Manuel Zamudio comes to us from the depths of the talent rich city of McAllen, Texas. He was born in Mexico City, DF, and has made his way to Texas since 1992 at the age of 5. While dealing with the challenges that often come with assimilating to a starkly different culture at a very young age, Zamudio found refuge by immersing himself in art. As a self-taught artist, Zamudio started perfecting his technique by replicating comic books, without knowing or understanding the human figure, and the concepts of color schemes. Once Zamudio grew older he started taking an interest in the urban culture of South Texas, learning color scheme, perception, shadow and so on from local graffiti artist.

Zamudio’s new line of work has been immensely inspired by great works of cinematography, street art, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi novels. Using portraits as a snapshot of his own movie, blending reality with the surreal. Zamudio’s new work will be exploring new methods on how to bring cinematography onto the canvas. As Zamudio writes:

“What remains of aesthetics in a fading world? When the veil of order crumbles and the weariness of decay sets in, the soul of a society thrives, or dies based solely on the affirmations of its unique individuals upholding what identity there is left.

Although despair can weigh heavily even on the lightest of humanity, perseverance in the face of hopelessness, or even madness, can become the strongest fight against inhumane desolation. In the last vestiges of a dying culture, the embers of expression are imbued in even the dimmest of lights.”