Centro de Artes opens a new exhibit Thursday, June 27 born of a special artistic partnership.
For those who haven’t been, Centro De Artes is at the east end of Market Square at Santa Rosa Street.
The two-story exhibit is made up of of mostly large works and has an interesting genesis; one that brings immigrant artists and established San Antonio artists together in a mentorship relationship.
This exhibit’s co-curator Luis Valderas said the art is very good, and very plentiful.
"We've got prints, we've got photographs, we've got sculptures. We've got a giant mammoth centered in a pool of nails in the top floor,” he said. “There's a skull rack on the bottom floor and there's an area with flags hanging in the front. There's a lot of work, yes."
He added the art program was established by the New York Foundation for the Arts to connect local artists with immigrant artists, which helps introduce artistic networks and institutions of cities.
Immigration is a common artistic theme here, but each piece has a deeper, unique significance. Valderas said he was very moved by some of them.
"Some of the pieces make me cry because of the current events that they address, and also these beautiful pieces that take you to a peaceful place and let you meditate and surround yourself with beauty,” he said. “And pieces that make you ask yourself, 'what about that?'"
Each new turn in the gallery introduces you to a new pair of artists using their own media and operating from a different view. Valderas is impressed with the large number of works.
"We lost count at 150 [pieces], but we're showing 28 artists. And on opening night we're going to have four performances," he said.
The exhibit is free and open to the public.
IF YOU GO What: NYFA Immigrant Artist Show Where: Centro De Artes When: Opens 6 p.m. Thursday Cost: free
Jack Morgan can be reached at Jack@TPR.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii.
