Dona Sebastiana by Gustavo Victor Goler

Arthur Lopez, among the most accomplished contemporary artists currently working in the santero tradition, has joined forces with two of his artist friends, Gustavo Victor Goler and Nicholas Herrera, to present Dime con Quien Andas, a group exhibition that opens November 28 at Parks Gallery in Taos.

“The title is a Spanish saying that roughly translated means, ‘Tell me who you hang out with and I’ll tell you who you are,’ Lopez says. “They’re both friends of mine, and the idea for the show really started with my appreciation for their work.

“We’re all very different,” Lopez continues. “Nicholas is very spirited, charismatic. I live in Santa Fe, Victor’s in Taos, but Nick lives in a rural village, El Rito, on the same land his family has had for something like seven generations. His father and grandfather were carvers, and he’s been through a lot. His work appears on the surface more primitive, but it’s very powerful and the ideas are so complete, so original.” The Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. has a permanent installation of his work that includes a video of Herrera in his studio.

As Tey Marianna Nunn, director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, has written of Lopez: “In much of his work he demonstrates a fearless ability to capture, often with sensitive directness, the secular and religious concepts and ethical struggles of the last few centuries. In doing so, he negotiates the balance between a beloved cultural tradition that can at times be confining as to subject matter, and the innate need of a ‘contemporary’ artist to be edgy and stretch artistic boundaries.”

Besides working full-time in his studio, Goler is an avid researcher on the works, techniques and history of New Mexican, European and Latin American carvers and has lectured widely on the subjects. His skills as a wood carver and painter – evident in the immaculate, contemporary flavored rendering of Dona Sebastiana (the lady of death) — have garnered him many prizes, including numerous First Place awards and two Grand Prize awards at Spanish Market in Santa Fe, NM.

Dime con Quien Andas
Exhibition Dates: November 28 through December 30, 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday November 28, 2009 from 4 to 6 pm

Parks Gallery
127 Bent Street
Taos, NM 87571
T: 575 758-0343

Press release and image provided by gallery.

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Tags: art, contemporary art, exhibitions, New Mexico, Taos

 

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