In conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month 2016
Sept. 1 – Oct. 1
Artist talk Friday, Sept. 16, at 5:30 p.m.
Artist workshop Saturday & Sunday, Oct. 8-9
Sponsored by Colorado Creative Industries and Luis Lopez

The Art Center is excited to welcome back Denver artists Tony Ortega and Sylvia Montero, this time for a duet exhibition. Ortega has been involved in recent years with School District 51—even creating a mural at Dual Immersion Academy in 2009—and The Art Center’s educational programs, but the last time he and Montero exhibited at The Art Center was in 1999. The exhibition will feature recent drawing, painting, printmaking, and collage by both artists, as well as video art by Ortega.

¡Del Corazon! is from the heart in more ways than one. The artists, who married in 1992, utilize abstraction, magical realism, folk, and pop art in the creation of mixed-media work that focuses on Chicano/Chicana identity. On the surface Chicano is synonymous with Mexican-American, but that definition far from encompasses its meaning. As with art, intention is crucial: Chicano and Chicana are chosen identities. They are not a label slapped on by census surveys, but an assertion of pride and political consciousness around one’s dual heritage. This association is due in part to the Chicano Movement, a civil rights movement of the 1960s led by Denver activist Rodolfo Gonzales, among others.

Sylvia Montero trained as a modern dancer and turned to visual art after the birth of their son. She has taught at the Art Students League of Denver for 18 years and is a fellowship recipient of the Rocky Mountain Women’s Institute. She has exhibited throughout Colorado as well as Bulgaria and Spain. In addition to exhibiting all over the U.S., Tony Ortega has exhibited internationally in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, and Hungary. His work belongs to collections including the Denver Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum, Museo del Barrio (New York), and Museo Estudio Diego Rivera (Mexico City). Both artists have exhibited in China, Chile, Mexico, and Palestine, and together they created a mural, Women of the West, for the Museum of Outdoor Arts in Englewood, Colorado.