TWINS 1976 16x20 Toned gelatin silver print ed/25

drkrm/gallery with the cooperation of CB1 Gallery, is pleased to announce a special fundraising exhibition of MONDO GRONK: Photographs. This historic exhibition of rarely seen photographs by the internationally renowned painter, printmaker, muralist and performance artist, Gronk - will open at the CB1 Gallery, Thursday January 14 as part of the Downtown LA Art Walk. The gallery will be open 6pm-10pm.

MONDO GRONK Installation at CB1 Gallery

(photo by Ed Fuentes (blogdowntown))

Spanning the late 1970’s though much of the 1980’s, these black and white images present a visual record of Gronk’s photographic work that includes the East L.A. avant-garde art collective, Asco (Spanish for nausea) and it’s conceptual counter-cinema movement, the NO MOVIE (making movies without the use of celluloid). This alternative cinema was forged from the refusal of Chicanos to accept their lack of access to Hollywood. Along with Harry Gamboa, Jr., Willie Herron and Patssi Valdez, and in collaborations with Cyclona, Mundo Meza, Jerry Dreva, and Tomata DuPlenty, they constructed single-frame idealized images of daily life, like a still from a film, that would tell a whole story.

Gronk is widely known for his thought provoking body of work that includes street murals, mail art, video and installations, large-scale action painting, performance art, operatic set design and computerized animation for panoramic screens. His cinematic sensibilities challenge the limits of sexuality, gender norms, and taste. Gronk has made a lasting mark on the Chicano art movement, the punk scene, gay art, and the cultural world stage.

DAVID 1978 16x20 Toned gelatin silver print ed/25

COKE BOTTLE 1982 11x14 Toned gelatin silver print ed/8

Gronk Nicondra was born in the barrios of East Los Angeles where he had known from an early age that he wanted to be an artist. "Drawing was as an escape for me - from poverty, from my environment. It was a way of creating new worlds for myself." He began his career as an urban muralist who had to look up the word “mural” to know whether he could paint one. Over time, he has grown into an international figure who has created grand sets for operas and computerized animation for panoramic screens. Gronk has made a lasting mark on the Chicano art movement, the punk scene, gay art, and the cultural world stage. Influenced by surrealism and German expressionism, Gronk's paintings reflect Chicano traditions while wryly commenting on themes of ethnic identity, high and pop culture, romantic love, and mortality.

Gronk’s works are in the permanent collections of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver Art Museum among others and has been shown in many more. He is represented in numerous private collections as well. Gronk lives and works in downtown L.A.