EUGENE, Ore. -- (October 31, 2012) – The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art opens “Pinceladas en el Insomnio (Insomnolent Brushstrokes),” a new exhibition by Mexican artist Rolando Rojas, on Saturday, November 17, 2012.The show of twelve oil paintings are on loan from the Consulate of Mexico in Portland and will be on display through January 13, 2013.
Rolando Rojas was born in the ancient city of Tehuantepec, which lies in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Tehuantepec means Cerro del Ocelote or “Hill of the Ocelot,” and its inhabitants believe they are descendants of the Záa people, who emerged from the roots of fabled trees and legendary animals. Such aspects of oral tradition figure heavily in Rojas’ work, where human figures coexist and interact with creatures of mythic origin in dreamlike landscapes of intensely saturated color.
Rojas attributes the fantastic imagery that now dominates his canvases to the tales of his land and his people that populated his mind as a child. The elements of fantasy the artist first heard in stories from his grandparents and great-grandparents in Mexico are seen especially in works such as “El gigante del es bosque (The Giant of the Former Forest), where the hulking figure of the giant looms above the treetops of a barren forest. In other works, such as “Vitalidad (Vitality), a sense of eroticism is subtly suggested by the repetition of elongated and rounded forms. Though never overt, these allusions to masculinity and femininity, gender and the body, are seen often in Rojas’ paintings.
Rolando Rojas received a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca and a Bachelor of Arts of Restoration from the school of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. His work has exhibited in Argentina, Japan, Italy, Spain, France, Cuba, and Canada. Rojas was chosen for an individual travelling exhibition by the Foreign Ministry of Mexico and the show traveled to Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, and Nicaragua from 2008 to 2010.
“Rolando Rojas: Insomnolent Brushstrokes” is organized by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene. The exhibition is made possible by a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust and the generous support of the Consulate of Mexico in Portland, the UO Latin American Studies Program, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.
About the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
The University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is a premier Pacific Northwest museum for exhibitions and collections of historic and contemporary art based in a major university setting. The mission of the museum is to enhance the University of Oregon’s academic mission and to further the appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts for the general public. The JSMA features significant collections galleries devoted to art from China, Japan, Korea, America and elsewhere as well as changing special exhibition galleries. The JSMA is one of six museums in Oregon accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is located on the University of Oregon campus at 1430 Johnson Lane. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through Sundays. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens. Free admission is given to ages 18 and under, JSMA members, college students with ID, and University of Oregon faculty, staff and students. For information, contact the JSMA, 541-346-3027.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
Contact: Debbie Williamson Smith, 541-346-0942, debbiews@uoregon.edu
Link: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, http://jsma.uoregon.edu
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