Closing December 6th at C.A.V.E. Gallery on Abbott Kinney in Venice, is an astonishing implosion of color and darkness: Gustavo Rimada‘s Dark Paradise.

 It’s Rimada’s fourth time showing at the gallery, and this one is stunning, the stuff of dreams.

Mysterious and evocative, these fractured dreamlike images of flowers, butterflies, and beautiful women evoke the feeling of vivid icons, nearly religious in nature.

The contrast between the dark undertones of the work and the vibrant color palette locks in the eye while the mind works to fill in the connections between dark and light. Somehow the pieces also fit with this time of year: bright California dimmed with winter’s shortened days, the light always subject to the burgeoning night.

Rimada says “The work is pretty but has darkness as the underlying story. A lot of the pieces are based on the music of Lana del Rey, whose songs informed these works. Her lyrics captivated me. Pretty music, dark lyrics.”

Rimada notes that he uses a great deal of red in these paintings. “It’s a primary color, and I do use it a lot. It’s something that I’ve done from the beginning of my painting career, and I consider it due to my culture.”

Born in Torreon, Mexico, Rimada’s upper middle class life was changed drastically when his family moved to Indio, Calif.  exchanging professional positions for domestic ones. In Mexico and the U.S., Rimada was always drawing. After 9/11, however, he joined the Army for a 3-year stint. When he returned to civilian life, Rimada also returned to art with a passion – both painting and working as a tattoo artist. “I truly eat, breath and sleep art,” he says.

He also creates dreams from it. Enter some of them before Dark Paradise closes this weekend.

– Genie Davis; Photos: Jack Burke