pardo shifted his practice away from painting to focus on highly layered, glittering drawings of stylized female figures, which, in the artist’s words, “has become my life’s work.” These compositions — comprised exclusively of Gelly Roll Stardust pen ink on handmade paper — may appear simple in the exaggerated-quality of the subjects and the serial nature of the visual motifs, yet their ease belies the technical acumen required for their creation. Nodding to numerology, reoccurring digits peppered throughout the works variously indicate the birthdates of the artist, his partner Medardo, and his mother Gladys, to whom Pardo dedicated each “Stardust” drawing. Visualizing this adoration, Pardo crafted a world in which confidence and femininity are inextricable, surrounding each animated figure with creature comforts that Gladys could not access during her lifetime: cinched dresses, massive earrings, Chesterfield sofas, patterned curtains, and perfectly coifed hairdos.

This appreciation for ornament and decoration carries over to Pardo’s “Designer Urns”, on view in the back gallery. In response to the loss of so many loved ones due to AIDS in the late-80s and early-90s, Pardo created two-dimensional vessels embellished with flowers, polka-dots, ogees, and arabesque lines: one urn for each of his friends who died from the illness. Beautiful in their form, these works moreover function as defiant testaments to the larger-than-life personalities of the individuals they honor. Shown alongside Pardo’s painted portraits from the mid-80s, these works demonstrate a lifelong investigation into the totemic power of flamboyance, where an arched brow and painted lid are heralded as forms of power and protection.

Manuel Pardo (1952-2012) was born on July 4 in Cardenas, Cuba. He first showed his work in New York’s East Village in the eighties, where he was introduced to Marcia Tucker, founder and director of the New Museum, who included him in the groundbreaking exhibition “The Other Man: Alternative Representation of Masculinity”. In 2011, a major retrospective of Pardo’s work was mounted at Begovich Gallery, California State University, Fullerton, CA.

Gallery hours Tue-Sat 11 am – 6 pm, and by appointment

Exhibition Duration 25 April – 31 May 2025

www.ppowgallery.com

Location:
P·P·O·W
392 Broadway
10013 New York, NY
United States