The exhibition is comprised of thirteen paintings that are oil on canvas, ranging in size from 40 x 30" to 60 x 48", painted between 1985 and 2007. Alfredo Arreguin was born in 1935, in Moreila, Michoacan, Mexico, and has lived in Seattle, Washington since 1956. Alfredo began developing his unique style in the early 1970's, after graduating from the University of Washington with classmate Dale Chihuly. He draws from a vast memory of images that are rooted in PreColumbian mythology and archaeology, and has grown to incorporate Pacific Northwest imagery. These complex paintings remind one of intricate oriental rugs or Tantric paintingsin their design structure, and have a mesmerizing effect, inducing meditation.
"Alfredo Arreguin's pictorial works inhabit an elusive zone that lies between the real and the marvelous, between dream and wakefulness. All that is magic, the ungraspable, acquires shape, form, and color on his canvases. Yet mystery never ceases, something always remains hidden there.
He is the conjuror who, with his brush, can translate dreams into something concrete and natural, thus facilitating the mythological reconciliation of man and nature."
From Alfredo Arreguin: Patterns of Dreams and Nature, by Lauro Flores
Second Edition Published by the University of Washington Press 2007
This is the first time that Alfredo's paintings have been exhibited in Northeast Ohio, and it is an honor to have them here. His work is in many fine collections, including Paul Allen's Artcoutrust; Boeing Corporation; Microsoft Corporation; The White House; Art Museums in Portland, Denver, & San Diego; the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American Art; and the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago, to name a few.
Kokoon Arts Gallery is open Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays, from 1 to 5 pm, or by appointment. Contact William Scheele for more information, 216-832-8212
The gallery is located in the former American Greetings Creative Studios, now referred to as the 78th Street Studios. It is a huge, two-block long building that is home to many creative arts entities, including Kenneth Lesko Gallery, Tregoning & Company, Rachel Davis Fine Arts, the artist studios of Ken Nevadomi, Judith Brandon & Keri Gortz, and others.
Please visit the website for directions: www.78streetstudios.com
