Paintings by Ricardo Santos Hernandez and sculptures by Alfonso “Piloto” Nieves Ruiz will be featured in “Urban Flashback,” this year’s Hispanic Heritage Exhibition at Elmhurst College.
In their work, the artists express concern for mankind’s well-being as he is consumed by the dangers of the industrialized world and becomes further estranged from nature. “Piloto” forms fantastic creatures made of clay and found objects that inhabit the world of the dream and myth but that convey a powerful message about existence. Santos Hernandez, inspired by the industrialized setting of his studio in Chicago, creates paintings that express the themes of industrialism and destruction.
The “Urban Flashback” exhibition is on display in two venues. It can be viewed days and evenings in the Founders Lounge of the Frick Center from Monday, September 14, through Saturday, October 17; and on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in the Barbara A. Kieft Accelerator ArtSpace from Tuesday, September 15 through Tuesday, September 29.
A reception with the artists will be held on Tuesday, September 15, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Barbara A. Kieft Accelerator ArtSpace, with an artist talk at 5:00 p.m. Both the exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. For more information, call (630) 617-5186.
The Hispanic Heritage Exhibition is one of about a dozen art shows that Elmhurst College hosts each academic year in two campus venues. In addition, the College’s A.C. Buehler Library permanently houses the College’s unparalleled collection of Chicago Imagist and Abstractionist Art, which explores the vibrant, often outrageous, yet precisely crafted works of Chicago artists between 1950 and the present. For more information, please contact Suellen Rocca at (630) 617-6110 or srocca@elmhurst.edu.