Painted Rooms:  Regis Silva + Bloum

www.regissilva.com

www.bloum.net

As long-time friends, Regis Silva and Bloum were ready for their Painted Room collaboration—and the result is a combination of ideas and aesthetics that evokes all the promise and tensions of mixed cultures. Silva’s forms borrow from the bright colors and natural settings of his native Brazil, while Bloum’s art makes global consumer culture (as represented by logo-bearing plastic bags from all over the world) seem somehow less insidious, more part of our collective nature.

“The 3D painting in the living room brings the feeling that you are outside looking through a window where you can see the sea,” Silva says. “This was the idea of this painting, to bring the feeling of being outside, free from boundaries created by walls.”

But how do Bloum’s Subway, Wal*Mart, and local favorite Boulangerie bags fit into this “natural” landscape? And where does she get all those bags?

“I have collected plastic bags since about 1994,” she explains. “I have everybody around me collect them for me too. My friends and family are living around the world in different places collecting for me. When people travel they know to get me bags. My aesthetics are very much influenced by the commercial, international world we live in. There is unity in consumerism and industry.”

About their work on the room, Bloum says, “Though my grandmother taught me collaboration, I had never realized how hard it is. I had to start over a few times—I painted a wall three times before I could get going! But I have to admit it was a wonderful time. I have rarely ever laughed so much in my life. Regis is one of my best friends but we became closer doing this.”

Silva’s next shows will include an exhibition in Pacific Grove—another collaboration with Bloum—and two outdoor sculpture/fountains in Costa Rica. Bloum will add her perspective to that most pervasive of brands, the 5th Annual Barbie Show in San Francisco.