The “Watermelon and Eclair Cake” measures 72 inches by 63 inches and features frosting dripping from a series of cakes, most of which cut open to reveal layers of cake and cream oozing out of the eclairs. Comparable in size is also the “oyster, lobster, fish, sandwich and charcuterie platter,” a veritable feast with fruit and olives squeezed between overflowing plates. As with some of these canvases, Pedro managed to fill most of the space with food, flowers, and various odds and ends.
Paint Table with Flowers, Sandwich, Cake and Croc is a 92″ x 90″ still life that brings together the exhibition’s various visual themes. The painting is the largest in the exhibition, and the table is covered with art supplies, clothing, including a Croc shoe, a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Rounding out the array were an assortment of fruits – pomegranates, grapes and tangerines – a slice of pink frosted cake topped with raspberries, a small bouquet of flowers, and a layered vegetable, meat and cheese sandwich.
While creating Table, Fruit, Flowers and Cake, which will air on The Hole from February to April 2023, Pedro discussed what he should paint on the show’s largest canvas. Maybe he would draw a bouquet of flowers, or a bunch of fruit with a bouquet. Then he had a revelation: “Why don’t I do something decadent and bring everything back to the studio process?”
He called the “table painted with flowers, sandwiches, cakes and crocodiles” the “key” to the exhibition’s imagery. “Many other themes in the show reflect this table,” he said.
It is also a return to an earlier series of paintings created by Pedro.
About five years ago, Pedro was working in his garage trying to figure out what he wanted to paint when a neighbor suggested that his desk filled with paint would make a good subject. Pedro liked the idea, he said, and people liked the finished product. This resulted in one of his first series of paintings appearing in his oeuvre over the next few years. However, when he prepared for The Hole exhibition, it had been a year or two since he last painted this type of still life.
“I like to go back and revisit subjects I haven’t done in a while to keep them fresh in my mind so I can feel like I’m looking at it from a new perspective after work,” Pedro said. “Let’s say I’ve been painting a bunch of fruit or something for a while. I’ll stop doing that for a minute, go back to something I did two years ago (in terms of subject matter) and look at it in a completely new way.”
Even the table, I think, has a little life form to it. “
Pedro moved to Los Angeles from New York less than a decade ago, which has had an impact on his art. “Everything in my New York world was falling apart,” he said. “The gallery I worked at was going bankrupt. The studio I worked at was kicked out, but then I got a big lawsuit bill, so I thought, ‘Well, why don’t I go to Los Angeles?'”
In Los Angeles, Pedro reflected on his work style early in his career, “trying to figure out, figure out who I was again.”
“It was a nice, quiet place for me. I had a little garage. I had a little house,” he recalled. “Really, for the most part, what I was doing was free from any outside influence. I was able to experiment a bit and go back to what I was doing when I first left New York, but just change the subject matter and change some details stylistically.”
His latest studio move, to a location about a forty-minute walk from his home, has brought about changes in addition to being able to create more and larger paintings. “It’s a little different because I don’t just roll into this garage through the back door. I have to go out into the world now,” he said, adding that it helps him get some exercise into his day. “Practice is me getting to this space. It helps me more.”
The days in the studio change depending on what stage Pedro is currently in. “Today, I’ll chalk out and print out the design I’m working on for my next piece,” he said.
