January 15 — February 28, 2013 TONY RODRIGUES
Clear Channel Outdoor is collaborating with Florida Mining Gallery and Harbinger to bring public art to Jacksonville. Beginning January 15, 2013 digital billboards throughout the city will continue to display art along with advertising. The Highway Gallery – a city wide public art campaign – will feature work by Jacksonville artist TONY RODRIGUES, momentarily transforming space typically used for commerce and giving the public a chance to experience the magic of art.
The Clear Channel Outdoor digital billboards will be seen millions of times throughout the months of January and February by visitors and residents alike, reaching people of all backgrounds, ages, and races.
Tony Rodrigues is no stranger to graphic imagery used as commentary. His past work includes line drawing, painting, print making and collage often incorporating appropriated imagery and graphic elements that he then uses to tell a sometimes mysterious story. Rodrigues, a professional artist, has a BFA from The Atlanta College of Art, is a member of the curatorial staff at MOCA Jacksonville, and is the owner and designer at TACT Apparel, a Jacksonville based company specializing in limited run, hand screen printed items.
Artist Statement
Beginning in 1916, Marcel Duchamp and the Dada movement used appropriated, or found, objects and images to illustrate the absurdity they saw in the modern world. Then, in the late 1950’s, came Andy Warhol and the Pop movement that culled images from our ever-expanding consumer culture. Robert Rauschenberg also worked prolifically with preexisting images in an almost random way, weaving a tapestry of 20th century imagery throughout thousands of works. Post Modern artists Jeff Koons and Richard Prince carried on the tradition in a more cold and matter-of-fact manner in the 1980’s to present. Throughout my career I have been influenced by this way of working. The above-mentioned artists managed to turn a mirror on society by using its own visual language. My “Opulence” and “Golden Age” series explores our culture’s values, tastes, status symbols, priorities and aesthetics in a tongue in cheek manner.
