LA-based Filipino-American artist Godofredo Astudillo is presenting his debut solo show in Santa Barbara, and in an unexpectedly suitable setting. Winner of the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara’s “Call for Entries,” the artist’s work hangs in the lobby and walls of the Riviera Beach House, a boutique hotel just a few blocks from the beach and at the portal to the Funk Zone.
Vestiges of funk and neo-expressionist-dusted gestures live in his figurative paintings, often rough-hewn but empathetic portraits of young men, alone and in pairs and groupings. And yes, hints of the beach and seaside sites find their way into the show's visual and almost narrative mesh.
Astudillo’s exhibition, informed by memories of his formative years in the 1980s and ‘90s and the environment of his youth, goes by the title Makahiya: I wanted you to feel the same, tapping into the solidarity and community and the makahiya plant, which withers inward upon human touch. As he explains in an artist’s statement, “I paint to hold onto what’s fading. I paint to forgive, to remember, to make peace with what’s left behind — and to dream boldly of brighter days.”