“Ravi Zupa is Denver’s rare resident poet-painter, sculptor, film artist, activist & intellectual. Ravi self identifies as an anarchist, and these humanist ideas are at the center of all his work and DIY ethos. He is fully self taught and draws lessons from movements and artists who came before him. His works are as varied as his visual inspirations; the German Renaissance, Flemish primitives, Japanese Block art, Religious Iconography from Europe, Asia and pre-Columbian South America, & 20th century revolutionary propaganda. Ravi uses all these old myths, styles and imagery to tell the tale of modern “man” and his condition.

Ravi rejects academia and all pretensions and seeks to celebrate the “everybodyness” of art. With his work he aims to induce the same sense of frantic inspiration which inspires him when he sees a piece. He believes that art should be inclusive, and he puts this idea into practice. Ravi’s work goes beyond art, and he lives the epic battles of ideas found in his pieces in his every day life. It’s rare to find a visual artist with the mind of a poet, that draws from such a rich well of history & creates such a diverse body of work.” ~Tim Holland (Sole)

The Pyre, an exhibit of new works by Zupa, is directly inspired by a collaborative book project by the same name between the artist and renowned hip hop musician, Tim Holland, better known as Sole, founder of the Anticon record label. Though the work in this exhibit exists outside the narrative within “the Pyre” book, as Zupa puts it, “they are the direct result of the same fire and seek to convey the same skepticism, want, desperation, and optimism”.

“The Pyre” New Works by: Ravi Zupa
OPENING RECEPTION : FRIDAY JULY 2, 6PM
Illiterate Gallery : 82 S. Broadway : Denver, CO 80209

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