The Rozsa Centre Gallery opened an exhibition for the works of artists Ross Chaney and Raquel Alvizures on Friday, Feb. 16 running through March 31. On Friday, March 2, a reception was held with the artists where they spoke about the collection of these vibrant and stirring masterpieces.
Ross Chaney, currently in residence at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, is originally from Oklahoma. He is a member of the Osage and Cherokee tribes. Chaney, an economic development specialist for the city of Santa Fe, is a self-taught artist who suffered from severe dyslexia as a child. In his work, one experiences a stark contrast of bright colors with black, depicting a certain amount of sadness. Most of his work stands out as a metaphor expressing hidden feelings of melancholy and dissatisfaction. In his freehand components of creations, he explores different patterns and a variety of colors. These are representational abstracts.
He has worked to create numerous sublime, exotic masterpieces which are unlike anything of his contemporaries. Chaney has also received a master’s degree in international relations and says that these efforts have helped him resolve his grief that came from the early death of his parents. Chaney says that he has an idea in his mind, a starting point to begin, then, it’s more experimentation: figuring out colors, the palette and the mix. This brings out a natural feel in his work, every piece being unique in its own way. Chaney’s free and liberal use of color is reminiscent of the beadwork he grew up seeing in his childhood.
Raquel Alvizures lives and works in Guatemala City, Guatemala. This exhibition of their work is curated by Lisa Gordillo, Assistant Professor, Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Tech. Gordillo felt the need to display the artist’s work as it showed the intent and deep ties with the culture and stories which were the reason for their creation. Gordillo also felt that the works of an artist are stories which can be expressed in this way better than any else. Alvizures’s paintings are renowned for being geometrically abstract and patterned paintings which focus on expressing the fleeting moments of human lives and the stories of Alvizures’s cultural background. Guatemalan critic Juan B. Juarez writes, “through her elemental, magical and vital forms …one can glimpse fleeting fragments of mythical stories and narratives that …bring to reality the mysterious dimension of the sacred: embryonic forms wrapped in the color of earth, sky and fire that remind us of prehistoric rock art…” Raquel Alvizures’s works show signs of a free spirit, mercurial yet steadfast with characteristics inclined with an undying love of nature and a natural proclivity towards creating something orderly from chaos. The artist’s visit is supported in part by Tech’s Visiting Women and Minority Lecture series (VWMLSS) which is funded by a grant to the Office of Institutional Equity and Inclusion from the State of Michigan’s King-Chavez-Parks Initiative.
Another thing that makes her trip here even more special is that she will utilize her free time during this visit to create a mural for the Rozsa Center. The public is welcome to visit with the artist from March 5 to March 9 in the North Mezzanine of the Rozsa Lobby as she paints the mural.
The gallery hours are from Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. The exhibition is completely free for everyone and art enthusiasts are invited to experience the stories revealed through the masterpieces. For more information about the exhibition, please contact A-gallery director Lisa Gordillo, Assistant Professor, Visual and Performing Arts, at gordillo@mtu.edu or call her office at 906-487-3096.
