ASTOLFO FUNES IN ITALY
Historias de Vida on exhibit through December 10, 2008 at Galeria Primo Piano
To visit the Primo Piano website and read the text by Dores Sacquegna Click here

ESPERANZA LEON: ILLUMINATING LATIN AMERICAN ART
THE EAST HAMPTON STAR, 2 OCTOBER 2008
to read the article by Janet Goleas, Click here

MARIA SCHON EXHIBITING AT SPANIERMAN
24 April - 19 May 2008

Click here for Spanierman exhibition information and images.

JESUS MATHEUS: VISUAL MANUAL
CLA Gallery, Center for Latino Arts 85 West Newton Street, Boston
20 March - 30 April - opening reception, 20 March, 6-9 pm
Gallery Talk with the Artist, 16 April, 6-8 pm

Jesus Matheus presents a precise selection of new works that include minimal, abstract oil paintings, prints, drawings, and three dimensional wood constructions. This cohesive presentation confirms the maturity of Matheus’ work and the artist’s place in the notable resurgence of abstract geometric art.

Esperanza Leon participated in the selection and installation of this exhibition, and also contributes to the exhibition catalogue which will be presented at the Gallery Talk.

To view works and the installation online, Click here

l - r: Jesus Matheus, Esperanza Leon, Terence McCulley, Elisabeth Gonzalez

IN THE NEWS IN VENEZUELA!

January 30, 2008, Interview by Angel Gomez in El Universal, a national newspaper in Venezuela

[Translation below]

Saturday, February 2, 2008, Radio Interview on Jazz 95.5 FM, Caracas
Entre Aplausos, with Marcos Reyes Andrade, Patty Oliveros, and Jorge Palacios.
Esperanza León was interviewed along with her colleague Cesar León, a performance artist based in Maracay, Venezuela, talking about plans for an upcoming performance festival in the Hamptons (TBA).

http://entreaplausos.blogspot.com/

Jorge Palacios, Cesar León, Patty Oliveros, Esperanza León, Marcos Reyes Andrade

[English translation of Universal interview]
Ángel Ricardo Gomez for El Universal, Caracas, Venezuela, January 30, 2008
For the Venezuelan Esperanza León, the boom of Latin American art in the United States is not a myth; in fact, she considers herself part of the phenomenon, as she has a gallery (sic) in East Hampton, New York, from which she promotes artistic proposals from this part of the world, especially from the state of Aragua.

Through her gallery, called Solar (www.artsolar.com) have passed creators like Astolfo Funes, Eduardo Bárcenas, and Maria Schön, as well as Uruguayans Gaston Valín and Aurelio Torres, the Mexican Vargas-Suarez Universal and Lihie Talmor, born in Israel, but raised in Venezuela (sic).

Has the perception of Latin American Art changed in the United States?
-In recent years I have witnessed a change in prejudices and stereotypes, when we used to be associated with jungle, loin cloths… There has always been some confusion and for me it has been important to educate, guide.

But could one speak of a boom in Latin American Art?
-Yes. There is one in the sense that it is being given the significance it has not enjoyed in past. For example, the Museum of Modern Art has created the position of Curator of Latin American Art. That is a very important step, and with the renovation of the museum, the galleries were reconfigured and the collection reinstalled in a way that a Reverón is next to a Picasso and a Giacometti, all in dialogue.

And what do you think has produced this phenomenon?
-Because of people like me, I suppose. I think those are the cycles, I have been in this since I was a student and I believe it has been evolving. There are people with the same interest as me to promote another kind of art.

Do you think there has been a change in the artists’ language? Perhaps they are more universal?
-They have always been universal, because the artists who are truly, truly successful are those who have a universal language, that any person can comprehend… They start off from the local, but the language they finally evolve is much broader.

Do you believe there is a crisis in art in the United States?
-Yes, I do. I am close to New York [City], I go to the galleries and don’t feel there is anything worthwhile, there is a lack of content, emotion, clarity of vision in the artists, and the funny thing is that when I see something I like, it turns out to be Latin American.

And what might be the causes of this apparent crisis?
Sometimes I ask myself if it’s not the schools, there are many artists studying, doing their Masters, graduate and post-graduate work, and they are not taught to express themselves in a truly authentic way, it’s conceptual, ideas…

Can one be taught to be authentic in art?
-No, one is definitely born with that. For me the artist is born, that is, he is not nurtured, it is innate; the artists that I know, if they do not paint, print or do something with a medium, it’s as if they do not breathe. What is occurring also is that it has become a business, the artists study in the United States and do graduate work, not to learn more, but to make contacts and insert themselves in the circuit of galleries and be famous. That is what’s happening: all of them want to be the rock stars, whereas here I still find myself with artists who are authentic, true artists, clear in what they want to do.

So is there also a boom in Asian and African art?
-Totally.

What do you propose to do with your gallery over the next years?
-I would like to continue as I have been until now, with a program that is perhaps a bit more slow, more researched, more concepts.
I am and will continue focused on Latin America, but I have begun to include artists from other cultures.