This series is about my need to document commonly unnoticed urban and rural structures in and around the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Through these images, I reflect not only on the architectural attributes of many abandoned houses and commercial buildings and their own unique esthetic but also on what they represent to me as a visual artist while I contemplate their stoic presence. In my work, I follow a traditional Deadpan style, very popular in medium format film photography, which in this case is emulated by a full-frame digital camera, with an eye on perspective, symmetry, and negative space. I look for compositional possibilities through the attributes of light and color. My intention is to create a collection of large format images where the viewer feels compelled to step into each image, giving him the chance to visually interact in a more personal and intimate way by contemplating the stillness of time and space.

Carlos Limas, born in Matamoros, Mexico (b.1970) holds an MFA from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, a BA in graphic design from the Instituto Profesional de Arte y Diseño in Monterrey, México, and a second BA in Studio Art at l’Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles in Belgium. He also completed a residency at the Accademia di Brera in Milan, Italy, with Arte Povera artists Luciano Fabro and Diego Esposito. As a multidisciplinary artist, Limas works in painting, video installation, photography, and graphic design. Limas has exhibited in group and solo art exhibitions in México, Belgium, the US, Slovakia, Italy, France, China, and Bolivia. He has served as the Director of the School of Arts Escuela Adolfo Prieto at CONARTE in Monterrey, Mexico creating multiple projects for the art community.

At UTRGV, Limas worked as a gallery assistant at the Permanent Collection Department., he also served as the official photographer of the FOLD Art, Practice & Metaphor exhibition at three venues including the IMAS Museum in McAllen, Texas. Limas is currently teaching Digital Photography at the UTRGV School of Art, and he is the Chief Coordinator of Media and Graphic Design at the Center for Latin American Arts of the same institution covering events in México, Perú, and the United States.