FORT LAUDERDALE – Forre & Co Fine Art Gallery is proud to exhibit the first Fort Lauderdale solo show of master Cuban painter, Arturo Montoto. An opening reception celebrating National Caribbean-American Cultural Heritage Month will feature an evening with celebrity Chef Irie of PBS’s “Taste of the Islands” and guest lecture by Neil Hall, Miami-based architect and curator of Urban Collective, Art Africa Miami and Soul Basel.
A reception for Contemporary Caribbean: Arturo Montoto will be held on Thursday, June 25th, 2015 6-9pm at 1007 E. Las Olas Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301.
This event is free and generously sponsored by landscape architects TBG Partners, Whole Food Market Fort Lauderdale, Original Bartender’s Selections, JBS Marketing Group. Community partners include: Blogger’s Block, Ventian Arts Society and South Florida Black Professionals Network.
On display now through August, Contemporary Caribbean features artists from the African Diaspora. The highlight of the show features the hype- realistic canvas of master Cuban painter, Arturo Montoto. Considered one of Cuba’s most recognized artists, educators and cultural leaders, Montoto’s oil and watercolors honor the crumbling beauty and life of Old Havana. A visual exploration of a moment, Monoto’s artistry depicts an event, held at the time – the unfinished narrative of converging shadows, marked by light, pointing out the frugal, simple and strangely insignificant details through ripe fruit and decaying Old Havana.
“ I intend that my work transcends to draw the viewer deeper into the space of reflection on the intentions of identifying pictured with realty, discovering it’s often ironic and hedonic elements,” says Montoto from his studio in Havana.
Arturo Montoto
Painter, sculptor, muralist and photographer. Member of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, Member of The Experimental Graphic Shop of Havana. Arturo Montoto studied at Pinar del Rio Art School. Later he continued to study at the National Art School in Havana where he received a grant to V. I. Surikov State Institute of Visual Arts in Moscow, Russia, where in 1984 he got the Master of Fine Art degree, in mural painting.
His works are in collections in Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center and National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba; the Lowe Art Museum in Florida, the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California, the Museum of the University of Virginia, USA and the Museums of Vatican in Rome, where his work “Aquí en la paz…” was received by Pope John Paul II in 1999. In 2008 his work was presented in the Latin American Christies Auction in New York. He has lectured on his work and about art in general in many academies and universities in Cuba and abroad. ¨Tántalo frente al estanque, a book about his work has been published by Letras Cubanas. He received the Distinction of National Culture and the Diploma of Artistic Merit given by the High Institute of Arts of Havana. From this institution he also received the special category of Consultant Professor in November 2007. He was recently recognized with the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in the category of Cavaliere.
