Portales” – Volta New York, 2023

Solo exhibition by Dominican artist Manuel Mera, presented by Catalysta at Volta Art Fair, held from May 17 to 21, 2023, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City.

The exhibition featured a selection of works from the series Waveform (2021–2023) and Foundation (2023–), both centered around the concept of portals—visual and conceptual transitions between the physical and the digital, the abstract and the symbolic.

In Waveform, Mera draws inspiration from digital signal patterns and audio waveforms. Using tools like Photoshop, Blender, and After Effects, he manipulates digital drawings that are later translated into analog form through airbrush and acrylic paint. The resulting pieces combine defined planes, gradients, saturated colors, and layered textures, reflecting on the tensions between virtuality and materiality.

With Foundation, the artist adopts a more archaeological approach to painting. Past works are reinterpreted as if they were fossilized remains—fragments used as foundations for constructing new visual spaces. This series emphasizes material exploration, focusing on the accumulation and reduction of painted layers to create meaning. The three most recent pieces in Foundation act as portals representing different states of matter:

• Portal de condensación (gas)

• Manuelomanía (liquid, self-portrait)

• El portal de los espárragos eléctricos (solid)

Throughout the exhibition, Mera merges abstraction with recognizable elements—figures, machinery, landscapes—blending personal mythology with sci-fi aesthetics. These portals invite the viewer into distorted, introspective dimensions shaped by both digital experimentation and traditional technique.