MARY TOMÁS GALLERY is pleased to present TRAYECTORIAS featuring artists Juan Cruz and Fred Villanueva. Opening reception will be held Saturday, September 7, 2019 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. and in conjunction with the Dallas Art Dealers Association (DADA) Fall Gallery Walk from noon to 8:30 p.m. Exhibitions are free and open to the public.
TRAYECTORIAS refers to the idea that an artist can operate in different directions or forms of creativity that are born from operating in such a manner. The exhibition will highlight the parallels and differences of artistic forms created by artists Juan Cruz and Fred Villanueva, who can be found working individually and in tandem at Villanueva‘s vast studio space, Ash Studios, near Fair Park. Both artists draw from their Mexican American heritage and have very unique ways at exploring the contemporary world within their chosen mediums.
Juan Cruz describes his process of art making as culling from his life experiences to recreate his interpretation of reality as an artist of color. Sifting through long held religious and spiritual beliefs, societal issues such as gentrification and perceived borders, Cruz utilizes feelings of sentimentality, passion and aggression to adapt traditional Mexican imagery and colors to his contemporary visual language. Oil paint, mixed media, printmaking and charcoal are his chosen tools as he creates layered yet guttural stories. Juan works closely with Fred on several community art projects targeted to children through The City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The University of North Texas in 2019 and was selected as our featured artist in RADAR IV 2018 and Rising Star 2018 benefiting The Turner House.
Fred Villanueva uses his heritage, international travels and extensive study of art history to inform his creative process. Fred believes that the creator can recreate visual language endlessly and that it is his artistic intent to interpret, re-interpret and represent ideas intuitively through free expression, exploration of modalities and variety of forms. The TRAYECTORIAS exhibition offers an opportunity for Villanueva to gather his various constructs of painting, drawing and installation from different timelines in his artistic career that can encompass figuration, surrealism, cubism, pop and urban culture, and ancient anthropology into re-creations. As Fred states, “urban life meets primal energy meets high tech ideas.” While creating new work for MTG, Villanueva is also very involved in the creation and operation of Ash Studios, a monumental scale social art practice project in Dallas. The artist has exhibited in the USA, Madrid and Rotterdam and is collected internationally.
MARY TOMÁS GALLERY is a member of CADD and DADA and is located in the Dallas Design District at 1110 Dragon Street, Dallas, TX 75207. Gallery hours: M-F 10-5. SAT 12-4 and by appointment. www.marytomasgallery.com
More about Ash Studios and the Social Practice:
https://glasstire.com/2019/07/29/arts-orgs-grant-community-development-support-to-six-dallas-enterprises/
https://taca-arts.org/six-dallas-artistic-enterprises-receive-support-for-projects-focused-on-community-development/
https://www.culturebank.org/storybank/2019/ash-studios
https://www.smu.edu/Meadows/NewsAndEvents/News/2019/190716-igniteartsdallas-culturebank
