Parlá is fascinated by how urban environments are inscribed with their own textured memories, seeing graffiti as inscriptions on a concrete body. This key element informs all his work; the desire to record and represent those decaying living memories, to capture and retain an essence of that city and time.

Born in Miami into a family of Cuban exiles, José Parlá moved to Puerto Rico at a very early age before returning to Miami again when he was nine. He currently lives and works in New York. This sense of transmigration and drift has created a wandering interest in the world around him and the way in which it interacts with itself.

Over the years Parlá‘s depiction of these urban documents has become ever more daring, expansive and fluid. Working with a vast range of materials, Parlá seeks to translate the transient ruins and ghost-written walls into unique and personal vision. The beauty of these pieces, however, is that each one of them carries a universal power and emotional charge way beyond the experience that inspired these stunning works of art.