Summer Letter
Edwin Arzeta
October 22 - December 2, 2023

Zodiac Pictures is delighted to present Summer Letter, a solo exhibition of new work by Edwin Arzeta. The exhibition will be on view from October 22 - December 2, 2023. An opening reception will be held Sunday, October 22nd, from 4-7 pm.

Bright and fragile, teetering on the verge of vanishing by their own shortness of light, Edwin Arzeta presents a collection of paper-based works that are driven by his fascination with temporality and permanence and how a sense of self-witness might be provoked. Arzeta’s works, which span drawings, paintings, and sculptures, initially appear as ornamental but gradually reveal a purpose resembling more of a memento – a faithful keepsake meant to encapsulate matters that rummage the spirit.

From the imagery of cakes, candles, ribbons, stars, hearts, and flowers, not just one memory follows, but a deluge of sentimental errors. It summons, for instance, times in which I have searched for a precise place from which to ask for a wish; became possessed by bad news on an important day; savored chaotic leftovers; cleared trash at a family memorial, kissed my mom; felt unexpected pain alongside happiness during a special moment; clung to the jubilation of flimsy decorations, of which, were as makeshift as the occasion; reached for the phone to call someone I could no longer call; relished my home, lonely but free, after everyone has left; returned from a party so good that I felt I only knew loss afterwards; loved a face so sour it could only belong to a child who felt injustice and irritability; regretted celebrating alone; sought pleasure even in the face of loss; felt that important hand on my back as I blew out candles assigned to me. 

Fine paper becomes one of the constitutions in this body of work. Its intimate and private command, like its delicate nature, goes unquestioned. The celestial smearing and misty-eyed quality across the works imparts an enduring and transient seasonality, preparing a short moment that is about to be overshadowed by the past for transition. Through frisk and nimbleness, the sweet nothing drawings akin to the scribbles inside a confidential spiral notebook contribute a consoling sense of charm. Devising a way to connect with those who appreciate simple forms, Arzeta values conditions that allow memory and nostalgia to run rampant, but not in a severe way. He seeks a merciful affect to kindle sources of personal narratives. If viewers are to keep going, to push through, or try to take hold of his proposition, they might find pleasure in searching for it. They might find how fierce the march of change is and how quickly the passage of time becomes an enigma. 

- Estelle Araya


Edwin Arzeta (b. 1986) lives and works in Los Angeles. Arzeta received a BA in Fine Art from the University of California Los Angeles in 2016. His work has recently been exhibited at Piazza Palazzo, Los Angeles; PSLA, Los Angeles; Heavy Manners Library, Los Angeles; and Punto Lairs Inc., Los Angeles.