Saturday, September 28, 6-8pm
Bordello Galeria, Organos 19
free

By Misty Hackett

RUBEN MORALES Opening Night...MY MEXICO

Bordello Galeria, Organos 19, will be hosting the fall offerings of our favorite Morelian artist, Ruben Morales. The reception will be held this Saturday September 28 from 6 to 8. Morales will be on hand to greet patrons.

Morales has been a long time favorite at Casa de la Noche, where his works are featured in many of the rooms. Morales has recently endorsed the Bordello Galeria as his primary venue, and spent a week this summer as our "Artist in Residence" In recognition of the rapid changes in the cultural flavor of this country, Morales is naming this exhibition..."My Mexico"..

Barbara Poole, the exhibit organizer, first became interested in Morales's work in the nineties, and has since collected many of his oil paintings and line drawings. His typical Mexican figures and street scenes may seem simple at first, but his use of rich colors and limited, intentional marks reveal a more sophisticated art style.

Morales, 74, says, "I work to create a mood or emotion, not just a picture" He does this through faceless subjects in everyday situations; a woman selling flowers, an old man walking with a cane or a girl washing clothes. Emotion is evoked through posture, composition and color which is applied in broad strokes with a pallet knife or brush.

A former student of Morelia's Bellas Artes school, Morales says he rejected most of the traditional art education and learned from other painters he met. He works from his memory and imagination capturing the nostalgia of everyday life in the Mexican compo.

Morales esteems Diego Rivera as his favorite influence, but only his subject matter reflects Rivera's style; they both pay tribute to the common man and woman. Morales' gestural works are technically looser and more flowing than Rivera's, and without the strident political content.

In the past Morales sold his work in Morelia, in the artisan's market and on the streets, and also through galleries in Mexican Beach locales. He has been noticed by American collectors over the years and has had shows in Tuscon and Phoenix Arizona, Florida and New York. He has also traveled to Uruguay with his paintings, and recently won a French Painters award when a piece of his was entered into a competition by a patron. Now the Bordello Galeria is the official venue for Morales' exhibitions.

Bordello Galeria, so named because its location in the house where "ladies of the night" once made their living, takes up several rooms of the large B and B, known as Casa de La Noche.

Barbara Poole, owner of CDLN and a painter herself, uses her spaces to promote lesser-known Mexican artists and local San Migualesians. The fourteen room 'Hotel Boutique' is filled with art and is a cozy respite for tourists and travelers.

The newly renovated White Lantern Event Salon will be open in conjunction with this reception.
Please come and enjoy our hospitality and art.