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 News from Around Banderas Bay | October 2007 
Galleria Dante Reopens for High Season
 Claire & Joe Guarniere - PVNN
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Click image to enlarge | | "Una Carta" by Juana Cortez, who, along with her husband Oscar Solis, will be painting on October 16th & 17th at the gallery. | 
Click image to enlarge | | "Nude 1" by Andie Hathcote, who will be painting at Galleria Dante on October 11th and every Tuesday and Thursday through the end of October. |
After a busy summer, Galleria Dante reopened its doors on October 1st. We welcome Carlos Blanco to our staff and Victor Alarcon. Starting in October 2007 through April 2008, Galleria Dante will feature artists painting in the gallery every Tuesday and Thursday, from noon till 4 pm.
Since many of our artists live outside Vallarta, and collectors cannot visit their studios, we are bringing the artists' studios to them. At these "Open Studios", one or more artists will take turns painting on site.
Many of our clients have enjoyed meeting the artists at their evening shows, but with so many people seeking the artist's attention, they found it difficult to have all of their questions answered. We have found that collectors who met the artists while painting increased their appreciation of that artist's works. There may be other week days that the artists will paint in the gallery, and we will try and advise you in advance of those times.
To start off the season, Andie Hathcote will be painting on October 11th and every Tuesday and Thursday through the end of October. Also Oscar Solis and Juana Cortez, will be painting on October 16th & 17th at the gallery.
Last year our "Meet the Artists Nights" were very successful. This year we will continue with that concept, but add a room to showcase two artists, twice monthly. The artists will select 10 of their best works and be on hand to meet their public. The first "Showcase" will be on November 14, featuring oils and water colors by Luis Valui and ceramics by master Hector Buigues (1928-2007.)
Thanks again to all of you who voted us "Best Gallery in 2007," Guillermo Gomez "Best Visual Artist" and Oscar Solis (placed 3rd in the artist division) in the Vallarta Lifestyles Reader's Choice awards. We really appreciate your support of us and our artists. We would like to congratulate all the other winners also.
Andie Hathcote was born in 1976 into a family of 11 in rural Arkansas. The interest in the arts came to her at an early age. From tornadoes to trout, Cherokee crystals to cut-throat Christianity, Arkansas was the fertile springboard for artist Andie Hathcote.
Supported by family, teachers and peers to pursue her talent, Andie completed her formal schooling in 1998 receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Henderson State University in Arkansas. Having her debut in Hot Springs, Arkansas, one of the "Top Ten Best Small Art Towns of America," Andie unveiled her large, loose, figurative style to an excited public. She continues to share her uninhibited works with vivaciousness and a strongly, recognizable passion.
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Click image to enlarge | | "Caballos de Tiro" by Oscar Solis, who placed 3rd in the artist division for the Vallarta Lifestyles Reader's Choice awards. |
Hathcote also attended the Vermont studio center for a more intense study of the figure, but found most of her practice in a drawing circle she attended for 4 years. She received support and representation from galleries in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee.
In the fall of 2001, deciding to purchase a sailboat and go cruising, Andie closed all gallery representation in the USA. She and her husband made it to la Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Nayarit, Mexico in the Bahia de Banderas, but their 38 ft mahogany sloop was claimed by the sea in hurricane Kenna in 2002. After moving ashore and forced to support her family, she once again found a studio space and a disciplined work ethic.
Andie has continued to fascinate the public with her unique style and open personality. After having shows in Hawaii and San Francisco for the last 2 years, Andie is now back in Vallarta.
This past year, Andie has been forced to make many changes and has had to overcome some set backs in family life. This Spring, Andie went back to her roots and has found a new strength from which she draws a new creative energy. Her paintings take a new turn, the results: Well all we can say is "Andie is back."
Andie's Artist Statement: "Creating does not answer my questions, but it satisfies not having the answers. It forces me to search more intently that which is plainly shown. What is revealed from looking at something so closely is simple and sometimes tangible. Drawing from life quells the desire to figure it all out, and lets me simply be with what simply is. It is my offering!"
Oscar Solis & Juana Cortez Oscar Solis was born in Apatzingan Michoacan in 1958. He started sketching and coloring, like any other child, but excelled in the drawing classes in Primary and Secondary. By the time he reached puberty, he knew he wanted to become a painter. In his family, one of his aunts on his mother's side painted. He did not know her well, but through her paintings and long letters, he found inspiration.
Oscar is self-taught. He purchased his first pastels and oils, experimented with them, even ruined some by mixing them with thinner. With confidence he left home and headed to Guadalajara to become an artist, which turned out to be a very difficult task. He had to earn a living by doing portraits - knocking door to door. He was lucky enough to be accepted into the Escuela de Artes Plasticas of Guadalajara, but because of lack of money and his family's disapproval of career choice, he only attended the first few classes, dropping out.
So after returning to Morelia, he fortunately found the newly opened Fine Art Academy. It was there that he felt like a professional for the first time and received a steady salary. He began attending art exhibitions, met many other artists, both professionals and amateurs. His biggest influence, at the time was another student named Miguel Carmona. He participated in collective exhibitions with his fellow students in Morelia and throughout the state of Michoacan. He was offered work to paint some murals in the Yucatan Peninsula, where he also had individual art exhibits.
In 1981, while living in Merida, Solis married Juana and their first child, a son, Oscar was born. They decided that Morelia was where they wanted to raise their family, so moved home to work on more murals and while there enrolled in classes at the State Culture Institute to study art restoration.
During this time, Oscar was contacted by the National Indigenous Institute in Mexico City to do illustrations for several books. It was during this time, 1985, that Mexico city was devastated by the earthquake and the building that he worked in, collapsed. It was time for another move.
In 1986, the family moved to the Baja peninsula. After having gone through several disappointments in the art world, he decided to give up painting, one night burning all his paintings, oils, paintbrushes and easels. Back they went to Morelia again, there their daughter Maria Libertad was born.
It wasn't until 1996, after more than 10 years of not picking up a brush that he decided to paint once more, but more as a hobby than to sustain his family. We are all fortunate that he did, as his talent is "awesome" to quote many visitors to the gallery. After painting numerous styles under various pseudonyms, he still believes his best works of art are his two children, Oscar and Maria Libertad.
As for Juana, she was born in Michoacan, has a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Morelia. Has worked as chemist, mother and housewife. Once her husband became better known and busier, she started helping him out with his paintings until she finally had her first solo exhibition in Ajijic in 2005 at the Gathering Place Gallery.
Now Juana has her own following and no one can believe she has only been painting a few years. Juana has a beauty that radiates from within and it is this same light that she uses to paint breath into the women in her paintings.
Both artists paint in photographic realism: indigenous tribes of Mexico, horses, birds, nopales, Africans. They are proud of their culture and they love to paint their people. Galleria Dante just received 17 of their finest works.
To meet these three talented artists, stop by Galleria Dante at Basilio Badillo 269 (open Monday-Friday 10 am to 5 pm, call 222-2477 or visit: GalleriaDante.com |
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