Carlos Grasso
Visionary Artist and Visual Explorer
Carlos Grasso, an Argentinian native, is gaining notoriety for his “Mind Tapestries” series, his immersive installations and his previous “Canvas Deconstruction” paintings, also known as his “shredded” series. He has spent over 45 years abroad in France and the United States, where he has not only transitioned from a professional musician to a full-time artist, but also moved from representational art (which he studied under master David Leffel) to abstraction, mixed media, installations, and conceptual art.
In his studio in Ojai, California, one can find torn canvases, found objects, and disproportionately large brushes – the tools of an inquisitive and imaginative mind. With these, Carlos weaves a variety of stories and employs a range of techniques.
Throughout the years, Carlos has exhibited his work in numerous museums and galleries, including the LA Art Show, The Museum of Ventura County, The Santa Paula Museum, Ojai Valley Museum, Art Share L.A., OCCCA (Orange County Center for Contemporary Arts), Building Bridges (Santa Monica, LA, Bergamot Station), and the San Diego Art Institute. His collectors can be found all across the United States, Italy and France.
In his own words:
“I usually greet collectors, curators and visitors to my studio with a “welcome to my playground!” My art requires the essential element of play, whether designing my own colorful modern mandalas on paper and canvas, cutting and shredding painted the canvas by hand, or assembling found objects on textured panels. The more I get out of my own way, the more creativity flows unobstructed and strangely enough, the more I control my medium.
Artists—in all branches and disciplines—are the preeminent voice of both the collective and the individual unconscious. Art brings to the surface, to our awareness, all the processes that run deep, embedded, and often silently ignored within. As the ancient philosopher once said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.“
Click on the image below to read the article at The Huffington Post
by Los Angeles Art Critic Shana Nys Dambrot about Carlos Grasso's work in 2015.
SELECTED JURIED & SOLO SHOWS
2023
November – De Colores Show – Ventura Government CenterAugust-October – Ojai Valley Museum “New Directions” Show
May-July – “H” Gallery, Ventura 2 person show
April 2023 – Ojai Art Center – “Elemental” show – Six Ojai Artists
2022
(Image above) October 1, 2022 – Studio Channel Islands, Camarillo – Solo Show “Colorspace”
2021
October-November – Dab Art Gallery (Downtown LA), Squarepants show
October – Ojai Studio Artists (OSA) Open Studio Tour
May 1 – June 2 – Solo Show at the Ojai Art Center
March – Ventura County Arts Council – Installation COLORSPACE on Victoria Ave (Ventura)
2020
September through December – Museum of Ventura County – Arte Forastero show
September through January – Ojai Valley Museum “Insight 2020” , Ojai Studio Artists Show
March through September – Gallery 825, Los Angeles, various online shows
February – Museum of Ventura County – Ojai Studio Artists “Mending The Divide” show
2019
December – Gallery 825, Los Angeles – “2019 OPEN SHOW”
September/October – Gallery 825, Los Angeles – Solo show
June through August – Museum of Ventura County – Solo show “Actual Reality”
Click here to read the show’s Catalog
2018
October – Ojai Art Center, Ojai Studio Artists Show
June – Ojai City Hall Gallery
February/March – The Loft at Liz’s – The “BLACK” show, Los Angeles
March/June – Ojai Valley Museum, “Scorched Souls” show
2017
December – Gallery 825, Los Angeles, “2017 OPEN SHOW”
September/October – Ojai Art Center – “Ojai Studio Artists” annual show
August – Irvine Center for Fine Arts – “All Media 2017” show
June – ART SHARE LA – “Cut it Out” show, Los Angeles
April – Ojai Valley Museum – “Idealism Visualized” Ojai Studio Artists show
March – Buenaventura Gallery, Ventura – “Portraits Show” 2nd Prize, oils.
February – “Make America” show, Gallery 825 – Los Angeles
January – LA ART SHOW – PING-PONG Los Angeles Art Association
January – STARTUP Fair LA – Hollywood, Los Angeles
2016
September – Building Bridges Gallery at Bergamot Station
September – ART SHARE LA “Terra Firma” Show
July – CALIFORNIA 101, 2016
June – Studio Channel Islands Art Center – “The Next Big Thing”
June – Gallery 825 – “Out There”
May – OCCCA, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art – “tXtMe”
May – Buenaventura Gallery, Ventura – “Mixed Media and Collage”
May – Gallery V, Ventura – “Art of the Earth”
May – Gallery 825, Los Angeles – “VS”
April – OJAI VALLEY MUSEUM – “Angles, Best of Ojai Studio Artists”
April – ART SHARE LA “Things Fall Apart” Show
March – Salmagundi Club, New York – 83rd Annual National Juried Exhibition
January – The Oaks Gallery – Ojai
2015
October 10-11-12 – Ojai Studio Artists Studio Tour, Ojai – California
August 1st – Los Angeles – Gallery 825 (LAAA) Annual Benefit Auction
July – Art Fusion Show – Gallery H, Los Angeles
July 18 & 19 – Artwalk Ventura – Ventura, California
July – The Hud – Ventura, California
June – Tokio, Japan – “Art Olympia 2015” First International Art Competition held in Tokyo.
[Judges for the show were: Kara Vander Weg (Director of Gagosian Gallery), Gregory Amenoff (Artist, Professor at Columbia University), Eric Shiner (Director of The Andy Warhol Museum / Pittsburgh), Brett Littman (Executive Director of The Drawing Center / New York), Nicolas Touron (Artist, Professor at School of Visual Arts)].
May – San Diego Art Institute – “What Remains: Debris and Detritus in Fine Art” show
May – Orange County Center for the Arts (OCCCA) – “Moist” show
April – Buenaventura Arts Association – “3rd Annual Collage & Mixed Media Open Competition”
April – Ojai Valley Museum – Condition Report Ojai Studio Artists Show
April – San Fernando Valley Art Center – “All my best” Show
March – Los Angeles – ArtShare LA: “Finders and Keepers” Show
January – June 14th – The SANTA PAULA ART MUSEUM – DOS DEL SUR (two from the South) – Duo Show with assemblage Uruguayan artist Sylvia Raz.
2014
December through February – Los Angeles, The Loft at Liz’s – “Hwit” WHITE Show
November – Gallery 825 (LAAA) – “Aurora” Holiday Show
November – Los Angeles – “FRESH” at South Bay Contemporary, curated by Matt Gleason
October – Santa Cruz Art League – Degrees of Abstraction
August – Artist Portfolio Magazine – article
July – Art Walk Ventura – Group Show
June – Los Angeles – Omnis International Show – Minan Gallery
May – Art Talk at The Ojai Valley Museum
April – Sylvia White Gallery – Collector’s Choice Show
April – Ojai Valley Museum – Ojai Studio Artists Group Show
March – Ojai City Hall- Solo Show “Red, White & Black”
January – Buenaventura Art Gallery, Ventura – California
2013
November – Primavera Gallery – Ojai
November – Ojai Art Festival – “DiscARTed”Show
October – Santa Paula Museum – “De Colores” Show
October – Ojai Studio Artists Group Show at the Ojai Art Center for the Arts
July – Artwalk Ventura Group Show
February – Linus Gallery Juried Show – Pasadena
April – Ojai Center for the Arts – Solo Show
2012
January – Tool Room Gallery, Ventura. Group Show “Love”
June – Ojai Art Museum Group Show
October – Ojai Studio Artists Group Show at the Ojai Art Center for the Arts
September – Tool Room Gallery, Ventura. Group Show Contemporary Latin Artists
2011
February – Blossom 2 – Art of the Flowers Juried Show Naples Museum of Art
April – Salon International – 10th Annual Juried Exhibition – Greenhouse Gallery of fine Art
June – Ojai Art Museum Group Show
October – Ojai Studio Artists Group Show at the Ojai Art Center for the ArtsOctober
2010
May – Arc Renewal Center International Salon 2010 – Finalist
May – Beverly Hills Art Show Juried Exhibition
2009
March – Buenaventura Art Association Show, 1st Prize in Painting
April – International Artist Magazine Competition – Honorary Mention
2008
August – Best of Show , Ventura County Fair (Art Section)
December – Palm Loft Gallery (Los Angeles) Juried show
2007
March – Ojai Center for the Arts – Solo show
May – Represented by Philips Gallery of Fine Art – Carmel
October – Gallery 113 – Santa Barbara, CA
2006
March – Santa Paula Art Association Juried Show, 1st Prize in painting
April – Santa Barbara Art Association – Best of Show
2002
May – Represented by Gallery Americana – Carmel, CA
1999-2000
February – Represented by Portnoy Gallery – Carmel, CA
