ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries Exhibit
Features Young Latin American Artists

Outstanding young artists from around the Caribbean basin are being exhibited together for the first time in “Young Latin Americans,” opening from 7-10 p.m. Friday, September 2nd at ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in downtown Coral Gables.

“This is a group of young artists whose careers are poised to take off,” said gallery owner Virginia Miller.

Artists whose works are in the show include Michelle Concepción of Puerto Rico; Arturo Correa of Venezuela; Hugo Crosthwaite of Mexico; Juan Roberto Diago of Cuba; Edgar Soberón, a Cuban working in Mexico; and Marco Tulio of Colombia.

Concepción’s paintings have been exhibited since 1988 in dozens of important public and private galleries as well as in major art fairs in New York, Miami, Santa Fe, and Chicago as well as in Spain and Germany. She also has exhibitions scheduled in Frankfurt and Barcelona.

Her most recent abstractions, evocative of cellular forms or ancient asteroids, are painted in a limited palette in blue, white and gray on a rich black background. Their soft, dreamy shapes appear to be floating in a bottomless abyss, visual meditations that invite the mind to wander among them.

Actively exhibiting in museums and leading galleries in his native Venezuela, Correa’s most recent work in Coral Gables was a 125-foot mural at 2525 Ponce de Leon Boulevard. Miller also arranged for him to erect a sculpture on Delray Beach’s Pineapple Grove ArtWalk. The mini-house, whose outside walls showed pictures of homeless people, was constructed with white interior walls, so visitors could complete the work with their comments on poverty and homelessness in our affluent nation.

Earlier this year, Miller gave Crosthwaite, a 33-year-old from Tijuana, his first major show in the U.S. This summer she arranged for his exhibition to be featured on the cover of “Arte al Día,” a leading Latin American arts magazine, and in a six-page article in the issue by Edward Lucie-Smith, a renowned British arts historian.

Diago has exhibited in major galleries and art expositions in Havana, New York City, and Miami as well as in Argentina, Canada, Chile, France, Norway, Monaco and Spain since 1990. The commentary on one group exhibition, at the University of Richmond Museum in Virginia, seems particularly applicable to his work:

“The strength of the Cuban people against the political and social instability of the past decade is evident in the strong personal voices present in their art works. These artists communicate beyond political belief and offer an examination of universal aesthetic concerns.”

Soberón had his first solo show in 1998 at the Associated American Artists gallery in New York City. He has participated in numerous exhibitions since, including important still life survey exhibitions at El Barrio Museum in New York City, the Albuquerque Museum of Art and the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, N.Y.

Tulio, greatly influenced by the craftsmanship of Old Masters in the Gothic and Renaissance periods, is represented by a series of figurative works based on operas. He learned to paint from his father, a well-known abstract artist, and had his first exhibition when he was only 11 years old.

Virginia Miller, a veteran art dealer whose gallery is in its 32st year, notes that during the course of her career, she has tended to exhibit artists that fall into two categories.

“I’ve enjoyed giving the first major exhibitions in this area to artists who have been overlooked by the art establishment and who are historically significant, like Alice Neel, Richard Pousette-Dart, Gunther Gerzso and Ramon Oviedo,” she said. “I also have found it truly rewarding to promote exceptional young artists like these who have not been sufficiently recognized.”

Located at 169 Madeira Ave. in downtown Coral Gables, ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment.

“Young Latin Americans” will be on exhibit until October 28th, with a second opening reception 7-10 p.m. on Friday, October 7th. For more information on the gallery’s historical exhibitions, visit www.virginiamiller.com.