THE ART OF SENSUALITY
March 19-April 9, 2022
Special Gallery Hours:
Friday 4-7 PM, Saturday 12-6 PM
and by appointment
Art Gallery 21 will present an exhibit of work from three local artists, all American-Latinex, born in Venezuela and Cuba. The essence of the exhibit is to explore art and sensuality through the lens of the artists who are immigrants and bi-cultural. Their work depicts a search for purity, purpose, stability and beauty, a search that is deep-rooted in their experience as American-Latinex immigrants.
THE ARTISTS
Ellen Blanco
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Ellen emigrated to the USA at 14 and has lived out west, in the midwest, New England and Florida. A graduate of Purdue University, Parsons School of Design, Rhode Island School of Design, she holds a Master’s in Art Teaching from Rhode Island College. She has long been interested in figurative work and began working with clay at the Boca Museum School of Art a few years ago. Ellen’s work illustrates how the effect of light, color and form is a counterpart to the strife to reach the spirit beneath the clay. The brushstrokes of color and value are meant to harmonize with a sense of structure that reflects the artist’s realism and expressive feeling.
Javier Lara
His singular use of mixed materials invites the viewer to examine the sensual nature of Javier’s mixed media work. His parents were his most important artistic influences, exposing him to different cultures and allowing him to have the world as his play ground. Born in Colombia, raised in Venezuela, Javier pursued his education in the USA, graduating from Rhode Island College in 1992 and receiving his MFA at the Art Institute of Chicago. He has worked with Art Gallery 21 on other projects, creating the painted doors for our 2020 exhibit, “The Book Project,” and embellishing a 3-foot manatee sculpture for our “Sea Cows and Sirens” exhibition in 2021 that will soon be placed in one of the City parks.
Juan Alberto Pérez
Born in Cuba, Juan explores sensuality through nature’s constantly evolving abstractions. He has studied Landscapes and Abstracts privately and at The Art Students League. More recently, he has embraced the study of Impressionism and Minimalism. Juan’s work has been shown in NJ, NYC, Baltimore, Miami and Wilton Manors. The inspiration for his paintings reflect his admiration for the purity and beauty of nature. His work embraces colors and shapes that are warm and soothing with a mellowing and spiritual essence.
“The Art of Sensuality” is curated by Javier Lara.
The exhibit will include a series of works created by the youth program at the community agency Latino Salud under Javier’s direction. A percentage of the sales of Javier’s work will be donated to the volunteer art youth program at Latino Salud.
