Botero and Other Latin American Artists Now
dal 5/2/2004 al 18/4/2004
Segnalato da
5/2/2004
Botero and Other Latin American Artists Now
Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas
Fernando Botero is a successful artist in both commercial and popular terms, and a cultural hero in his native Colombia. His style, with its enormous and grotesquely distorted human figures, proclaims itself as emphatically as any commercial trademark, yet it speaks with great subtlety and with a kind of gentle melancholy.
Opening reception for members: Friday, February 6, 6-8pm
LAS VEGAS - The Las Vegas Art Museum will host two exhibitions of Latin
American art Feb. 7 - April 18, 2004. The LVAM Central Gallery will feature
Fernando Botero Posters: The Evolution of a Master, with more than 80
posters from The Enrique Michelsen Collection. The East Gallery will display
Latin American Art NOW, approximately 40 original paintings by a
cross-section of current Latin American artists, including Cesar Menendez
and Antonio Bonilla of El Salvador, Vladimir Cora of Mexico, Rafael Trelles
of Puerto Rico, and Olga Sinclair of Panama. The museum is located at 9600
West Sahara Avenue.
Fernando Botero is a successful artist in both commercial and popular terms,
and a cultural hero in his native Colombia. His style, with its enormous and
grotesquely distorted human figures, proclaims itself as emphatically as any
commercial trademark, yet it speaks with great subtlety and with a kind of
gentle melancholy. Botero's art displays the influence of such old masters
as Rubens, Velazquez, Rembrandt and Caravaggio, as well as that of modern
masters Manet and Bonnard. Ultimately, the satirical meanings of his
paintings serve to acknowledge and accentuate the ordinary world of politics
and society. For many, his unmistakable style in human figures, animals,
still life and landscapes represents the modern art of Latin America. This
exhibition was organized by the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach,
Calif., and curated by Alex Slato. Concurrent with the Botero Poster
exhibition, LVAM offers Latin American Art NOW, with paintings by a
cross-section of Latin American artists from both Botero's generation (born
in the 1930s) and the following, post-war generation. This exhibition is
curated by Dr. James Mann, Jr. of LVAM and was organized in association with
the Latin American Contemporary Gallery in Santa Monica, California. The
styles of Menendez, Bonilla, Cora, Trelles and Sinclair demonstrate variety,
international awareness and sophistication. On the whole, contemporary Latin
American art is not well known in the United States, and the LVAM is pleased
to offer this exhibition.
Menendez' works form part of the permanent collections of the Museum of
Modern Art and the Museo del Barrio in New York, the Museum of Latin
American Art in Long Beach, Calif., and the Museum of Latin American Art in
Washington, D.C. A surrealist painter and self-described farmer, Menendez
lives in the countryside with his animals and crops, painting in spurts as
he is inspired. He was born in Sonsonate, El Salvador, in 1954.
Known as 'the teacher of the feismo (ugliness),' Bonilla paints a Salvadoran
society in political and social crisis. His paintings depict kidnappings,
violence and fear, and are seen by some as grotesque, ugly, dramatic and
accompanied by a vulgar eroticism. Born in El Salvador in 1954, Bonilla
studied architecture, but left it to become a self-taught painter.
Cora is a celebrated protege of modern master Rufino Tamayo and an important
member of Mexico's current generation of artists. Cora was born in
Acaponeta, Nayarit, on Mexico's Pacific coast in 1951. His work reflects the
life and energy of his tropical coastal home and a social commentary on its
culture. Silhouetted figures, fruits and abstract forms populate his
paintings. His paintings are included in the permanent collections of the
Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, Calif., the San Antonio Museum
of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Trelles is an award-winning oil painter who uses Renaissance techniques with
original materials. He creates a mythical world of magical figures,
geometric elements, erotica, and political and ecological subjects. Born in
1957 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Trelles began studying painting at age 11
under the guidance of Julio Yort, and continued his studies with other
renowned Spanish and Puerto Rican painters for 11 more years. He graduated
magna cum laude from the University of Puerto Rico in 1980, later traveling
abroad to visit the most prestigious galleries and museums in Europe. He
began to pursue graduate studies in 1983 at the Universidad Autonoma de
Mexico, and then moved on to pursue his art career.
Sinclair is known for her gigantic still lifes and voluptuous human figures.
She was born in Panama City in 1957, studied painting with her father,
artist Alfredo Sinclair, and in 1976 went to the Academy of Applied Arts in
Madrid, Spain. While there, she also took three years of classic art drawing
lessons at the Arjona Studio. She obtained her bachelor of arts degree in
interior design in 1984 in Panama, where she also took engraving lessons at
the Giangranddi Studio. She continued her studies in London for another two
years. With her husband, she lived in Bolivia and Indonesia before returning
in 1994 to reside in Panama.
Botero was born in Medellin in 1932. He began actively drawing and painting
at the age of 13, and by 16 had participated in his first group exhibition.
In 1951, Botero moved to Bogota and had his first solo show at the Leo Matiz
Gallery, which was a great success. With the money he earned from this
exhibition, he traveled to Europe, studying art in Spain, France and Italy
before returning to Colombia in 1955. The following year he visited Mexico,
where he encountered pre-Columbian sculpture and the work of Mexican
muralists, in particular that of Jose Clemente Orozco. All of these
experiences contributed to his evolving style. In 1964, Botero fully
realized the characteristic style he is renowned for today.
The Las Vegas Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through
Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors
55 years and older, and $2 for students 12 years and older; children 12 and
younger enter free when accompanied by an adult. Docent tours are available
at 2 p.m. weekends and other times with advance arrangements. For more
information, call (702) 360-8000, or go online to the Museum
Las Vegas Art Museum
9600 West Sahara Ave., Las Vegas, Nevada 89177
702.360.8000, Fax 702.360.8080
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.