Mexican painter José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros takes the taboos of reality and injects them into the idealized world of Disney.
 

Though the subjects of his paintings are familiar cartoon faces, José Rodolfo’s compositions are far from familiar. Through the darkly humorous appropriation and manipulation of classic cartoons and pop-cultural icons, the artist is able to subvert the clean-cut hetero- normative fairytale structures from which his characters are plucked. Whether it be two princesses kissing, or a beloved fairytale prince participating in illicit drug activity, Rodolfo’s compositions are meant to shock, discomfort, and highlight the unrealistically sanitized perfection that these characters stand for. By tossing these squeaky-clean figures into grim, radical, and socially disobedient vignettes, Rodolfo not only shocks his viewer but begs the question: why are we shocked? Why does a more realistic reflection of our flawed contemporary reality surprise us more than a picture-perfect vision of fairytale utopia?

 

José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros, born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa México, started his art career in 1998. After steady work and a debut solo show in 2001, Rodolfo began his formal art education, including a degree in Graphic Design from the University of ITESUS, various workshops, and courses in painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture at Centro Municipal de Artes de Sinaloa. Rodolfo’s work as appeared in publications such as Juxtapoz Magazine, Hi-Fructose Magazine, Vogue Italy, LA Weekly, and the Huffington Post and has shown his work with the Museum of Modern Art in Mazatlán Sinaloa, México, Krause Gallery in New York, and Angela Peralta Theater Gallery in Mazatlán Sinaloa, México.