I Thought I Heard Music, But I Can’t See the Truck by John Medina

Art League Houston (ALH) is excited to present I Thought I Heard Music, But I Can’t See the Truck, an exhibition by San Antonio-based artist John Medina. The exhibition features a series of paintings that playfully explore notions of love and loss, inspired by a neighborhood ice-cream truck from the artist’s childhood.

John Medina’s father used to tell a story of when he was a young boy. Medina would often sit at the front window which looked out towards the street. The hot South Texas sun forced everyone inside, but he longed for a connection to the outside world. As his father explained, Medina would press his forehead up against the glass while sadly repeating, “Ice cream man! Come to my house!” For his father this was an amusing anecdote about the strangeness of childhood, but for Medina, it reminded him of the disappointment he felt on days when the ice cream man didn’t show up. It also conjured feelings of longing, loneliness and isolation. He cannot help but relate these memories to his adult experiences with love, loss and his ambition to succeed.

For this body of work, Medina utilizes a variety of non-traditional sculpture materials, most notably hot glue, to create forms that inspire a sense of curiosity and wonderment. Other works in the series evoke a sense of childhood nostalgia, conveying a sense of disappointment at the unfulfilled promise of something as fantastic as ice cream.