Removed from Reality by Felipe Contreras
October 9th, 2025 | 6 - 9 PM
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
"All Aboard" 2025 | Collage on Wood Panel | 16 x 16 x 1.5 (framed)
About The Exhibit
Removed from Reality presents portraits of dead celebrities and Greek philosophers, figures who continue to shape culture long after their lives ended. The work explores how society remembers and elevates individuals—whether through fame, philosophy, or myth.
These portraits are less about likeness and more about how memory transforms people into symbols. By pairing modern icons with ancient thinkers, the exhibition examines what it means to be remembered, and how death separates individuals from everyday reality while keeping their influence alive.
The two creates a visual conversation between past and present, turning the painting into a meditation on memory, identity, and the inevitability of change.
Born in Englewood, NJ from Colombian parents, Felipe Contreras, a first generation American, is a Veteran form the United States Marine Corps. His life travels have exposed him to all three coasts in the United States as well as South America along with the Middle East and Asia.
He brings those life experiences to his work, combining contemporary language, iconic imagery, and a touch of humor. By utilizing common symbols and juxtaposing them with iconography from the past and the present, Felipe brings forward current socioeconomic issues to the forefront.
The product that is the result of said combinations creates an open line of communication and sets the stage for the viewers to engage in civil discourse. In the end, Felipe’s goal is for the viewer to have been visually and intellectually stimulated.