Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - An exhibition by artist Jean Jacques Hudon opens at Galleria Dante on February 9, as part of this week's Southside Shuffle. Stop by Puerto Vallarta's largest and most eclectic art gallery to meet the artist and enjoy complimentary cocktails from 6-10 pm.

Jean Jacques Hudon is a native of La Pocatière. He studied and completed his studies at the University of Laval in Quebec where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a certificate in higher education. After an internship in France, he has been active for over thirty years both in teaching visual arts and artistic production. He has always made his pictorial research a priority and has evolved significantly since 1982. His works are structured, often compartmentalized. Reading is formal and frequently leads the viewer into the appreciation of the work.

Hudon has exhibited and participated in numerous group and solo works. He is involved in his community as is co-founder of the "Off Gallery" in St-Jean, Quebec. His stage is oriented around several themes and the techniques used vary according to the purpose of the work: mixed, oil and/or acrylic.

For a few years Jean Jacques Hudon has divided his time between Quebec and Mexico. Puerto Vallarta in all its excitement inspires and so his pictorial production of recent years, often composed of playful figurations, is animated by the local festive atmosphere that energizes his work by form, movement and color. This is his 4th season exhibiting at Galleria Dante.

In a recent series he reinvents the Mexican icon Frida Kahlo by integrating into his particular universe, that of the artist. He inserts either a winter in background, bare trees of his Quebec or simply bird houses. If in his work we find a guideline in the composition, graphics and color of the work, Jean Jacques Hudon wants to clarify that he tries to reinvent his imagination and push his artistic research ever further. He is not defined as a commercial painter but as a research artist who tends to renew himself.

* In 2017 he received the gold medal in figurative art from the virtual gallery "Cesure" and the public prize of the symposium of Rivière Éternité in Quebec.

"The best compliment a visitor can give me is to see the evolution and the change in my artistic approach. That I am told that my work is moving, change is for me a mark of appreciation." - Jean Jacques Hudon

Don't miss your chance to meet this talented artist for cocktails at Galleria Dante while you're out doing this week's South Side Shuffle on Friday, February 9 from 6-10 pm.

While you are there, be sure to check out Di Vino Dante, a chic wine and tapas bar overlooking the gallery's sculpture garden. In late June, Di Vino Dante opened a small dining area on the ground floor in a corner of Galleria Dante, for those who like to people watch. Be sure to ask about their new three-course dinner menu.