PRESS: for IMMEDIATE RELEASE to All ARTS & CALENDAR EDITORS

PRESS: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE to all ARTS & CALENDAR EDITORS May 9, 2013

WHAT: Olga de Amaral: POZOS AZULES August 1 - September 28, 2013 No opening reception WHERE: Bellas Artes Gallery 653 Canyon Road, Santa Fe

Olga de Amaral, Pozo Azul 6, fiber, gesso and acrylic paint, 39” x 32”, 2012

Bob and Charlotte Kornstein met the artist Olga de Amaral in Bogotá in 1971. One decade later, the Kornsteins had established their gallery, Bellas Artes in Santa Fe, where they have exhibited works by de Amaral since 1986. This year, the Kornsteins are pleased to present POZOS AZULES (BLUE WELLS), a new series by the artist, opening at Bellas Artes in August. Renowned for her gold-leaf, textile-based wall works, and represented in more than 25 important museum collections worldwide, de Amaral’s POZOS AZULES reflect a rich and vibrant shade of ultramarine blue with hints of gold.

After creating the first of the POZOS series, the artist became intrigued with the deep sense of mystery they evoked, and continued working. Next, she turned to blazing red tones, titling this series SOLES ROJOS (RED SUNS). The SOLES will also be exhibited. The results of her use of fiber, metal leaf and opulent acrylic hues to create what she calls “golden surfaces of light” are extraordinarily stunning. Regardless of the themes from which she may derive each series of works, her art is unfailingly characterized by an elegant abstraction that belies simple “weaving,” as de Amaral transforms a typically two-dimensional medium into a fully realized sculptural presence. Olga de Amaral, Sol Rojo 3, fiber, gesso, and acrylic paint, 27 ½ ” x 28 ½”, 2012

There will be a separate room for de Amaral’s gold-leaf works, plus a large work from 1976 made of wool and horsehair, which was recently acquired from a major corporate collection.

In 2011, the Metropolitan Museum of Art held a Multicultural Gala: An Evening of Many Cultures. De Amaral was one of the gala’s honorees. Text from the event program states that Olga de Amaral’s ‘woven walls’ are remarkable for their technical finesse and their deeply felt essence of Colombia, her native country … where she studied Architectural Design before traveling to the U.S. to attend the Textile and Design Program at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan…. Color and structure are de Amaral’s most important formal concerns…, reminiscent of the [natural and vernacular landscapes] of her country.

A Guggenheim Fellowship recipient early in her career, de Amaral is a member of the Academía Nácional de Bellas Artes of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; San Francisco’s De Young Museum; the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York; and the Renwick Gallery of the National Gallery in Washington, DC; as well as in museums in Paris, Zurich, Kyoto, and many others including, of course, her hometown, Bogotá, Colombia.

Contact: Charlotte Kornstein 505.983.2745 [email protected] ### Bellas Artes Ltd. www.bellasartesgallery.com 653 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501 505/983.2745