Luis Abreux & Jean-Pierre Verdijo: Piece of Me/Parts of Us
August 17th – September 22nd
Artist Talk & Reception: Third Thursday, September 19th, 6-9 pm, Talk @ 7pm
Mixed Media Workshop for artists of all ages: Saturday, September 21st, 1-3:30 pm, with Jean-Pierre Verdijo & Cabe Lindsay
New creations by Luis Abrex and Jean-Pierre Verdijo exemplify their versatile mastery across various media, each distinctly characterized by its content and style. Despite their divergent approaches, both artists share a common thread in their creative ethos. Their inspirations, drawn from materials on hand, resonate deeply with reflections on challenging yet culturally enriched childhoods.
Luis Abrex’s journey through life under the Cuban dictatorship intertwines with Jean-Pierre Verdijo’s experience, shaped by navigating the landscapes of New York City’s hip hop, punk rock, and art galleries. These formative experiences have nurtured them into established artists whose works encapsulate the essence of existence itself. Through their art, they seek to connect with audiences, inviting them to explore personal reflections and discover shared human experiences within their creations.
Luis Abreux Bio:
Luis Abreux is an interdisciplinary artist who engages in artistic practice regarding identity and connection. Using drawing, painting, collages, photography, objects, and sculpture, Abreux explores his cultural identity and heritage. His art holistically represents a storytelling timeline that expresses a myriad of his lived experiences that changes alongside his perspective on life.
Abreux obtained a Master’s of Fine Art degree specializing in Painting, in 1995 from the San Alejandro Art Academy in Havana, Cuba. He also attended the Taller de Técnicas Subliminales en el Arte y la Publicidad. He escaped Cuba in 2005 and resides in Austin.
With a deliberate creative process, Abreux aims to evoke emotion with his work. Abreux believes that visuals influence and allow the viewer to travel and find new creative dialogue that ultimately lead to creating new solutions. The human, the immigrant, the memory, the interactions of constant escape and the experiences of interminable travel leading the way, the canvas or the paper. His work absorbs and melts the before and now, the fantasy and the reality pictured in a surrealist diary that births real experiences and the absurdities of an experiment. Drawings, collages, mixed techniques, and all other mediums are used to support Abruex’ diverse formats.
Jean-Pierre Verdijo Bio:
While living in the isle of his birth, Manhattan, at seven years old, Jean-Pierre declared to his mother that he would be an artist when he grew up. Spending most of his early childhood drawing, dancing and on roller skates he was impacted by the pop, graffiti art and punk rock movements of New York City 70’s and 80’s. Upon moving to California at age 14, skateboarding, jazz and yogic culture influenced his early works. While studying studio arts in Sacramento he received the Wayne Thiebaud painting scholarship and minored in children’s studies. He now lives in Austin Tx, where he advocates for human rights, teaches art to teens with autism, and skateboards much more modestly.
Gallery hours are 12pm to 5pm Saturdays and Sundays or by appointment weekdays. Street parking only.
To contact gallerist Deanna Miesch or for more information, call 512-829-7727 or send an email to [email protected]
