Jairo Serna | “It Snows, It Rains, It Shines”

Press release

REGULARNORMAL is excited to collaborate with LONG STORY SHORT’s residency program this year to present “It Snows, It Rains, It Shines, " the inaugural solo exhibition of artist Jairo Serna.

With an innovative approach to acrylic paint and a mosaic-like process, Jairo Serna’s current work merges figuration with working-class urban environments to explore themes of intimacy, alienation, and public life in New York City. Characteristic of Serna’s style, vibrant colors create an anxious yet playful atmosphere in the composition. Abstract elements propel the piece emotionally and visually through bold gestures and a complex interplay of color and material. These artworks primarily consist of dried acrylic paint, chosen by the artist for its visual similarity to traditional ceramic mosaics and the versatile properties of acrylic paint.

The artist cuts, layers, scrapes, and gouges the mosaicked surfaces of his paintings to evoke a strong tactile response in viewers. His paintings feature architectural elements typical of residential communities, incorporating objects and structures designed to protect, separate, and surveil, such as streetlights, fences, windows, doorbells, and more. Through his commitment to painting, the artist invites us to contemplate anonymous characters in everyday situations, whether alone or in pairs, often walking toward an unknown destination.

Jairo Serna (b. 1996, Queens, NY) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. In 2018, he received his BFA in Painting and Drawing from SUNY Purchase. In 2019, he received the Bronx Council on the Arts BRIO Award and the 2021 NYFA City Artist Award Corps Grant. Jairo Serna was an artist-in-residence at the Oxbow School of Art in 2021 and the Macedonia Institute in 2024. He has exhibited his work in group shows at galleries such as WHAAM and Five Myles. He has been selected to participate in the Wassaic Project Artist Residency in the summer of 2025.