“Sacrificial Offering,” Rick Falcon’s upcoming show at Butter Gallery, refers not only to the sort of sacrifices the 27-year-old Miami artist learned about as part of his Christian upbringing, but sacrifices artists make to pursue their passion.
A year and a half ago, Falcon, who had worked “as the stock guy at just random inventory stores, just to make ends meet,” says he stopped working so he could immerse himself in creating art for 12 hours a day, seven days a week. He did so in part because he’d started to sell more paintings, but the new direction still required a major redefining of necessities.
He afford the time and money he spends on making art, he says, by giving up things like fancy dinners out, television and “going to the bar and partying like there is no tomorrow.”
Falcon says he’s now so focused on his work that he barely drinks. He also has no girlfriend to distract him from the important things, like art. “It hurts sometimes ‘cause you’re lonely but in reality the joy that art brings me fills that void plus so much more,” he says. “Everything I subtracted, art fills in that spot more and more.”
He misses his old life increasingly less, he says, but does miss surfing. “The only time I miss something is if my dad’s gonna go surfing and I can’t go that day, and I’m missing big beautiful waves that are only gonna come rarely in Miami.”
But the sacrifices have been worth the time it affords him to create art and listen to music, which he describes as his best friend. “My favorite artist is Nick Cave and his group The Bad Seeds, and Warren Ellis and all of those movie soundtracks they do,” Falcon says. “I also like a lot of classical music. … Everyone loves music but I really become intimate with it because it keeps me company and it really inspires me. “
Apparently, it’s paying off. Falcon’s debut solo exhibition, Sacrifical Offering, will open 7 p.m. Friday and run (straight through Art Basel) through Jan 9 at the new Wynwood Art District home of Butter Gallery, 2301 and 2303 NW Second Ave., Miami.
Preview some of the works from Sacrifical Offering in our accompanying photo gallery.
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