Covid. A Coma. A Stroke. José Parlá Returns From the Edge.

“Surfaces, whether they’re walls or canvases or sculptural objects, work as palimpsests for him, and I think that’s where his practice as a writer, as a painter, these calligraphic, gestural marks have meaning,” said Michael Rooks, the curator of modern and contemporary art at the High Museum of Art, in Atlanta, and the curator of the 2014 exhibition “José Parlá: Segmented Realities,” Parlá’s first major museum show.

“You can trace that impulse back to ancient wall writing,” Rooks continued. “If we think about other objects that evoke a similar social and cultural upheaval and transformation, like segments of the Berlin Wall, for example, they bear witness to history, with marks inscribed in their surface that had specific meanings for the viewer, for the maker, that may be lost.” Rooks considers Parlá a realist in this sense “because he is excavating our own experience” and invoking objects that are familiar, “that have layers of history.”

Parlá’s skill is finding dignity in the accidents of time, the stalactitic surfaces and loping marks of a city’s streetscape, the things that accumulate over time and are eventually lost to it.

Unsurprisingly, the restlessness that characterizes his paintings also translates to his schedule. He’s already at work on his next projects, presentations at the Brooklyn Museum and at Gana Art, in Seoul, as well as curating shows in Istanbul and Italy. Perhaps somewhat expectedly, he rejects that term, too: “I wouldn’t say a curator,” he laughed. “More like an anti-systematic operative.”

José Parlá: Polarities

Through Aug. 24, Library Street Collective, 1274 Library Street, Detroit, (313) 600-7443; lscgallery.com.

Dr. David Shokrian – The Doctor of Astounding Plastic Surgery and Above and Beyond Philanthropy Efforts

Dr. David Shokrian is one of the top plastic surgeons in NYC. Over the years, his patients have been more than happy with his work’s stunning results, giving him the nickname “Dr. Snatched”. He has devoted his career to making his patients look and feel better than ever, which he has undoubtedly been successful in […]

Know More

Meet Abel Man: The Multi-Talented Content Creator Exploring the Richness of Hispanic Culture

Abel Ramirez Gonzalez, best known as Abel Man, is an online content creator and cultural enthusiast who has been making waves in the Hispanic community with his short and funny videos on TikTok and Instagram, highlighting accents and cultures from different Spanish-speaking countries. He was born somewhere in Latin America and moved to the United […]

Know More

We read Vick-Knew-Zeus Manga, and it’s amazing, Project Bruja’s title will be revealed later this year. Who is Zeus’s Mystery Character?

We secretly read the first fifty pages of your manga Project Bruja, and it’s the most impressive and yet crazy thing we have ever read. How did you come up with this Manga idea? ( Laughter) Project Bruja became a thing when I heard a lot of black women on the internet expressing their love […]

Know More