Bio

Born in Paris, France, in 1990, Reen Barrera as a kid don’t have a lot of toys growing up, he vaguely remember owning two or three pieces of action figures, he consider himself as a “toy deprived kid”. bored of doing nothing at home, he started making his own toys using found objects not knowing that he is starting to become an artist.

He took art classes in high school and attended college studying Fine arts major in advertising. before becoming a full-time artist in 2014, his professional work consisted of sculpting bobble head portraits, graphic design and illustrations.

aRTIST STATEMENT

There is this idiom that says “It’s written all over your face” which gave me an idea that regardless of what we say, our true feelings can still be emancipated by our facial expressions. For me, it’s a silent way of communicating something without noise. It is where I find the inspiration to literally remember those facial expressions, create an artwork out of it, and mix it up with different symbols and patterns.

Us human beings have the same mold, we all have the same attributes, what differentiate us is the circumstances that we are born into. And one thing that I want to emphasize is the amount of detail each piece have, like us, some have some while some have most.

In some artworks, I discreetly take on socio economic classes. Some people are born rich, mid class, some are poor. But the common ground is, everybody will have no choice but to deal with it. So I cover all their heads with a canvas cloth to give OhLala a freedom to paint their own symbols on their heads as if they are designing their own fate. And I guess that is what we all have in common, the power to make things happen for ourselves.

Acrylic, oil, and aerosol paint are my choice of medium in painting, a lot of times I often let accidents like drips smudges and splatter help me to decipher on what to do, I do start with a very loose abstract figures to overcome the fear of an empty canvas staring at me. In this collection of work, I try to become personal as possible, using ohlala as my main character to depict some of my experiences that leads me to where I am right now as an artist.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS    

2017 •   Talking Heads, Nova Gallery, Manila     

2017 •   Hello Hello Ohlala, Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery, Manila     2017 •   Ohlaland, MANILART 2017 represented  by Art for                  Space & Urban Chic Gallery, Taguig city    

2017 •   Ohlala, ARTAIPEI, represented by Vinyl on Vinyl                      Gallery

2018 •   The Weather is nice, Art Verite Gallery

GROUP EXHIBITIONS    

2015 •    FILIFINAZ artful living, Rockwell Tent, Makati     2016 •    Obra Filipinismo 5, ArtAsia SM megamall    

2016 •    RECTO Made 3, Secret Fresh Gallery    

2016 •    DUNGAW, Parokya ng Nuestra Senyora Del                           Carmen Pulong buhangin Sta. Maria Bulacan.     2016 •    PINTASAYAWIT, Artasia    

2016 •    Continuum 2, Ayala ArtSpace Ayala Museum     2016 •    SNAPSHOTS, Metro Gallery, San Juan city    

2016 •    Fragmented, Metro Gallery, San Juan city    

2016 •    Timelapse Beta, Tin-Aw Art Gallery, Makati    

2017 •    ARTFAIR, Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery        

2018 •    GAMEOVER, Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery    

2018 •    ARTFAIR, Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery      

2018 •    MONIKER ARTFAIR Brooklyn Newyork VOV gallery