KIRK HOPPER FINE ART

Alejandro Diaz-Ayala
Carlos Donjuan
Sergio Garcia
Luke Harnden

October 26–November 30, 2024

A graffiti artist for the past decade, Carlos Donjuan has been creating art since he was old enough to wield a pencil. His art is powerful, yet playful, and often depicts sub-cultures that the artist is interested in or involved with. His graffiti reflects his interest in street fashion, underground music, and the diverse and always changing culture he hails from, while his portraiture is more classic, mixing old and current ideas to create a statement about his surroundings. Donjuan’s main goal is to showcase both the influences from his origins and his training in academia. Currently completing a Masters in Fine Art from University of Texas San Antonio, Donjuan credits the tough neighborhood he grew up in for his inclination to depict street life in his work.

Born and raised in Dallas, Sergio Garcia works primarily in print and sculpture, often incorporating text and icons of his adolescence within his pieces. Although influenced by these icons, he reinvents them using unconventional materials. This is particularly evident in his works incorporating tricycles, which Garcia transforms into fanciful vessels by morphing the frames into whimsical, Dr. Seuss-like riddles: a nostalgic nod to childhood whimsy that denies functionality and the object’s original purpose. Garcia’s artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Four of his pieces were selected for exhibition at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, including his celebrated U-shaped tricycle, which greeted visitors in the Nice Cote D’Azur Airport in France. Awards include First Place at the Celebrate Texas Art exhibition in Houston. Garcia has exhibited in various shows nationwide, including a solo show at Frosch & Portman in New York, Kirk Hopper Fine Art in Dallas and White Walls Gallery in San Francisco.

Luke Harnden is a multidisciplinary artist currently living and working in Los Angeles. From 2012-2017, he co-founded and operated a discursive arts and performance venue in Dallas known as Beefhaus. Exhibitions include Songs, Nick Kochornswasdi Gallery, Los Angeles; Ritual Images, Sean Horton Presents, New York; Borborygmi, Box Co., Dallas; Powerlines, Barry Whistler Gallery, Dallas; Black, Site 131, Dallas; Circuit Breaker, TWU Denton TX; and Give Me Shelter, Civic TV, Houston. He received an MFA in Art from the California Institute of the Arts where he co-organized the student-run Paul Brach Visiting Artist Lecture Series in 2019.

Born in La Piedad, Michoacan, Mexico, Alejandro Diaz Ayala moved to Santa Barbara, California, at the age of three. There, surrounded by his mother’s family, Diaz developed his interest in art, following the lead from an older cousin who was a part of Santa Barbara’s early graffiti movement. When he was eleven, Diaz and his mother moved to Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood, where his talent for street art grew. Diaz is a member of the Sour Grapes, a crew of street artists from the Oak Cliff suburbs. The group uses their shared experiences to encourage each other to express themselves artistically and excel in a neighborhood where youth are sometimes doomed to a life in prison or even death.

Kirk Hopper Fine Art
1426 N Riverfront Blvd
Dallas, TX 75207
214.760.9230
kirkhopperfineart.com