Los Angeles-based artist Pedro Pedro (b. 1986) specializes in capturing the playful anxiety of our everyday milieu. His still life paintings include fruit bowls, lavish spreads of food or clothes chaotically strewn about. In Pedro’s painted universe, wholesomeness coexists with disquiet tension, underscored by the artist’s skewed perspective and flat planes upon which all objects look ready to fall off the canvas. Most important to Pedro’s practice is his intuition: drafted from a collage of images, his scenes come together as he goes along, allowing his inner thoughts to shine through while also leaving space for our own.

Pedro Pedro currently has a solo show “Cantaloupe and Kokomo” featuring a new series of his still life works at NYC’s The Hole gallery Tribeca location, up through June 19, 2021.

Interview by Tyler Nesler

You had a debut show (“Still Life”) at NYC's The Hole in the Summer of 2020. In what notable ways would you say the work in your current show at The Hole (“Cantaloupe and Kokomo”) differs stylistically or thematically from “Still Life”? These are all very recent paintings — how do you think the pandemic impacted what you decided to portray in these new works?

When I was working on “Still Life” I was more focused on art practice and studio/work representation thematically. Then the pandemic hit and quarantine was reflected in the series where mundane home life and claustrophobia took hold of the work. Working on “Cantaloupe and Kokomo” happened right as the winter wave of the pandemic was hitting, so I was working in the repetition of day-to-day monotony (breakfast, lunch, dinner, rinse repeat). I finished the series and felt a blossoming of sorts as we began to exit, which is where the fruit began to emerge.

“Decorative Plate with Grapefruit, Lilies and Slice of Bologna,” 2021. Acrylic and textile paint on linen, 36 x 42 inches, 91 x 107 cm.

The press release for “Cantaloupe and Kokomo” describes the works as having a “broken-in vibe...[with a] muted tonality and soft-focus.” You have an interesting technique for achieving this specific look. Could you briefly describe this technique and also tell us how you ultimately came up with this approach?

I came to this approach when I was twenty years old painting on a bed sheet in the hospital with water colors while awaiting a surgery that had me bed ridden.

Painting on raw linen, I start with a chalk design on the fabric. Then I will build up layers of pure color with a fabric dye paint. As I build the layers I begin adding in more fabric paint and acrylics, I keep working on the subject within the piece until I find that it pops.

“Table with Oysters, Lobster, Laundry, Shrimp, Dog and Steaks,” 2021. Acrylic and textile paint on linen, 54 x 72 inches, 137 x 183 cm.

There is a kind of overheated sensuality to your still lifes, where all of the fruits and other foods seem extra fresh and radiant while often contrasted with other less healthy items such as a cigarette pack, a full ashtray, or a bottle of pills. What's your creative aim in juxtaposing these items?

I think the unhealthy subjects juxtaposed against pleasing, more traditional still life subject matter feels honest for me in what I’m working out, or what maybe a lot of us are working out. Trying to get healthy and take better care while being beckoned by darker vices.

“Tray with Salad, Tea and Cigarettes,” 2021. Acrylic and textile paint on linen, 36 x 42 inches, 91 x 107 cm.

Another aspect to the works which adds a kind of queasiness to all the abundance is the very flattened perspective of the compositions, where everything seems about to fall right off whatever tray or table or chair they’re placed on. Do you use this flattened perspective as a way to add a kind of dynamic movement or tension to the compositions?

I do, definitely. I think composition-wise it aligns with the idea of trying to keep it all together, like how the fruit and flowers are propped up, just barely, by an old pack of cigarettes.

“Tray with Breakfast, Dirty Dishes and Hair Brush,” 2021. Acrylic and textile paint on linen, 36 x 42 inches, 91 x 107 cm.

You've said that your works start off with a small sketch which you take into Photoshop and start building out into detailed collages, which eventually become the finished piece. This seems like a very intuitive way to work rather than a more formal, structured technique. Has this always been the approach that feels most natural to you?

I’ve been using the Photoshop collages as a reference point for over a decade now, it’s changed as the work has changed but it has been a tool I’ve used to get my ideas out quickly in a more realized fashion.

“Tray with Rotisserie Chicken, Pie and Sandwich,” 2021. Acrylic and textile paint on linen, 36 x 42 inches, 91 x 107 cm.

Who are some other still life artists (contemporary or classic) that you think have been a significant influence on your works?

I’ve been looking at Giovanna Garzoni, Fernando Botero, Moise Kisling, and 17th-century vanitas most recently.

“Wood Bowl with Bologna Sandwich, Sunflower and Fruit,” 2021. Acrylic and textile paint on linen, 50 x 57 inches, 127 x 145 cm.

What initially attracted you to working primarily in the still-life genre, and do you think it will continue as your primary style of work?

I naturally moved into the still life genre as my life became more insular. I began looking inward at the subjects that were and are all around me. I still feel as though I have more to say and see in that style.