Renowned Artist's Paintings on Display at Local College Campus

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Artist celebrates nostalgia of Rio Grande Valley with new exhibit at STC’s Starr County Campus Library Art Gallery. UPDATE: An exhibit reception will be held on Friday, Oct. 15 from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Starr County Campus Library Art Gallery.

“Iconography and Identity,” featuring paintings by Carlos G. Gomez will be on exhibit at the South Texas College’s Starr County Campus Library Art Gallery from Thursday, Sept. 16 through Friday, Oct. 29., 2010. The Starr County Campus Library Art Gallery is located in Bldg. F at 142 FM 3167 in Rio Grande City. Admission is free and open to the public.

Carlos G. Gomez was born in Mexico City, F.D. and raised in Brownsville, TX. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Drawing from Washington State University, and has been professionally painting, teaching, curating and exhibiting for more than 30 years.

Regarding the Rio Grande Valley’s “Tex-Mex” environment that inspired his artwork Gomez said, “Brightly colored buildings and the surreal atmosphere of Mexican border towns gave me the first appreciation of color, line and the generalization that my chosen images would be bold and realistic.”
Today, Gomez is represented in more than 60 personal collections and in 13 public collections extending from The University of California, Berkeley, to The Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, to The Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Rio Hondo, to The Institute for Latino Studies at Notre Dame. In addition, he has donated more than $150,000 in artwork to different organizations and institutions. Gomez currently resides in Brownsville and is a professor of fine art at The University of Texas at Brownsville.

In regard to Gomez’s art, STC’s Library Art Gallery Associate Sofia K. Vestweber said, “Throughout Gomez’s work, texture and color, together with the contours of shapes, are vibrant elements that evoke a refreshing harmonization for the viewer reflecting a message of life together with all its humor and imperfections. Furthermore, Gomez’s use of iconography throughout his paintings symbolizes his artist identity.”

South Texas College’s Library Art Gallery Program exhibits regional, national and international artwork, explores new visions and theories of creativity, and introduces innovative artistic expressions to the South Texas region.

For more information contact Sofia K. Vestweber at 956-872-3488 or via e-mail at libraryart@southtexascollege.edu, or visit http://lag.southtexascollege.edu.

Photo caption:
"Sand Giraffe Playing Soccer in a Sand Storm,” an oil on canvas painting by Carlos G. Gomez.