Jonathan Rodriguez profile picture

Jonathan Rodriguez

http://jonathanarodriguez.blogspot.com/

About Me


Victimization, desolation, yearning and empathy are the fundamental themes in my body of work. How I first became aware of these concepts was through classic black and white films that date as far back as the 1930s. My childhood favorites in particular were Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, David Lynch's The Elephant Man and Frankenstein staring Boris Karloff. These silver screen atrocities were the first out of countless archetypes I can recall experiencing true empathy for.
As I reached my teens, I began illustrating characters that have their own exaggerated physical deformities and illnesses that symbolize the struggles I witnessed my friends and family endure, as well as my own inner conflicts. I have made my characters in the likeness of children to enable the viewer to take their whirl of emotions and strip them down to the common simple state of submissiveness that we have all experienced and can sympathize with. For instance, in expressing one of my own personal flaws, I have created a character by the name of Squid boy. He is dependant on the temporary satisfaction of sympathetic affection, and earthly indulgences. His tentacles are constantly in movement, steadily searching the air, grasping onto anything that might bring him to a new level of happiness or enlightenment.
Ultimately, I wish to encourage the viewer to look into the deepest part of themselves in hoping that they find the common thread that binds us all.
-Jonathan Rodriguez
contact:
aim - squidboy83
skype - jonathanrodriguez83
email - [email protected]
For original art, please visit my dealer
Upcomming Shows
"
A survey of the Movement that will forever change the way we view fine art
curated by Andrew Michael Ford
opening reception: Sunday, January 27, 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Jan. 27 through February 21, 2008
Kenneth Chapman Gallery
Iona College
715 North Avenue
New Rochelle, NY 10801
participating artists thus far include:
Scott Altmann
Anthony Ausgang
Carrie Anne Baade
Wayne Coe
Molly Crabapple
Jason D'Aquino
Xiaoqing Ding
Inky Dreadfuls
Matt Feazell
Lori Field
Matt Hansel
Julia Sonmi Heglund
Hiromi Iuchi
Sarah Joncas
Aya Kakeda
Ben Kehoe
Joshua Krause
Danielle Lamberti
Tommii Lim
Laurie Lipton
D. Dominick Lombardi
Travis Louie
Jeff McMillan
MIHA
Heiko Muller
Ryan Myers
Naomi Namba
Jonathan Rodriguez
Marcus Schäfer
David Stoupakis
Kevin E. Taylor
Keith Weesner
Jaeran Won
PLUS MANY MORE!

My Interests

All Art Work Is Property Of Jonathan Rodriguez Copyright 2006

I'd like to meet:



Music:

Aha, A Siver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, AC/DC, Action Action, Aloha, American Football, Antartica, Aphex Twin, The Appleseed Cast, Aqua Lung, The Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkey, Azure Ray, The Beatles, Beck, Beep Beep, Belle & Sebastian, Billy Idol, Billy Joel, Bjork, Black Eyed Peas, Blonde Redhead, The Blood Brothers, Bob Dylan, The Bravery, Bright Eyes, Britt Daniel, Broken Social Scene, Bush, Christopher O'Reily, Clap Your Hands Say Yea, The Clash, Cold Play, Corey Hart, The Cure, Cursive, The Dandy Warhols, Dead Can Dance, Death From Above 1979, Depeche Mode, Desaparecidos, The Dismemberment Plan, Elefant, Elliot, Elliot Smith, Engine Down, Enon, The Faint, Fiona Apple, The Flaming Lips, The Folk Implosion, Franz Ferdinand, The Gloria Record, Godspeed You BLack Emperor!, The Good Life, Gorillaz, The Hold Steady, Interpol, Iron & Wine, James, Jenny Lewis, Joy Division, Karate, The Killers, Kings of Convenience, The Kooks, Kool and The Gang, Ladytron, Le Tigre, M.I.A., Main Automation, The Mars Volta, Mates of State, Metallica, Metric, Mineral, Missy Elliot, Modest Mouse, Mogwai, Mount Sims, Mum, Nada Surf, Nuetral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, OK Go, Pedro the Lion, Pinback, Placebo, Portishead, The Postal Service, Queen,Radiohead, Ratatat, Red House Painters, Rilo Kiley, Robots In Disguise, Saetia, Say Hi To Your Mom, She Wants Revenge, The Shins, Sigur Ros, Sir Mix Alot, Slowdive, Spoon, The Strokes, Sun Kil Moon, Sunny Day Real Estate, Tears For Fears, Till and the Wall, Tortoise, Twisted Sister, VHS or Beta, Violent Femmes, The Von Bondies, Voxtrot, The Walkmen, We Are Scientist, Weezer, White Stripes, Wilco, Wolf Parade, Yea Yea Yeas, Yo La Tengo

Movies:

Star Wars, Planet of the Apes, Lord of the Rings, Fight Club , Trainspotting, The Doors, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Garden State, What the bleep Do We Know!, Waking Life , Requiem For A Dream, A Mighty Wind, Best of Show, Spinal Tap, Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Beetlejuice, Being John Malkovich, Pi, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Donnie Darko , Aliens, Terminator 2, The first Matrix, Crowching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Back to the Future, Mars Attacks, Memento, Natural Born Killers, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Tape, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Farenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, The Fog of War, Capturing the Friedmans, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, The Big Lebowski, Batman Returns, A.I., Bladerunner, High Fidelity, Hellboy, The Village, Napoleon Dynamite, Joe Dirt, Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, House of 1000 Corpses , The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Spirited Away, Dreams, American Movie, 2001, Monsters inc., Shrek, Finding Nemo, Battle for Endor, Pee Wees Big Adventure

Television:

Simpsons, Family Guy, Malcom in the Middle, That 70's Show, Robot Chicken, King of the Hill, Aqua Teen Hunger Force , Sealab 2021, Futurama, U.F.O. Files, Unwrapped, South Park, The Chappelle Show, The Daily Show , Late Night with Conan Obrien, American Choppers, Mythbusters, Democracy Now , The Awful Truth, The Science Channel, The Dicovery Channel, Monster House, The 90's Strike Back, The Surreal Life, Jusice League, Teen Titans, CNN, Freaks and Geeks, Grounded for Life, The Twilight Zone, Old-Skool Star-Trek

My Blog

Interlude

The world is changing and I remain motionlessStill as marble, re-enacting the same pose
Posted by Jonathan Rodriguez on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 08:06:00 PST

South Tampa News Article

  South Tampa News Weds August 2nd, 2006   "Christmas Comes Early To Tampa Art Scene" Columnist: Esther Hammer   There was an interesting crowd at the recent opening of the newest exhib...
Posted by Jonathan Rodriguez on Sat, 05 Aug 2006 03:33:00 PST

The Beating Tempo In My Chest Is Begining To Fade

Fading v. intr. To lose brightness, loudness, or brilliance gradually; dim: The lights and music faded as we set sail from the harbor. To lose freshness; wither: summer flowers that had faded. To ...
Posted by Jonathan Rodriguez on Sun, 16 Jul 2006 12:03:00 PST

The Portal

A girl is sitting in a vintage velvet chair She's twirling her finger creating portals out of thin air She says, "It's really not that difficult when your in that state of mind, The hardest part is...
Posted by Jonathan Rodriguez on Fri, 17 Feb 2006 09:58:00 PST

Open the Blinds

Sit to the side for a while and let it pass us like waves. These streams of thought were never meant to be so far away Theres a solution at the bottom of that bottle And when we get to it we'll fee...
Posted by Jonathan Rodriguez on Fri, 10 Feb 2006 09:00:00 PST

Precision Like A Surgeon

Her hands were cold and clamy. "Probably from poor corculation" she said. Her thin pasty fingers gripped her cigarette making her knuckles white. Her movements were subtle as she poured another gla...
Posted by Jonathan Rodriguez on Fri, 10 Feb 2006 08:47:00 PST

The Reflective Surfaces Relentless Truth

Breathe in, breathe out, then repeat Do they notice? Do they notice my self-destructive patterns? Poor a shot, swallow it down, then repeat Do they notice how my eyes act like a window fo...
Posted by Jonathan Rodriguez on Thu, 09 Feb 2006 09:24:00 PST

Your Height Is A Precursor For Hitting Rock Bottom

For each passing current, the waves will reach the shore further than before. But the undertow will take you deeper down toward the dark ocean floor. I wrote this a couple days ago, just wanted to...
Posted by Jonathan Rodriguez on Mon, 06 Feb 2006 11:00:00 PST