Open May 11 – June 18.
Art Gym Gallery is excited to present, “Three Indigenous Chicanos”, an exhibition of new work from artists Tony Ortega, Sylvia Montero, and Cipriano Ortega. Join us and the artists for an opening reception on Thursday May 11 from 6-9PM. Thank you to Ratio Beerworks for providing beer for this event!
Tony Ortega holds an MFA in drawing and painting from the University of Colorado and is currently a professor for Regis University. In 2018 he was the Regis College faculty lecture of the year. He was the recipient of the coveted Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts (1999) and the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts (1998). He has been a working artist for the past 39 years and professor for the past 19 years. Tony Ortega’s lifelong goal is to contribute to a better understanding of cultural diversity by addressing the culture, history and experiences of Chicanos/Latinos through his art. His work can be found in the collections of the Denver Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum and the Blanton Museum of Art. He has exhibited extensively in the Southwestern United States, Latin America and other parts of the world. Tony’s artwork can be found in Denver, Colorado at the William Havu Gallery. For more information on his artwork, please visit his website at: www.tonyortega.net
Sylvia Montero was born in Denver, Colorado. She trained extensively in modern dance as a teen and young adult under Jane Tananbaum who was a primary dancer for the Martha Graham Dance Company. After the birth of her son, she switched art forms to visual art; her currant artwork crosses multiple mediums which include photography, painting, collage, and printmaking. As an artist she focuses on the human condition, cultural practices, and history. As a visual artist Sylvia is best known for mixed media images. She absorbed the acute attention to a form association with photography, subsequently refining her own visual and conceptual vocabulary. Her artwork is an intersection between realism and abstraction. Sylvia is an art educator throughout the Denver Community. She is a recipient of a fellowship from the Rocky Mountain Women’s Institute. Her artwork has been exhibited in Colorado the southwest, Mexico and internationally.
Cipriano Ortega has been fortunate enough to have his work recognized and shown both nationally and internationally. Cipriano strives to create works of art that probe the mind and make people question what they perceive as the normative. Whether that is shown in music, theater, visual art or some sort of culmination of all the above; Cipriano enjoys blending all creative forms of expression. As a sociological artist, Cipriano deconstructs the worlds around him and observes it under a nihilistic perspective. As an indigenous POC, they also have no choice but to deal with colonialism head on by making it a daily practice to see the divisions society create and continue to make the ‘normative.’
