Eric Alugas was born and raised in the southern-most urban city in Louisiana where he listened to Congo Square beats and read Amiri Baraka, and Samuel Beckett. He studied the art of painting in his hometown at the University of New Orleans. His work encompasses primary sources that merge African American and European cultures integrating mythology, political philosophy, music, film, theater and sexuality. His work draws from a rich blend of people and history that coalesced in the south and from the master painters in Europe.
He was awarded scholarships to L’École nationale supérieure des Beaux–Arts, in Montpellier and Paris, France. There he studied art, and became fluent in French. He received grants to study with Manuel Menan in Madrid, with Jean-Pierre Nicolini in Uzes, with Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17 in Paris, and at the Paris American Academy and from the Foundation Taylor in Paris.
Studying with his mentor, Calvin Harlan at the University of New Orleans, Alugas learned the necessity of how to see and how to read a painting. As Harlan said, this may lead to “the two most important things for an artist to know: what to paint, and how to paint it—your subject matter, and what to do with it.”
In France, he studied with Daniel Dezeuzes, a founder of the Support/Surface movement, who encouraged him to question what is “a painting,” through study of Duchamp, and introduction to the concept “toile libre” or free-hanging canvas. The work of Golub and Balthus clarified the place of the figure within this exciting concept that Alugas uses in his work.
The City of Paris selected his work for a national touring exhibition in France and Germany. His work has been acquired by various private and public collections, notably the City Hall of Paris, the Schomburg Center in Harlem, and the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) in Brooklyn.
His work is represented by BHNY Fine Arts in New York, and The Building in New Orleans.
Currently living in New York City he paints, teaches, and exhibits throughout the United States and Europe. He has had shows at the Schomburg Center, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and various galleries, including Galerie des Arches, Rush Arts Gallery, Galerie Bourbon Lally, Artists Space, The Puffin Room, Galerie Europa, Barbara Greene, Casa Frela.
The work of Alugas encompasses all the concrete elements of painting—canvas, gesso, oil or acrylic, brushstroke, splashes, mixed media—creating textural pieces that reach out to the viewer. His art probes each tool of the trade. Actively using “toile libre” his work is on heavy free hanging canvas, suspended by metal grommets, the canvas is as prevalent and integral as the gesso, the gesso as the paint, and the paint as the wall.
Each painting, or series, is an essay; a meditation to explore both its subject matter and the nature of the materials used. Each calls for, shatters, pushes and pulls against each other . He weaves all these strands to form a tapestry of meaning. His work is a concept to be studied and meditated on. Each painting is a historical probing, an encounter of his mind with many sources: music, literature, philosophy, cultural influences, history, and politics.