David Delgado
Amazonian Days
On View: May 26 - July 22, 2023 I Hallway Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday, May 26, 2023 | 6 - 8 PM
Artist Talk: Saturday, May 27, 2023 I Starting at 2 PM
Art League Houston (ALH) is pleased to present Amazonian Days, an exhibition of paintings by David Delgado, whose practice captures mundane objects that hold present but unspoken conversations about labor, material wealth, and capitalism. This body of work references objects from 2021-2022 that the artist was given while working at an Amazon warehouse and captures the occurrence of the employer-to-employee gifting dynamic.
The still life paintings featured in Amazonian Days are a reminder for Delgado of a time when Amazon exchanged and bartered labor hours with gifts. During Delgado’s year at Amazon, it was commonplace for hours to be cut due to shipping shortages. Management was simultaneously giving employees random incentives, mostly in the form of gifts, which ranged from treats, food, and workwear. He documented these gifts when received and later rendered them in acrylic on panel.
Delgado’s experience at Amazon is all too familiar to the artist. Other instances of odd labor compensation come to mind for Delgado, such as when his family first immigrated to the United States from Mexico. He recalls family members would be compensated less than minimum wage but at the same time given gifts of furniture and appliances. By memorializing mundane objects, Delgado stands to disrupt the routine and question some absurdities that we disregard for the sake of normalcy.
David Delgado
Image courtesy of the artist
About the Artist
David Delgado (b.1992) is a visual artist from Houston, Texas. As a first-generation Mexican American with a bilingual upbringing, symbolic language is a strong part of the artwork he creates. Through questioning and showcasing objects that often go disregarded, Delgado’s work evokes larger conversations centered around labor and value in a capitalistic-centered environment.
Delgado earned his BFA in Studio Art Sculpture from the University of Houston in 2014. He was an illustrator for the Daily Cougar Newspaper 2011-2014. From 2013-2021, he worked as a bronze patineur and office manager at a bronze art foundry that his family established. He has since returned to academics, teaching art to K-6 students with organizations such as MECA.
Delgado’s work has been featured throughout Texas, exhibiting work with the Mexic Arte Museum (Austin, TX), Hardy & Nance Studios (Houston, TX), Craighead Green Gallery (Dallas, TX), Fort Worth Community Art Center (Fort Worth, TX), Moody Gallery (Houston, TX), and Blaffer Art Museum (Houston, TX).
Instagram: @daviddelgadoart