Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Chilean national and internationally-known artist, Patricio Moreno Toro, is the featured artist in the new exhibition this month at Ambos Galeria de Arte y Artifactos. Recognized for his large-scale abstract expressionist paintings, Toro is hailed as one of the most prominent Latino artists living in the United States.

Patricio is exhibiting several of his most recent paintings for the first time anywhere in this new show entitled Colores Finales. In his career spanning more than 50 years, this also represents the first major exhibition of his work in Mexico.

For this show, Toro has ventured into uncharted territory, producing wall-sized canvases in black and white. "Colores finales, it is an experiment - the absence of color can evoke powerful images that challenge the viewer to see form and content without distraction," says Toro.

Toro is also showing another recent series, Claustrophias Solemnes - framed, small-scale, three-dimensional paintings - primarily in black, white, and red - on glass. "I was inspired by the idea of working with readily available materials, which I modified, to compress what I do with my large abstract paintings into a small space, and to create dimension in a way that I have not seen done before." Toro explained.

Three other artists are also represented in the show - California abstract artist, Elizabeth Saviano; Montana-based painter, Stephanie Barrett-Pointer; and local artist and restauranteur, Humberto Salanova Colosia - each with distinct styles and perspectives.

Humberto Salanova Colosia's dense abstract paintings depict exciting cityscapes of such jewels as Chicago, San Francisco, and, of course, Puerto Vallarta. Also born and raised in the energetic city of Santiago, Chile, his flowing movement and blending of primary colors reflect his warm Latin roots.

Elizabeth Saviano is emerging as an artist from the San Francisco Bay Area after long careers in both medicine and law. She draws on her life experiences to create colorful, textured figurative works that abound with movement, light and humor. The imaginative paintings she exhibits in this current show are from her Circo series.

Stephanie Barrett-Pointer, known for her work with encaustics, has produced a couple new pieces for the show. Her featured piece, Ballena, is inspired by the natural world in and around Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Stop by Ambos Galeria, located at Basilio Badillo #261, and meet the artists on March 22nd from 6-10 pm, during the next Basilio Badillo Southside Shuffle.