UNIVERSITY NEWS - JANUARY 2004

MEDIA CONTACT: Stacia Smith
561-297-2971, ssmith@fau.edu

Photos available on request.
Works of Uruguayan Artists on Display at FAU
Reception and public lectures to complement exhibition

BOCA RATON, FL (January 8, 2004) -- Florida Atlantic University presents "Daniel Batalla and Gustavo Serra: The Path of the School of the South." The exhibition runs Friday, January 16 through Saturday, February 21 in the Ritter Art Gallery on FAU's Boca Raton campus, 777 Glades Road. The exhibition and all related lectures and receptions are free and open to the public.

An opening reception and lecture featuring art historian Cecilia de Torres will be held Thursday, January 15 at 7 p.m. in General Classroom South 118, FAU Boca Raton campus. De Torres will explain the impact of the work of Joaquin Torres-Garcia on this generation of South American artists. Torres-Garcia, one of Latin America's most important modern artists, returned to his native Uruguay in 1934 after spending 43 years in Europe. He established an art school that subsequently developed an identifiable following of significant South American artists now known as the "School of the South."

The exhibition features paintings by Batalla and Serra, and also includes works by Torres-Garcia and other Uruguayan artists who worked directly with Torres-Garcia, including Augusto Torres, Francisco Matto and Gonzalo Fonseca.

Batalla's paintings share a penchant for geometric division that can be traced to the geometric nature of Torres-Garcia's work. His paintings refer to the world of signs, printed matter, cartoons and grafitti. Flat in design, Batalla's works use thick paint and layering of images via transparent areas of paint. Batalla was born in 1960 in Treinta y Tres, Uruguay and currently lives in Montevideo, Uruguay. His work has been exhibited frequently in Uruguay and Argentina.

Serra's paintings combine large areas of deep color geometrically divided by sketchy lines that often describe abstracted figures or environments. The paintings suggest a calm and sumptuous dream world. They focus on selected details rather than describing particular spaces.

Serra was born in 1966 in Montevideo, Uruguay where he still resides. His work has been shown extensively in Uruguay, New York and most recently with Daniel Batalla and Roberto Piriz at the Uruguayan Embassy in Washington D.C.

Serra will give a gallery talk to discuss his and other works in the exhibition on Wednesday, January 21 at noon in the Ritter Art Gallery, FAU Boca Raton campus.

There will also be a bilingual reading of poetry and literature by Latin American literary masters presented by graduate and undergraduate students from FAU's Latin American Studies Program on Wednesday, February 18 at 7 p.m. in the Ritter Art Gallery, FAU Boca Raton campus.

"Daniel Batalla and Gustavo Serra: The Path of the School of the South" is presented by the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters School of the Arts in collaboration with the University Galleries, the Latin American Studies program and the Department of Visual Arts and Art History as part of "Voices and Images from Latin America," a series of exhibitions and programs presented in association with the Latin American Studies Program. The exhibition and related programs have been made possible in part by the Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs; Florida Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts; The Palm Beach County Cultural Council; and FAU Student government through student activity fees.

The Ritter Art Gallery is open to the public Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 12 to 4 p.m.; Wednesday 12 to 6 p.m.; and Saturday 1 to 5 p.m. For further information, please call the University Galleries at 561-297-2966 or visit www. fau.edu/galleries.
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