#reen barrera

Reen Barrera’s “Children of Divorce.”

Currently on view at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum in Mesa, Arizona and presented by Thinkspace Projects is artist Reen Barrera’s solo exhibition, “Children of Divorce.”

Reens shares:

“There is an idiom that says “it’s written all over your face,” which gave me an idea that regardless of what we say, our true feelings can still be emancipated by our facial expressions. For me, it’s a silent way of communicating something without noise. It’s where I find the inspiration to literally remember those facial expressions and create artwork out of it. This mix of facial expressions with different symbols and patterns have led to the development of characters known as “ohlala” dolls.

We humans have the same mold. We all have the same attributes. What differentiates us is the circumstances that we were born into. And one thing that I want to emphasize is the amount of detail each ohlala artwork has. Like humans, some have little while some have more.

In many of my works, I discreetly take on socio-economic classes. Some people are born rich, some are born middle class, some are born poor. But the common ground for everyone is, we all have to deal with it.

I cover all the Ohlala dolls heads with canvas cloth to give a freedom to paint their own symbols on their heads; as if they are designing their own fate. I guess that’s what we all have in common; the power to make things happen for ourselves.

Acrylic, oil, and aerosol paint are my choice of medium in painting. Many times, I let accidents like drips, smudges and splatter help me to decipher what to do next. I start with very loose abstract figures to overcome the fear of an empty canvas staring at me.

In this collection of work, I try to become as personal as possible, using ohlala as my main character to depict some of my experiences that led me to where I am right now as an artist.”

The Brand Library and Arts Center presents 'Nexus III' art exhibition, curated by Thinkspace Projects, showcasing a selection of international artists belonging to the New Contemporary Art Movement, with mini solo shows from Amy Sol, Yosuke Ueno, The Perez Bros, Leon Keer, Reen Barrera and Uriginal (aka Uri Martinez). Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Thinkspace Projects have scheduled a virtual event on Saturday November 7 at 2pm PT, and will post their professionally shot video tour of the new exhibition to their Instagram TV.

Reen Barrera’s “Ugly Phases.”

Opening Saturday, December 11th, 2021 at Thinkspace Projects in Los Angeles, California is artist Reen Barrera’s solo exhibition, “Ugly Phases.”

“Ugly Phases” follows up the artist’s sold out exhibition with Thinkspace this past summer and showcases his strength and versatility while working with different mediums.

Barrera has taken the idiom “it’s written all over your face” to heart and beyond, crafting his work around a central character he created early on in his career as an artist. Ohlala embodies Barrera’s thoughts, displaying them through a variety of colors painted on the being’s face. This serves as a mechanism to silently communicate, focusing on the unspoken rather than what is loud and clear.

In this new series of works on paper, the Barrera finds himself embracing accidents like drips, smudges, and splatters, allowing these to lead him to the final product.

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Reen Barrera’s “Cluster Fudge” at Thinkspace Projects.

Opening on Saturday, June 5th, 2021 at Thinkspace Projects in Los Angeles, California is artist Reen Barrera’s solo exhibition, “Cluster Fudge.”

Barrera has taken the idiom “it’s written all over your face” to heart and beyond, crafting his work around a central character he created early on in his career as an artist. Ohlala embodies Barrera’s thoughts, displaying them through a variety of colors painted on the being’s face. This serves as a mechanism to silently communicate, focusing on the unspoken rather than what is loud and clear.

‘Cluster Fudge’ is a collection of work that pulls from facial expressions, allowing Barrera to turn experiences into artwork, taking the literal and mixing it up with symbols and patterns. Through acrylic, oil, and aerosol he crafts this work, embracing accidents like drips, smudges, and splatters, allowing these to lead him to the final product.

“In some artworks, I discreetly take socioeconomic classes. Some people are born rich, mid class, some are poor. But the common ground is, everybody has no choice but to deal with it. So I cover all their heads with a canvas cloth to give OhLala the freedom to paint their own symbols on their heads as if they are designing their own fate. And I guess that is what we all have in common, the power to make things happen for ourselves.”

Using Ohlala as the great unifier, Barrera tackles the idea of difference and circumstance, removing all physical indications and allowing a blank slate. He effectively creates a universe where Ohlala could be anyone, even Barrera himself. In what is quite possibly Reen Barrera’s most personal collection to date, he represents and depicts several experiences that have helped create the artist that he is today, all with Ohlala as the subject.

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Reen Barrera’s “Dull Maker” for NEXUS III.

Curated by Thinkspace Projects, “NEXUS III” is a series of solo exhibitions including artist Reen Barrera’s “More Bounce” currently on view virtually at The Brand Library and Arts Center in Glendale, California.

Born in Paris, France, in 1990, Reen Barrera was not a spoiled child growing up, with memories of only owning a small handful of beloved action figures and considering himself a “toy deprived kid”. To fight his boredom and explore his creative side, he started to make his own toys using found objects, not knowing he was already on the road to becoming an artist.

Barrera took art classes in high school and attended college with fine arts and advertising as his majors. In 2014, shortly after graduating, Reen decided to pursue being a full-time artist and has exhibited his work all over the world in the past decade.

The artist adds…. "There is this idiom that says “It’s written all over your face” which gave me an idea that regardless of what we say, our true feelings can still be emancipated by our facial expressions. For me, it’s a silent way of communicating something without noise. It is where I find the inspiration to literally remember those facial expressions, create an artwork out of it, and mix it up with different symbols and patterns.

Us human beings have the same mold, we all have the same attributes, what differentiate us is the circumstances that we are born into. And one thing that I want to emphasize is the amount of detail each piece have, like us, some have some while some have most. 

In some artworks, I discreetly take on socio-economic classes. Some people are born rich, mid class, some are poor. But the common ground is, everybody will have no choice but to deal with it. So I cover all their heads with a canvas cloth to give my OhLala characters a freedom to paint their own symbols on their heads as if they are designing their own fate. And I guess that is what we all have in common, the power to make things happen for ourselves.

Acrylic, oil, and aerosol paint are my choice of medium in painting, a lot of times I often let accidents like drips smudges and splatter help me to decipher on what to do, I do start with a very loose abstract figures to overcome the fear of an empty canvas staring at me. In this collection of work, I try to become personal as possible, using ohlala as my main character to depict some of my experiences that leads me to where I am right now as an artist.”

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Reen Barrera’s “Recent Works” at Thinkspace Projects.

Opening on Saturday, June 29th, 2019 at Thinkspace Projects in Los Angeles in their office gallery space is artist Reen Barrera’s solo exhibition, “Recent Works.”

Barrera often mixes different kinds of paint and materials to produce textures and details that try to find the balance between chaos and peace. Inspired by Basquiat's heavy and brave paint strokes, he intends to evoke the same kind of imagery in his works to his audience.

The exhibition will be on view until July 20th, 2019.

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Reen Barrera - Love Language (2025)