Two Showrooms, Four Mexican Artists at Galleria Dante & Galleria AnDante Joseph Guarniere - Galleria Dante
January 20, 2013

Plan to attend the cocktail party exhibition opening of four incredible Mexican artists Israel ZZepda, Guillermo Brockmann, Alvaro Zardoni, and Edgar Martinez in at Galleria Dante & Galleria AnDante in Puerto Vallarta on Friday, January 25, from 6:00 to 10:00 pm.

Israel ZZepda

Was born in 1971 and just celebrated his 26th Anniversary as a professional artist. He has been painting and drawing for more than 35 years, but also sculpts in paper mache, bronze & cast aluminum.

The general public is constantly surprised at the huge body of work he has produced for a man so young. He became an apprentice at the age of 15. A full time art teacher at the age of 19, Zzepda has influenced many young artists, including various members of his own family who are aspiring artists.

He taught art and fashion illustration for more than 13 years. He has also painted more than 1000 meters of murals in both public and private places in Cancun, Uruapan, Michoacán and Jalisco. And in addition to this, he completed 6 murals in Sardinia, Italy in 2011. After visiting museums in Florence, Rome and Spain, he vowed never to exhibit his work unframed again.

It is worth a visit to his show, just to view the frames created for each painting, a work of art in themselves. There is a sensitivity, innocence and a refined discipline about this young man. His work penetrates into the religious, spiritual, sexual and existential realms, reflecting over the truth and questioning established thinking.

He is not afraid to express himself. "The artist is a reflection of daily life. I want to be a chronicle of my time," says Zzepda who seeks to be honest and reflect his own unique style in all of his work.

Texture also plays an important role in the idealized handling of the human figure. He can paint photo-realistic portraits, but instead sacrifices a little of the perfection of the human figure, in hopes of revealing the interior of himself. "We are all good and bad, we construct and we destroy, we are of light and somewhat dark, journeying daily through the streets of the planet."

His imaginative capacity, is perhaps, the most dominant visual feature of his work. The viewer will possibly be intrigued and will wish to apprehend the thematic contents of his paintings. He reveals himself as a witness of human suffering.

The work of Zzepda appears to be recreating ambiguous and mysterious worlds. Therefore at times his paintings portray strange, desolate environments. Zzepda also displays serene and sometimes humorous eroticism. Also, the artist embraces notoriously religious topics, as well as ontological and metaphysical subjects.

Visit Zzepda on Facebook.

Guillermo Brockmann

Guillermo Brockmann, better known as Pipo, was born in Mexico City and raised in Guadalajara. He is the son of a Mexican architect and an American painter. He received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of design and his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

He lives in Boca de Tomatlan with several cats, at least five dogs, two horses, chickens, and a mule, at the edge of the river surrounded by lush vegetation. The pulse of this geography, and these living things are captured in his paintings and sculpture.

Pipo's paintings of dogs, animals, trees, landscapes and the human figure dance with color on the two dimensional surface. With dabs and knives full of impasto color, brushstrokes and dribbles of loose paint he builds layer upon layer of information, developing and deleting, making bold choices and finally exposing his image.

In the end we see surfaces with the same energy authenticity and freshness that his sculptures command. Dogs stretch themselves out across the canvases or look at you with their heads cocked as if reacting to your approach, monkey ear trees spread their abundant branches, lush,  heavy with foliage, cocky roosters crow, and a human face speaks to you silently.

"Creating a piece is half of its life, the other half lives in the eye of the beholder. You begin to understand, it is not just about the painting, it is about a point of view, where you stand in time and how you see your world."

Visit Brockman on Facebook.

  
Alvaro Zardoni

He was born in Mexico City's "Colonia Roma" neighborhood, studied painting and drawing at Irene Lindroth's studio from 1975 to 1988.

He started to work in sculpture in an independent way, experimenting with various materials until he settled on bronze.

His sculpture, mostly figurative, is usually accompanied by different found objects that reinforce the original idea of each piece. His reference to both Classical and Mediterranean sculpture also take into consideration mythological themes, literary characters or those derived from legends.

He graduated from the School of Architecture at the Universidad Anahuac (Mexico City, in 1987).  "From earliest childhood I knew I was going to be an artist. I felt like an artist.."

His works form part of private collections in México, Canada, USA, South America and Europe.

This year he has done his first series of women, who he depicted as mermaids. "When I was quite young I read something Louise Nevelson wrote and that has stayed with me ever since. I love her work and admire the courage she had to give up everything and become an artist... I have studied the work, of Rodin, then Aristide Maillol, Camille Claudel, Josep Clará, Subirachs and Arno Breker... and more recently Robert Graham and Javier Marin. They all have marked me in some way, perhaps very subtly, but I try not to copy anyone... I have tried to find my own way of expression... "

Visit Zardoni on  Facebook.  

Edgar Martinez

Born in Toluca, Mexico, Martinez came to Vallarta at the age of 6. He studied art for 5 years in Guadalajara.

He feels inspired and influenced by the great masters, but has worked diligently to create his own style, compositions and perspective through his study of their masterpieces. He considers himself a surrealist with a basis in the classics.

There is a richness to his paintings that makes one ask if he was trained in Europe.

Edgar also draws from his Mexican culture to create the subjects in his paintings, often depicting bull fighters or bulls, or village scenes, street scenes, horses.

He continues to work in a medium of marble powder mixed with oil, painstakingly layered to create textures. He feels the technique allows him to express himself more as an "expressionist than a realist."

Light is crucial in his work and he feels the layers give his paintings life. In his recurring theme of the circus, he sees it as a reflection of daily life. Symbols like the horse refer to strength. The people have a more symbolic form, sometimes exaggerated.

There is a strength transmitted by the textures in the human figures or in the tones of his main colors: ochre, red and blue.

One thing for sure, Edgar's confidence and his discipline in his own works never fails to surprise us and always leaves us wanting to see more.

Visit Martinez on Facebook.

Galleria Dante is located in Old Town Vallarta at Basilio Badillo #269. Telephones are (322) 222-2477 or cellular at 044-322-109-0837. Email is galleriadante@gmail.com or visit Galleria Dante for more information.