Franck de Las Mercedes in his residency at AOTA Creative Space South Concourse of the Oculus.

Franck de Las Mercedes in his residency at  AOTA Creative Space South Concourse of the Oculus. Created by Franck de Las Mercedes. (Photo Courtesy)

By MAGRIRA

Special Amnews

On February 18, 2014, Nicaraguan-American visual artist, poet, and photographer Franck de Las Mercedes experienced an unimaginable loss. A devastating fire tore through his home and art studio, leaving nothing but ashes and soot. He escaped with only the clothes on his back—everything else, including a lifetime of artistic creation, was reduced to a haunting residue known in Nicaraguan as contil, the stubborn, black film left behind after a fire’s purge. As he attempted to clean and remove the stubborn marks, de Las Mercedes found a deeper connection—a spiritual and metaphorical understanding between the soot and life itself.

From this moment of destruction, de Las Mercedes began his process of renewal. Moving to a new studio in Washington Heights, New York, he rebuilt his life and returned to his canvas, creating works that now resonate with the intensity of his personal journey. His current body of work, on display as part of a residency at AOTA Creative Space in the Oculus, South Concourse, will be showcased until October 15th. Visitors are encouraged to stop by and witness this transformative process firsthand. Franck often works while engaging in conversation, accompanied by his seven-year-old son, Luca, a budding stop-motion animator, proving that the creative legacy is indeed passed down.

Created by Franck de Las Mercedes. (Photo Courtesy)

When describing de Las Mercedes's art, one cannot help but draw comparisons to the late Jean-Michel Basquiat. Like Basquiat, Franck’s work is raw, unapologetic, and deeply emotional. His paintings are vivid, combining angular linework, rich textures, and vibrant hues. He paints with both his dominant and non-dominant hand, creating layers of complexity that evoke a sense of intimacy and wonder. His compositions are reflections of childhood memories, family dynamics, and the pressing events of today’s world, often incorporating handwritten elements that bring a personal, familiar touch to his subjects and stories.

Though still carrying the emotional scars from the fire, de Las Mercedes’s resilience shines through in his work. His style, which he defines as "Popstract Expressionism," draws influence from abstract expressionism, pop art, ancient rock carvings, and Nicaraguan primitivism. His acclaimed conceptual art project, The Priority Boxes—or Peace Boxes—gained international recognition for its message of peace. By sending empty boxes labeled “Contains Peace” to people worldwide, de Las Mercedes crafted a participatory art movement that touched lives across borders.

Created by Franck de Las Mercedes. (Photo Courtesy)

In this new chapter of his career, de Las Mercedes finds himself revisiting his lost journal pages—tangible remnants of what the fire destroyed. His latest works, a blend of collage, painting, and street photography, are an evolution of those lost pages. By blowing up photographs and attaching them to raw canvas, he creates new stories, where fragmented memories collide with raw emotion, resulting in powerful revelations. Using whatever scanned negatives survived the fire, Franck is now exploring a series that intertwines his past with the present, creating something entirely new—something that transcends loss and celebrates renewal.

https://www.fdlmstudio.com/poes%C3%ADa

https://www.fdlmstudio.com/signed-prints

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Created by Franck de Las Mercedes. (Photo Courtesy)