Paisajes Y Frutos Ancestrales

EDMUNDO OTONIEL and JOSE GALEANO

June 18 - July 30, 2004

The ECS in Washington, DC, Debuts its New Summer 2004 Exhibit. Combining ancient Mayan influences with contemporary artistic styles Jose Galeano and Edmundo Otoniel are perfect complements in the ECS' new summer 2004 exhibit. The Espacio Cultural Salvadoreño, a LACS sponsored program invites you to take a journey through El Salvador's ancient traditions and eternal landscapes through an exhibit that pairs a contemporary and surreal take on Salvadoran nature.
Both artists lend a retrospective look at the most inherent and omnipresent trait in El Salvador--the lush natural environment. As if summer in the city were meant to remind one of the great outdoors, the Paisajes y Frutos Ancestrales exhibit has brought the tropical wildlife of El Salvador indoors.
Galeano and Otoniel are renowned for their attention to detail, magical realism, and thematic portrayals of Salvadoran natural treasures. Jose Galeano, with a more surreal tone, distorts the colors and figures of the Salvadoran landscape to convey the magical realism of the tropics. His ability to blend the hues and tones of El Salvador's ancient landscape with normally out of place purples and reds lend the pieces a character of vivid imagination, obviously rooted within Galeano himself.
Edmundo Otoniel finds the magical realism of his works through his intense realistic portrayals of Salvadoran flora. He matches his gigantic fruits with rainforest imagery and Mayan throwbacks to achieve the perfect match of Salvadoran origins--Mayan ancestry and tropical treasures. Stepping into the background of his works one automatically time travels back into the Salvadoran rainforest.
These are the Salvadoran roots one strives to remember, intact; where magical greenery is paired with the surreal mystique of ancient origins. The exhibit is the perfect homage to the Salvadoran landscape as it stands during the summer months in Washington. From late April through October El Salvador shall look just as it does in these paintings, and all that witness them shall be transported back to their native land, if only for a few moments of nostalgia.

For more information about other LACS sponsored programs and events see www.LatinSpace.org or contact Sara De Paz @ SaraHortensia@aol.com