EXHIBITION PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Contact: Brad Cooper  813-248-6098
 

02.06.06
 

ERIC MONTOYA
Natures Seduction

F e b r u a r y  2 4  –  A P R I L  8,  2 0 0 6

Brad Cooper Gallery is pleased to feature a solo exhibition by Seattle-based artist Eric Montoya, titled “Nature’S Seduction.”   An opening reception for the artist will be held on Friday evening,  February 24,  from 7 to 9pm. 
The works of art will be on view from February 24,  through April 8, 2006.            

Fifteen paintings dated from 1996 through 2006 were selected to introduce the progression of his imagery in which a portrait emerges from a fleeting landscape.  “Art should be as seductive as nature”  is the premise Eric Montoya, makes use of,  in his painting.  He sets the stage for a magical relationship between a human likeness  and that of nature. Through the use of metaphor,  Montoya’s painting offers the viewer an opportunity to reflect on numerous entendres within each piece.  His work proposes a shift in the viewer’s perceived reality.

“These portraits hold my desire to create and fashion nature in our image, or at least my ideal image of beauty.  To take that beauty and have it become part of nature fascinates and excites me. It is my hope to introduce these ideas to the viewer and originate a provocative way to view the world.”    

“Born in 1968 in Salt Lake City, Utah and after living my early formative years with my Chicano grandparents, and extended family, we moved to south eastern Idaho. It was here that I grew up loving nature and good minded people but disliking the oppressive nature of a closed minded society.  My love of art and desire to live in a society that was open and inclusive brought me to Seattle, Washington to further my education. Everywhere I looked, and everyone I saw,  became a painting before my eyes.”    

-     ERIC MONTOYA

Brad Cooper Gallery
1712 E 7th Ave. YBOR CITY  (between 17th & 18th St)

11am - 5 pm / Wed – Sat  &  by appointment.