MZD is thrilled to announce the next feature artist! John Benedict Alvarez Plenos’ large scale paintings are on view at Mile Zero Dance, now until May 2025!

Join us for a closing reception event on Thursday, May 22 from 6 to 8 PM.
All are welcome, RSVP your attendance

Artist Statement – John Benedict Alvarez Plenos

Art is a vessel for thought, a space where language, colour, and form converge to express the raw, unfiltered complexities of human existence. Influenced by the expressive genius of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Pablo Picasso, and Paul Gauguin, my work embodies a contemporary neo-expressionist approach that simplifies yet intensifies profound topics. Through my art, I seek to provoke, inspire, and challenge perspectives, layering names, phrases, and symbols to create a visual dialogue on politics, spirituality, and the human condition.

Drawing from a vast array of sources—including literature, philosophy, music, film, social media, and personal experience—I integrate the intellectual with the intuitive. Words become brushstrokes, and emotions take form through spontaneous gestures on massive canvases. My piece Basquiat’s Influence is both a tribute and a turning point, reflecting the epiphanies I encountered while immersing myself in Basquiat’s life and work. Meanwhile, Back in the Light explores my ongoing spiritual journey, blending religious philosophy with contemporary existential thought.

Each painting is an invitation for the viewer to engage, interpret, and connect. Whether it’s the resilience embedded in Aura Farmer or the catharsis found in Optimism, my works are meant to be lived with—to be returned to, questioned, and understood over time. I aim to create art that doesn’t just decorate a space but lingers in the mind, sparking discourse and self-reflection.

This is only the beginning. As I push the limits of scale and concept, my mission remains clear: to challenge conventions, to explore the depths of meaning, and to create work that resonates across time and culture.

Follow my journey on Instagram @jb.plenos, and stay tuned for the stories my canvases will continue to tell.

Please contact MZD if you’re interested in purchasing any of the works and we’ll put you in touch with the artist!

ABOUT THE WORKS
Aura Farmer, 2023-present
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 48 inches
Aura Farmer is a meditative piece for anyone pursuing a dream, a craft, or a calling. It embodies resilience, discipline, and the boundless potential of the human spirit under unseen forces that shape human potential – entropy. It evokes the image of an individual cultivating the intangible: the unseen energy fields that surround us, the essence of the self being shaped through sustained practice. With the right mindset, patience, care, and practice, anything is possible; the subject of this work is not merely engaged in the act of creation, but in the sacred, lifelong process of becoming.

This painting serves as both an invocation and a testament – an affirmation that every human
being possesses the capacity to transcend perceived limitations through the unyielding pursuit of their highest ideals. The interplays of colours, forms, and text hints at the inner turbulence that accompanies creation, while the harmonious composition suggests the peace that emerges when one surrenders fully to the state – a space where thought dissolves into purity.

For the artists, dancers, and performers – this is canvas is an offering, a mirror reflecting
your innate power. You are the conduit through which the universe expresses itself. The
countless hours of preparation, repetition, and sacrifice have primed you for this
singular moment. Trust in your process. Step into the current where time ceases to
exist. Release all doubt, all fear. What remains is the purest version of yourself – raw,
radiant, and fully alive.

Remember: you are not simply moving through the world – you are shaping it. Aim at
the highest good you can conceive and allow the work to unfold through you. The
universe is watching.

Contemporary Enlightenment, 2023-present
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 48 inches
This painting embodies a transformative period in my life – one defined by confidence, faith, and conscious rejection of fear. It is a visual manifesto of a state of being unburdened by ego, a celebration of existence as a fluid and spontaneous journey rather than a rigid pursuit of
predetermined goals. It represents my commitment to living in the moment, embracing a “living spree” with no ego, only presence. The layered symphony of elements converge with hopes of capturing the essence of what it means to live fully, to create uninhibitedly, and to explore the vast potential of human expression.

As with all great artistic undertakings, this work does not stand alone but emerges from a
collective dialogue of canvases being developed in tandem – each piece a fragment of a
grander conceptual endeavor. This interconnected creative process mirrors the dynamism of
thought itself, wherein ideas are never isolated but rather exist in a continuous state of evolution and refinement.

At the base of the composition, a series of physics formulas make their appearance—an
intellectual relic of my years studying for a Bachelor of Science at the University of Calgary.
Though I ultimately chose to shift my focus toward art and writing, these mathematical
expressions serve as a symbolic bridge between my past and present, between structured logic
and intuitive creation. The rigidity of physics and calculus proved merciless, but in their
uncompromising nature, they illuminated my true calling. In this way, the painting stands as both a testament to personal metamorphosis and a meditation on the relationship between
knowledge systems—rational and empirical, creative and transcendental.

Contemporary Enlightenment, as I interpret it, is the pursuit of meaning not through external validation or rigid dogma but through an unfiltered engagement with experience itself. It is the grandiose endeavor of the artist, the thinker, the seeker—one who dares to abandon convention in favor of discovery. This work is a testament to that endeavor, an artifact of a life lived with intention, spontaneity, and fearless self-expression.

Back in the Light, 2023–present
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 48 inches
Back in the Light is a visual meditation on faith, disillusionment, and spiritual reconciliation. It is not merely a self-portrait of my journey but an existential inquiry into belief itself—how it is shaped, broken, and, at times, reborn through the passage of experience. I was born into Catholicism, baptized into a tradition that promised salvation but often left me wrestling with paradoxes. When misfortune struck in my early years, my reaction was one of fury. I cursed God, not out of disbelief, but out of profound betrayal—the kind that only a child who once trusted completely can feel. It was not atheism that took root in me, but something more complex: an epistemological crisis, an unraveling of the narratives I had been given about divine justice, suffering, and human agency.

For years, I distanced myself from religious institutions, turning instead to reason, empiricism, and scientific inquiry as my guiding principles. I sought understanding through the scientific method, believing that observation, experimentation, and logic could provide the ultimate framework for interpreting reality. Science became my compass, offering clarity in its rigorous methodology and its ability to demystify the unknown. It grounded me in material truths, in the elegance of physics, complexity of biology, and the vastness of cosmology.

But even as science illuminated the mechanisms of the universe, it could not account for everything. It explained the how but rarely touched the why. It could quantify existence but could not define meaning. No empirical study could measure love, purpose, or the ineffable moments of transcendence that seemed to whisper of something beyond mere materialism. I came to realize that while science provides a necessary structure for understanding reality, it is not the totality of truth. There are dimensions of human experience that exist beyond what can be tested, weighed, or measured.

Through this process, I arrived at a synthesis of belief that integrates the Simulation Hypothesis, the principles of karma and honor, and the ethical frameworks of multiple
religious traditions. I no longer see faith as a rigid doctrine but as a fluid, evolving understanding of existence, one that reconciles science, philosophy, and spirituality rather than pitting them against one another.

This painting captures that moment of reconciliation—the moment of stepping back into the light after years of disillusionment. The composition reflects the tension between chaos and order, between skepticism and surrender. It is deliberate yet erratic, embodying the dialectic between doubt and faith.

Back in the Light is not a conclusion but a milestone in an ongoing dialogue with faith. It is a
declaration that belief is not static but dynamic—that doubt and conviction are not opposites but coexisting forces that shape our understanding of the divine. My spiritual journey does not adhere to a singular creed but instead finds solace in the common moral truths that bind
humanity across cultures and epochs. This is only the beginning. Future paintings will unravel more of this story, and my writings will delve deeper into the philosophy behind my evolving faith. But for now, this piece stands as both a confession and a revelation: a return to something I once abandoned, not out of blind acceptance, but out of the wisdom that comes with questioning.

Basquiat’s Influence, 2023–present
Acrylic on canvas
48 x 72 inches

This large-scale artwork is an homage to Jean-Michel Basquiat, a result of six months (Spring
and Summer of 2022) spent intensively studying his life, art, and creative process. Through
YouTube documentaries, online articles, and books, I immersed myself in his world—his
spontaneity, raw passion, and genius-level creativity. I explored the complexities of his life, from his meteoric rise to his struggles with addiction, and found solace in the depth of his
understanding of the world, which, in many ways, resonated with my own.

Learning that Basquiat began working on massive canvases at 21 sparked an epiphany for me
as both an individual and an artist. His obsession with heads, words, phrases, quotes, and
historical figures deeply connected with my own love of semantics. The way he transformed
everyday thoughts and emotions into layered, text-heavy compositions inspired my
approach—allowing words to become visible brushstrokes of meaning. In blending this with the raw symbolism and childlike energy reminiscent of Picasso, I sought to channel my own
experiences, knowledge, and intelligence onto the largest canvas I could find.
This piece is an evolving conversation—open to interpretation. The meaning behind it is fluid,
shifting with each viewer’s perspective. There is much to unpack, so take your time. Take photos. Revisit it later.

Optimism, 2023–present
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 48 inches
Optimism is a deeply personal and cathartic response to adversity—an artistic reckoning with
the weight of past wounds, transformed into a triumphant declaration of resilience. This large- scale work is not merely a painting; it is an emotional exorcism, a visual testament to the strength required to transcend pain and reclaim one’s narrative.

In creating this piece, I immersed myself in the process of unburdening—each brushstroke an
act of defiance against the ghosts of those who sought to diminish me. The canvas became
both battlefield and sanctuary, a space where sorrow was alchemized into something luminous and bold. There is no bitterness here, no lingering resentment—only the recognition that even suffering can serve as raw material for growth and transformation.

Conceptually, Optimism exists at the intersection of personal experience and universal struggle. It asks: How do we construct meaning from the fractures left by betrayal, rejection, and pain? How do we move beyond the weight of the past without erasing its imprint on our identity? The work embraces these questions, offering no easy answers but instead presenting a layered, intricate exploration of perseverance.Visually, the composition is charged with energy—colours, figures, and words embedded within the paint like whispered affirmations, emerging and dissolving in an ever-shifting dialogue. There is a deliberate tension between chaos and harmony, mirroring the unpredictability of healing itself. The vibrant hues do not seek to cover up past anguish but rather celebrate the triumph of having survived it.

Ultimately, Optimism is an assertion of agency—a refusal to be defined by the wounds inflicted by others. It stands as a declaration that even in the aftermath of suffering, one can choose light, movement, and renewal. Through this work, I invite the viewer to witness not just my healing, but the possibility of their own.

Please get in touch with Mile Zero Dance if you’re interested in purchasing a work!