Vallarta Arte 60 Years of History at The Genius of Paco Studio and Gallery
A wonderful collective exhibition with the works of Puerto Vallarta artists who have been producing or have produced art in this city since the first art exhibition ever took place, back in 1949
Last Wednesday, January 6, we visited Galeria Corsica to view the works of San Miguel de Allende artist David Gutierrez.
A Mexico City-born artist who has lived outside the Federal District for many years now, David arrives in Puerto Vallarta preceded by an impressive resume that includes art studies in the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and being selected to be part of the High Academic Qualifications at the San Carlos Academy, sponsored by UNAM Foundation and Telmex Foundation; as well as nearly 30 solo and group shows in galleries across the nation.
Intriguing paintings by David Gutierrez distinguish themselves for the excellent handling of color, the legacy from the great Oaxaca artists; a lineage from which the artist recognizes being a descendant. “Tamayo is like my grandfather” he told us on opening night.
David sees himself as a historian, who, like ancient tlacuilos, portrays in his canvases the inexorable passing of time and draws references as remote as cave paintings, while assimilating concepts from ancient cultures’ cosmogony, like that of the Maya.
Thus his paintings acquire an ethereal character, with fantastic human, animal and vegetal figures which although anchored to a physical plane, appear to float in a medium that very well could be water or air; his characters are endowed with that zero gravity quality.
In David’s canvases diverse planes of existence coexist. The artist tells on the existence of beings that “although they remain unseen, we know they exist around us”. He refers to fantastic beings known as alushe in the Maya culture.
Stories told on his canvases unfold on ample fields of color, splashed with cosmic symbols.
In contraposition to the graphic and narrative riches the concerned viewer can find in each of Gutierrez’s paintings, the artist pursues a simple, basic language that can be accessible to everyone, thus allowing him to convey his profound significance to every spectator.
David Gutierrez’s paintings can be viewed during regular gallery hours, from 11 a.m to 2 p.m., and 5 to 10 p.m.
Galería Corsica is located on 230 Leona Vicario, Downtown, Tel. 223 1821 www.galeriacorsica.com