The Art Avenue
The Art Avenue
hildegard

Featured, Gallery, Workshops

HILDEGARD

The Art Avenue

April 1, 2017

On Thursday March 30 The Art Avenue Gallery hosted HILDEGARD, All Beings Celebrate Creation: In the retablo tradition the second workshop lead by artist Harry Schulte as he talked through Hildegard’s life and demonstrates the process on creating a retablo that participants were able to take home.

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southwestscapes_feat

Gallery, Past Exhibitions, Social

Southwestscapes

The Art Avenue

February 28, 2017

On Thursday April 6, The Art Avenue Gallery hosted Southwestscapes: El Paso Through the Eyes of Terrance Flores, an art exhibition with works of Terrance Flores.

This man has a way with his hands—Terrance Flores, El Paso native, recreates Southwest landscapes with soft colors and a velvety brush stroke. In his premier exhibition Flores shows his passion for desert vistas by painting a variety of prickly pears with flat fleshy pads adorned with multiple colored flowers, the Franklin Mountains nestled in the background, billowing clouds above.

Carpenter by trade, Flores builds his own frames and uses his graphic design background to create Post-Impressionistic-inspired pieces with a Borderplex twist. Painting less than a year, Flores says landscapes are his first love, yet his multidimensional approach to painting animals shows a distinct style not indicative of the region.  The layers of colors spread throughout his work shows movement, texture and perspective and Flores classifies his work as graphic-contemporary art.

A graduate of Eastwood High School, Flores grew up sketching and observing his father paint Southwest landscapes.  He would spend time learning lettering skills with his dad yet never realizing he also had a talent for painting. “I had my own sign company at one time and this past summer, I thought I would practice my brush strokes, but instead of letters I drew clouds, cacti and animals,” said Flores.  He finished off some pieces with rustic framing, showing his carpentry expertise.

Forgoing the more traditional canvas and acrylics route, Flores instead uses oils and paints on vintage metal panels from appliances, boards and wood. “When I first noticed Flores’s work, I was drawn into the use of colors and how each stroke created movement. I was surprised to learn he’s only been painting for less than a year. He’s a rare find,” said Kimberly Rene’ Vanecek, owner of the Art Avenue Gallery.

Southwestscapes—El Paso through the eyes of Terrance Flores will be on display through February.

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Architecture, FeaturedEPCF, Insitu, Roderick Artspace Lofts

An Artistic Think Tank

Kimberly Rene' Vanecek

February 7, 2017

A closer artistic collaborative community is on the horizon with the opening of the Roderick Artspace Lofts. On Wednesday, the project six years in the making and with the price tag of $12.7 million, opened when 11 of the 51 units became occupied. The tie that binds the occupants of this newly developed facility in Downtown El Paso is that all the tenants are artists.  “We have a few musicians, a dancer, painters…and there is a music producer in here,” said Stephanie Ortero, special project director at the El Paso Community Foundation.

Artspace located downtown at Oregon in between Wyoming and Missouri is affordable housing governed by HUD and each tenant applying must meet stringent regulations to earn a spot in the now coveted units. “The residents have to be below 60% of the median income in the city. For an individual that’s about $22,000 and for a couple that’s about $25,200,” said Otero. Rent is expected to range from $200-$800 per month based on a sliding scale.

Donors and supporters toured the space housing 1,2 and 3 bedroom units as well as the El Paso Community Foundation Gallery on the first level—an interchangeable open area where the artists can utilize the space to exhibit their artwork or host performances. Otero said the space also encases commercial opportunities. “There is a series of commercial units that are to be rented to people who are either artists themselves or who support art in the community, and that helps offset the cost of the building.” Musician Jim Ward, Fab Lab, Proper Print Shop and Peter Svarzbein have already taken advantage of this opportunity located next to the gallery and should be moving in throughout January. 

The names of the artists accepted into the space could not be released, but officials say there is a waiting list since receiving 125 applications for the 51 units. 

Insitu, designers of the space, took into consideration the various art forms practiced by the building’s intended tenants and created additional studio space downstairs with protective sound so artists can practice or make work that creates more noise like metal smithing. 

Painter Diego Martinez was chosen as a tenant and says he is looking to help expand the art community in El Paso and feels Artspace is conducive in fostering the relationships between businesses and artists. “The atmosphere at Artspace is like no other. Artspace is such a beautiful experience to be a part, because everyone that has moved in is full of excitement that is profoundly contagious. It has been nothing but a positive and encouraging place, where artist can brainstorm in a comfortable and modern environment in the heart of this city.  The artist I have met, are motivated more than ever to tell the story of this region through the creative process and I am looking forward to creating my best work yet,” said Martinez.

Eric Pearson, president of EPCF said the building would be dedicated to Dorrance D. Roderick who was a strong supporter of the arts, “He published the El Paso Times for 45 years, he started KROD-TV, which is now KDBC channel 4, KROD radio, he loved classical music, he supported the El Paso Symphony. He paid its debts every single year so it’s now the longest continuous running symphony in the country. He was a huge supporter of the Community Foundation.”

Land developers Chris Cummings Sr. & Chris Cummings Jr., his wife Michelle Cummings and Katherine Brennand, community and civic patron, offered their leadership and donated the land but deferred having the building named after them.   

Roderick Artspace Lofts should be filled by the end of February 2017.  For further information please go to http://epcf.org/.

 

Photos courtesy of: Brian Kanoff and the El Paso Community Foundation

sucre

Culinary Arts, FeaturedBook, Roberto Cortez, Senses in Sucrose

The Art of Emotions in Sweet Form

Kimberly Rene' Vanecek

January 31, 2017

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Moules
Moules

A dark explosion of Amedei Blanco de Criollo chocolate hits your lips and sparks along your palette. The sultry sounds of Evening Star by Cannons plays softly in the background as you take your next bite—the cool, smooth invitation of cream custard with maple flavor candy capped mushroom entices you, revealing an emotional innocence surging from within…an emotion you embrace.

 

Senses in Sucrose The Art of Emotions in Sweet Form, a culinary artistic book scheduled for release in February, takes unfathomably decadent desserts and transforms them onto 200 pages of photographic exchanges marrying pastries to emotions. The chef, author and photographer, El Paso born and internationally renowned celebrity chef of 19 years, Roberto Cortez created 12 uniquely captivating and intoxicating desserts based on 12 different complex emotions to publish his first book.  

“The book will be based on inspirational photos of either people in situations or whatever it is that is related to that emotion.  So people will experience that emotion and from that I have what I call an ingredient page—at that point I marry the food that is connected to it to that emotion.   So you will see this ingredient photo that is connecting both of them and then from there I will actually show them the dessert that I created that is that emotion.  There is text in the beginning and there is this little bar and it will have fragments…the little bar has like five different shades, five different colors and each one of those colors is specific to that emotion and all of the colors of everything in the desert,” said Cortez.

Senses in Sucrose
Senses in Sucrose

Cortez created Symphonic Euphoria—one of the desserts in the book designed to play on at least three of our emotions as one relates to a song we remember from our childhood or impacted our lives to such an extent that it continues to pull on our emotional chords to this day, challenging our current state of mind.

It’s [Symphonic Euphoria] connected to the symphony but the components of the symphony are many parts and that’s why the eating process of this dish has many parts,” said Cortez 

“I designed it so that it’s chocolate based and there are different tools on this specific tray and plate and you taste the chocolate and you eat one of the elements—one of the elements is a Pinot Noir that is reduced by maple syrup wine and pomegranate seeds so that you just taste that, with a special spoon. That spoon was made by Jinhyun Jeon a female designer from South Korea, so when you release the spoon from your mouth, you’re thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s incredible.’ So you have a bite of chocolate, and then you have the other ingredient, and you have all of the flavors and they never mix with each other. It’s always like chocolate and taste that one, and chocolate and taste that one. So it’s a symphonic process of eating.”

Thunder East
Thunder East

Senses in Sucrose: The Art of Emotions in Sweet Form was funded through Kickstarter in less than one month, with 60 backers pledging $9,910 to help bring the project to life. Depending on your level of donation, supporters could receive recipes from the book, an autographed copy, digital images, work with Chef Roberto Cortez for a day at an event, a personal cooking class or photography session, or even a private dinner for eight of your closet friends. Kitchen Arts & Letters, the famed New York City bookstore which carries an impressive collection of wine & culinary themed books, recently offered to carry Cortez’s book.

The catalyst for the book sparked from a project in London where Cortez consorted with some of the best designers and artist from The Royal College of Art. “[It’s] the best art college in the world. Everybody who graduates from the Royal College of Art has these companies, people and designers who want to work with them because you have to be bad ass to get in and you’re super bad ass when you get out,” said Cortez.

If bad ass means you are the premier chef to present in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, then one could say Cortez is bad ass. The directors from the museum heard about the work his group had produced and asked the five creatives to install a dining experience.

Every element of the meal was thoroughly planned out—everything from the design of the spoons and plates to shaping the atmosphere and the feel of the furniture in the room. “This plate had the handle on it –the plate was angled every so slightly on the desk, it was very interactive and curious,” said Cortez” Furniture designer Tomas Alonso  from Spain created the table and benches. “It was very modern with steel, wood and colored plastics. There was dimension and an aesthetic feel to the table and benches,” said Cortez.

Dark Illuminated Forest
Dark Illuminated Forest

A lack of heating element in the exhibition room meant that the chef would be forced to serve a cold dessert. But Cortez insisted he must have a warm element to it. “When you have cold and hot at the same time it always creates dimension in your dining experience,” said Cortez. He ended up creating a warm chestnut muscovado cake combined with cool elements.

Directors at the V&A invited 14 guests to the dessert experience, where they were first presented with a specially crafted ceramic egg.

The ceramic eggs have a special scent in it and it puts you in a zone to accompany and enhance the food you are about to eat…the designer made it to have a scent in there—warm rosemary. So [the diners] smell it and instantly that’s a different part of eating, just by smelling it that changes your mood on what’s to come next,” said Cortez.

“The dessert was a Taiwanese tea handpicked—turned into a mouse with a liquid nose and it fit into a specially designed glass. You are able to take in the scent (more than just tasting it) with this glass and then I added rosemary oil on a plate and I made a rice ice cream infused with black truffles from France,” said Cortez. “It was basically Japanese rice black truffle ice cream.”

In order to maintain the momentum of creating the desserts he studied the psychology of colors and the emotions that are released when experiencing different colors. “I started studying consciously and sub-consciously our emotions that are connected to them, and the color of food—how it effects us and the flavor of food and how it effects us,” said Cortez.

Ceramic Egg infused with warm Rosemary
Ceramic Egg infused with warm Rosemary
The Victory and Albert Museum Event
The Victory and Albert Museum Event
Specially designed glasses
Specially designed glasses
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During his studies over the last five years he’s traversed the globe, creating culinary pop-ups in London and coordinating supper clubs with The Shy Chef in Germany. He was asked to guest chef in London with Nuno Mendes and in Singapore with Janice Wong. He was written up in noteworthy international magazines, bloggers and foodies follow his every move,  and most recently he was recognized in so good.. magazine #17 for The Tarte au citron perfumeé, alongside well known and awarded Danish chef Rasmus Kofoed. so good.. magazine is a biannual publication dedicated to professionals of the world of dessert, sweet and savory pastry, ice cream and chocolate. so good.. magazine #9 was his premier nod in the publication. “As I was starting off the new year with new directions and culinary aspirations, I knew so good.. #17 was doing the same as well.  Being chosen to be one of the key chefs/artists to represent this movement was very exciting for me. And to be amongst some of the worlds most talented people was humbling yet exhilarating.”

Cortez’s training began in Austin, Texas yet quickly escalated to Le Cordon Bleu in Canada, schooling in France—Ecole Lenotre, Ecole de Escoffie, Bellouet Conseil, and L’ Amandiers “Ecole de Soleil.” He also studied in Italy, Canada, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland as well as attending a seminar with Albert Adria at Spain’s Chocovic to round out his curriculum vitae.

Roberto Cortez, London
Roberto Cortez, London

Prior to his international projects, Cortez worked as a personal chef for big wigs and stars like co-founder of Microsoft Paul Allen and movie stars Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas. He worked for Murphy for nine months while filming in L.A. and said the star craved gumbo, while actors Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith were meat lovers. Cortez said he really enjoyed cooking for Banderas and commented on his unique relationship. “Once he said, ‘I am going to cook with you on a Saturday because we are gong to have some friends over and I am going to show you how to make Paella they way we make it back in Malaga.’ We ended up cooking for like four hours together and talking about music and soccer and basically, he taught me how to do paella and the paella I still do to this day is what he taught me,” said Cortez.

Cortez says chefs rotate between celebrities sometimes working six months but not more than a couple of years, however Cortez was with Allen for five years.  “It was great, it was an amazing job and I got to cook for many incredible people and do wonderful traveling but I actually started missing Los Angeles,” said Cortez.

Currently Cortez is working on dining experiences—signature international events held biannually. The dinners have been held in food-forward cities like L.A., Seattle, London and Berlin. Each event requires at least five months of preparation where 12 diners participate over the course of three nights, each evening lasting three hours. “I usually get together with designers—lighting designers, architects and interior designers—and I create a concept and let them know this is what I am thinking. I wanted to create a dining experience of being in the forest at night but it’s light, therefore it’s called Dark Illuminated Forest.  So [the space is] dark and illuminated…basically I plant the seed with them and they start to create their interpretation,” said Cortez.

Table scape, Dark Illuminated Forest
Table scape, Dark Illuminated Forest

While the architects and interior designers engage in the ambiance, Cortez composes a menu:

Liquid modules frites:  Mussel bouillon, hot french fry ousse, tempura celery mussel, fired parsley, Orval Trappist Ale gelee.

Thunder in the East:  Smoked pork belly, bamboo risotto and puffed crackers, lemon verbena oil, crushed spicy prawns and ginger.

Faux Stout:  Black truffle veloute, Venere rice puree, Blis maple syrup sabayon.

 Aztec van
Aztec van

“I think he’s a shaman—he’s a guide, a friend…he’s an artist.” said Tomo Kurokawa, a guest at his dining experience in Los Angeles and blogger for tomostyle, in a video about her experience at the dinner. “There is no way you can categorize him into one role because he takes you on this amazing journey through this dinner experience…My experience tonight was a full on sensory experience that evoked a lot of emotions with every course, and Roberto just seems to have that magic about drawing out certain memories and emotion…with the food.”

Christmas garden
Christmas garden

Cortez is currently a private chef for a family in El Paso and is scheduled for a dining experience in Seattle this year. He says an El Paso experience is on the horizon.

Learn more about Cortez, his book or upcoming events at robertocortez.com

Photographs courtesy of Roberto Cortez

lightsout

Culture, FeaturedCelebration of Lights, Downtown El Paso, San Jacinto Plaza

Lights Out in San Jacinto Plaza

The Art Avenue

January 5, 2017

Photographed by Brian Wancho

Don’t be left in the dark…this is the last week to experience the Celebration of Lights in the San Jacinto Plaza in Downtown El Paso.  If you have yet to take in this beautifully decorated Victorian theme winter wonderland, you have until Sunday, January 8 to witness this incredible transformation of the park to an illuminated playground for both kids and adults.

Bright lights decorate El Paso's San Jacinto Plaza for Christmas
Bright lights decorate El Paso’s San Jacinto Plaza for Christmas

For the first time since the 2012 Celebration of Lights, the San Jacinto Plaza was decorated with an abundance of lights, a towering 50-foot high Afghan Pine Tree featuring LED lights, a life-size nativity scene and interactive illuminated ornaments where visitors can pose for pictures.  The city went even further by introducing  Winter Fest; an ice skating rink situated between the El Paso Museum of Art and The Plaza Theatre along with a series of pop-up business selling anything from food and drink to holiday gifts.  “I was blown away by how much effort the city put into this,” said local resident Erin Upson. “It was such a great time, I will probably go again before it ends. There’s a lot of people there but there’s enough to see so you don’t feel crowded.”

It has been four years since visitors attended the tree lighting at the park after a controversial reconstruction plan delayed the completion until April last year transforming it from its historical, traditional ambiance to a more modern one.  Since reopening volumes of people have passed through the $5.3 million dollar renovated park to enjoy the fiberglass sculpture of Los Lagartos by nationally recognized artist Luis Jimenez, catch a game of chess or checkers on the concrete erected tables distributed throughout the square alongside table tennis and a splash pad not meant for kids only.  There’s even a cafe where visitors can enjoy a bite to eat and pet friendly water fountains are situated inside the park.

Residents are still in awe of the magnificent transformation of Downtown.  “I didn’t know there was so much to do.  The lights are incredible and there are so many people.  It’s beautiful,” said Raquel Finn, first time visitor to the park.

The lights turn on daily at 5:30 pm and the Celebration of Lights runs through Sunday, December 8, 2017.  

Bright lights decorate El Paso’s San Jacinto Plaza for Christmas
Bright lights decorate El Paso’s San Jacinto Plaza for Christmas
Bright lights decorate El Paso’s San Jacinto Plaza for Christmas
Bright lights decorate El Paso’s San Jacinto Plaza for Christmas
Bright lights decorate El Paso’s San Jacinto Plaza for Christmas

nancy-lea

CultureDiary, Nancy Lea, Tom Lea, UTEP

Girl, Interrupted

Jessica Nunez

December 23, 2016

The month of November is a month dedicated to the widely known artist, Tom Lea, however, this year a new aspect from his life was unveiled. The University of Texas at El Paso commemorated the late artist this year with a special exhibition that will be on display through December 22 at the UTEP Centennial Museum. The exhibition surprised many and brought to light a subject that lingered in the dark for years: Nancy Lea.

The name of the exhibition is The Notebooks of Nancy Lea, whom was the first wife of Tom Lea. Nancy and Tom eloped two years after they had met at the Art Institute of Chicago. They then moved to El Paso, but three years later Nancy died in 1936 due to complications from an appendectomy at the age of 29. “When people think about an ex-wife there are many negative connotations, but this was not the case,” said Kaye Mullins, education curator at the University of Texas at El Paso Centennial Museum. The museum chose to commemorate Lea’s late wife with her journal in which she wrote about various subjects ranging from her thoughts on womanhood in the early 1900s to her appreciation of nature.

“She was a woman with very progressive thoughts about the world around her,” Mullins said, “She wrote about things that were not being said at the time.”

Men do not begin to know that the Feminine World is like…they believe – at least some of them do – that they know all about women. If ever they could discover what any perceptive woman observes daily amongst them, they would speedily kill all of them without quarter. –Nancy Lea, Having Tea: Feb. 11, 1933

After her passing, Tom had discovered various written works of Nancy’s, including a finished novel, various short stories, and a journal that was not meant to be published. Nonetheless, Tome made 25 copies of the journal and gave them to close friends and family.

The exhibition tells the untold story of Nancy, but also includes quotes from Tom on how her death affected him, “She died here in El Paso. And I’ve chosen to blank that part out of my life,” said Tom in Tom Lea: An Oral History.

Nancy’s journal contains various subjects that were a part of her every day life – one that would be a major component in her husband’s life: art.

I believe the important factor in creating any work of art – a painting, a piece of sculpture, a book, a symphony – is selection. Life is a many-ringed circus, so distracting in its diversified component parts that one can scarcely see everything. –Nancy Lea, My Writing: Sept. 21, 1932

Nancy was a bright young woman with compelling thoughts that the Centennial Museum curators believe should have been brought to light with this novel that carries out much information on her life and that of her husband’s.

There is a great deal of insincerity and unfaithfulness in this world; but once or twice I discovered loyalty and integrity, and I caught a glimmer of how fine mankind can be, and knowing that the finest things are usually the rarest. –Nancy Lea, Questions and Answers: Dec. 3, 1932.

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Featured, Gallery, Past Exhibitions, Social

Expansion

The Art Avenue

December 14, 2016

The Art Avenue Gallery grows (and celebrates!) with Expansion, an exhibition featuring 18 artists.  Gift giving is easier this year with Expansion showing a collection of art—from jewelry design and metalsmith work to paintings and photography.  The Art Avenue Gallery has double its space with a recent renovation, showcasing a larger circle of contemporary artists and designers from around the Borderplex.

Expansion features painter Rhonda Dore`, jewelry designer Criselda Lopez, metalsmith Juan Stockmeyer and photographer Sirous Partovi. Other artists on hand for Expansion include KC Bean, Suzi Davidoff, Carlos Estrada-Vega, Hope Gurley, Steve Hastings, Miren De Leon, Jason Lucero, MARINO, Juan Ornelas, Adriana Peraldi, Chaps Tucker, the UTEP Metals Department, Brian Wancho, and Reggie Watterson.
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raisingsteve_article_cover

Featured, Gallery, Past ExhibitionsEl Paso art, El Paso artists, Oil paintings, Resurrection Row, Steve Hastings

Raising Steve

Kimberly Rene' Vanecek

November 16, 2016

 

Story by Kimberly Rene’ Vanecek

Photographs by Jorge Calleja and Fredesvinda Rojas

Call it a second chance, another opportunity or just call it Resurrection Row. El Paso artist Steve Hastings takes his original works of art from a dark period of his life and revitalizes them in vibrant colors, innovative images and ingenious textures in his latest exhibition Resurrection Row at The Art Avenue Gallery. Hastings shares how his addictions led him down a dark and desolate route but through rehab and recovery his path became illuminated with hope and the creation of a new empowered body of work.

The opening reception of "Resurrection Row"
The opening reception of “Resurrection Row”

“I didn’t want to destroy the ‘bad’ paintings from this dark time because they were part of my oeuvre. So I decided that, like me, they could be rehabilitated and together we would show those who had fallen from grace that there was hope, there was forgiveness and there was resurrection,” said Hastings.

"Blue Lake" by Steve Hastings
“Blue Lake” by Steve Hastings

Resurrection Row is a sampling of several repurposed canvases from Hastings’ drug-induced period in 2010, where he embedded whatever materials he had in his studio into the canvas. He said he is excited for viewers’ interpretations of his textures, especially since they were derived during delirium. “They are trying to make sense out of the textures, when in reality they represent, literally, the disjointed and convoluted mind of a drug addict. It’s like everyone speaking at once and nobody’s listening,” said Hastings, “it’s utter chaos. The final resurrected image is not only from the original image, but stands on top of it in triumphant rebirth.”

"Blue Cross" by Steve Hastings
“Blue Cross” by Steve Hastings

His studio is stacked wall-to-wall with life-sized paintings covering the last 20 years of his life. Hastings claims that many of his creations were so dark in nature that his friends worried about him. “It was more of a release of my pain in feeling like a total failure in love and life. I was suicidal, but didn’t realize it,” said Hastings.

One thing you won’t find in this show are small works of art hanging around. Hastings renewed canvases range in size from 36” x 54” to 72” x 72” for this exhibit. His affinity to paint big pieces originated when he move north. “When I was living in New York City and trying to show with the big boys…I felt that the larger the painting, the easier it was to get lost in the colors and shapes,” recalls Hastings.

"The Orchid Grinder" by Steve Hastings
“The Orchid Grinder” by Steve Hastings

 Originally from Germany, now deeply rooted in El Paso, Hastings first started painting in the 80s while he worked in various advertising firms in New York City. His large works of primarily oil-based art were exhibited internationally in Germany and Denmark and later displayed in galleries throughout New York, New Mexico and Texas. Hastings moved back to El Paso in 1994 and worked at UTEP as an adjunct professor in the Department of Communications and now travels between Austin, TX and El Paso showing his artwork in various galleries.

Despite his struggles, or perhaps because of them, Hastings spreads a message of positivity through his dark canvases. “Greatness comes from struggle and criticism, not sweetness and light,” said Hastings. “You will never get to go back and make a new beginning, but you can live now and create a new ending. Love your life and live your dream.”

"East of Eden" by Steve Hastings
“East of Eden” by Steve Hastings

Ressurection Row will be on display through November 28 and available for viewing in The Art Avenue Gallery store through 2017.

Resurrection Row

November 3 – November 28, 2016

The Art Avenue Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday 11:00 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday 11:00 a.m.-3 p.m. and Sunday & Monday by appointment only.

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Featured, Gallery, Past Exhibitions, SocialEl Paso art, El Paso artists, Oil paintings, Painting, Stephen Hastings

Resurrection Row

The Art Avenue

November 5, 2016

Guests from throughout the Borderplex turned out for an intimate evening for Steve Hastings’ Resurrection Row at The Art Avenue Gallery. Hastings exhibition incorporated original works of art from a dark period of his life and revitalized them in vibrant colors, innovative images and ingenious textures. Viewers were treated to a variety of pieces from landscape perspectives to color and nature where Hastings showed the images as the subject of beauty, not the object and cause for pleasure, not the consequence. His work are on display through November 28, 2016.

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Featured, Gallery

Family Ties

Kimberly Rene' Vanecek

October 14, 2016

 

A split show between El Paso artists (and family members) Adriana Peraldi and her uncle MARINO memorialize their beloved Beatriz: mother, creator and patron of the arts.

Story by Kimberly Rene’ Vanecek

Photographs by Jorge Calleja and Fredesvinda Rojas

One woman a day is diagnosed with breast cancer in El Paso and two women lose their battle to this horrific disease every week in our region.* Beatriz Rios was one who lost her life to breast cancer 35 years ago, and this month her daughter celebrates her strength, courage and legacy in her exhibit Un poco de lo mucho de Beatriz, which premiered earlier this month at The Art Avenue Gallery.

Adriana Peraldi at the opening reception of "Un Poco de lo Mucho de Beatriz"
Adriana Peraldi at the opening reception of “Un Poco de lo Mucho de Beatriz”

Beatriz Rios was a mom, a wife, a lover of the arts and promoter of artists. Rios worked with established and notable artists like painter and sculptor Leonardo Nierman, Mexican painter Diego Rivera and Swiss artist William Kolliker. Her admiration in this field was inherited by her daughter Adriana Peraldi who grew up in Ciudad Juarez and began playing in the arts around the age of four. The noteworthy artists her mother embraced fascinated Peraldi. “There were all these famous people she helped to get their art noticed,” said Peraldi, “It was around the age of 13 or 14 that she would introduce me to their fabulous colors, textures and dimensions. It was just amazing—the artists and the art.”

From left to right: "Globos en Azul" (diptic), "Embarazo" and "Mi Arbol" by Adriana Peraldi.
From left to right: “Globos en Azul” (diptic), “Embarazo” and “Mi Arbol” by Adriana Peraldi.

Peraldi, an artist in her own right, says she’s grateful for her talent, investing her energies over the last year translating that gratitude onto canvas, releasing her emotions and reflecting on her mother’s struggle with cancer: fighting the gossip in society, the art, family and friends with this deathly illness. “I grew up with her looking at how the breast cancer invited itself into her body and how she was fighting to keep alive, because she was really, really fighting against all odds and during the eight years you never noticed when she was in pain,” said Peraldi.

"Mis Globos" and "Me voy " by Adriana Peraldi.
“Mis Globos” and “Me voy ” by Adriana Peraldi.

Peraldi splits her collection Un poco de lo mucho de Beatriz (a little bit of a lot of Beatriz) in half, sourcing societal impacts on one side and emotional influences on the other. She explains how the cancer personally affected her mom, and through her paintings she creates human images of society and the mutated rumors it spreads and reveals her story onto canvas, masonite and fabric. “She was a beautiful and elegant woman—very popular, and at that time nobody would talk about breast cancer. She lost everything. She had a double mastectomy, she lost her self-esteem, her identity, her marriage, the husband, everything,” said Peraldi. “Even though the husband was there, she lost everything and how she was keeping life straight and working to keep the family together and saying ‘I’m ok, I’m fine and I’m going to fight.’”

"El Chisme del Pueblo" by Adriana Peraldi
“El Chisme del Pueblo” by Adriana Peraldi

From an emotional perspective Peraldi’s works are filled with passion and strength displaying bold red and blue shaped balloon images contrasting, intermingling and chasing morphed layered purples and greens. Other pieces reflect an explosion of dark colors splattered throughout the canvas overlapping various shaped images perhaps reflective of anger or disbelief.

“I tried to concentrate all the emotions—when you have it here,” said Peraldi, pointing to her stomach, “even when you are happy maybe some pieces are sad, but there are happy ones. The first emotion, where do you feel it? Aqui,” she says, again, for effect, pointing to her midsection. “For me really I think I feel everything here first, then from there it goes to the head then the heart, that is how I process it.”

"Un Sueño (Dream)" by Adriana Peraldi
“Un Sueño (Dream)” by Adriana Peraldi

And as processes go, for this exhibit Peraldi changed from painting definable human forms with acrylic to creating abstract images with mixed media and incorporating elements used in creating stained glass. “Experimenting I think is the best thing that can happen to the artist—and seeing how the colors come out and using transparencies,” said the artist who currently lives and works in El Paso and tends to lean towards her favorite color when creating art work. “When I use the color red—I like the color red—and when I saw the stained glass mixture and transparency came with the red, for me it was like the transparency was blood…and I equate that with love.”

Attendees at the opening reception of Peraldi's and Marino's dual exhibition.
Attendees at the opening reception of Peraldi’s and Marino’s dual exhibition.

Art certainly seems a talent that runs in the family. Rios’ brother Marino is also an artist (he began drawing in high school) who participated in the exhibition. From a tenured surgeon who retired two years ago to a flourishing sculptor, MARINO (the all-caps byline he prefers to distinguish his art)) uses various types of reclaimed wood found in his yard and incorporates them into his bronze sculptors. “I save these pieces of wood for 25 years in my garden, they were calling me for something,” said MARINO a life-long resident of El Paso. “I would look at them and think of what I wanted to do with them and then the sculpture manifested itself when I started to work with the wood.” MARINO said the wood was initially destined for the fireplace, but instead he took the wood in his hands and explored the texture, weight and length of the piece, turning it over and over allowing a relationship and an idea to formulate—then he would sketch out an image.

MARINO in front of his various bronze sculptures.
MARINO in front of his various bronze sculptures.

MARINO said he was influenced by local notable sculptor Julio Sanchez de Alba and has admired his work over the last few years. He claims that even though he followed Sanchez de Alba’s work, he is a self-taught sculptor.

“The fact that I am a head and neck surgeon, I know the anatomy well and that allows me to create or build a head,” said MARINO. “It doesn’t take me long because I know the bony structure which is the muscles and everything. It’s the gestures that are determined. In “Tree to Tango” I saw the wood first and then I imagined a couple dancing—but I had a third piece [of wood] so I incorporated it into that and so it’s a couple dancing the tango and I wanted to give an expression to these people not just a face.”

"Tree to Tango" by MARINO.
“Tree to Tango” by MARINO.

“Tree to Tango” is a carefully crafted piece created from the wood of a Vitex tree popular in the area that blooms purple flowers in the spring, mimicking that of a lilac. The sculpture reaches 42 ½” tall and nature created the base of the piece representative of a couple’s legs poised ready to take the next steps in a tango. MARINO carefully constructed the bronze heads of the couple, paying great detail to the man’s face looking down towards his female companion, expressing Argentinian arrogance mixed with the stubbornness of his culture. He positioned her gazing into the eyes of her partner, suppressing what might be laughter, as she seemingly tolerates his authority over the dance steps; All the while a young boy looks on in amazement as the two are entangled in the dance. Whether the boy is the son of the couple or a simple by-stander, MARINO says it is for the viewer to decide.

From left to right: "Ying and Yang" and "Modi" by MARINO.
From left to right: “Ying and Yang” and “Modi” by MARINO.

Peraldi did not hesitate to include her uncle’s work in this exhibit. “He’s part of Beatriz,” Peraldi said. “He’s always loved art and I saw he was working with wood and sculptures…MARINO is el sangre [the blood] de Beatriz, he is the brother of Beatriz.”

Un Poco de lo mucho de Beatriz On exhibit now through October 21, 2016

* Sources: North American Association of Central Cancer Registries & Center for Disease Control & Prevention (2006-2010, per 100,000 people)

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