About The Artist
Luis Colan
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Biography
Luis Colan was born and raised in Lima, Peru in 1980, and in 1991 his family moved to Hartford, Connecticut. At a very early age Luis showed promising talent in art. His interest in drawing and painting remained with him through the years. In 1997 he realizes his potential as an artist while attending a four week intensive art residency, CCY (Center for Creative Youth) at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. At a last minute decision in 2000, Luis attended the Hartford Art School, where he worked with renowned artists Pat Lipsky and Stephen Brown. In 2004 Luis received a BFA in painting and a minor in art History from the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford. In 2004, after graduation, Luis moved to New York City to develop his art career in the art world of that city. His main focus at the moment is to keep pushing his art and to obtain a Masters in painting in New York City, where he lives and works.Statement
Painting has to come from the heart in order for it to stand out and be memorable. Too often we see works in galleries by artists who base their “art” on trickery and shock. Such work is fleeting and many times loses its punch line sooner than expected. What I’m trying to achieve with my paintings is the complete opposite, replacing shock with surprise and trickery with honesty. To many my work might seem traditional and might think that the sole value of it is in its degree of rendering, but that is not how I work. What interests me the most are the formal issues that come up in the process of painting, the physical involvement of charging a brush with paint and placing it in relation to other brush strokes. What I’m trying to achieve is humility, serenity and light. The small paintings are a continuation of these ideas which I used in large scale abstractions executed during my college years. At that time I was experimenting with color, light, atmosphere and free form; elements I was happy to see resurface in these smaller works. Although still life may be an old discipline of painting I try to keep it contemporary by utilizing the labels in the packaging of some of the kitchen items I use as subjects. I have also tried to keep in some of the paintings the presence of white walls, which have become some sort of a standard, not only in galleries but in private spaces as well. Some of the vegetables I use in my compositions are chosen not only for their color and texture but because they are essential building blocks of many quick dishes I have learned to cook from my mother. I grew up with onions, tomatoes and potatoes readily available as I would watch my mother wash, peal, chop, and prepare them according to the meal that was planned for the day. I have come to realize that the still lives are a kind of connection to my family; they were a way for me to deal with my home sickness after moving to New York.Artist History
EXHIBITIONS
2006 Three Approaches to Painting, I Gallery, New York, NY
2006 Dinner at Far Mill Benefit, The Kennedy Center, Trumbull, CT
2006 Diversity & Solidarity, I Gallery, New York, NY
2004 BFA Group Exhibit, Silpe Gallery, West Hartford, CT
2004 16th Annual Alexander Goldfarb Juried Exhibit, Joseloff Gallery, West Hartford, CT
2002 Open Studio Group Exhibit, Art Space Gallery, Hartford, CT
2002 17th Annual National Arts Program, LTR Gallery, Hartford, CT
1999 String Break, The Bushnell, Promenade Gallery, Hartford, CT
1998 13th Annual National Arts Program, East Hartford Community Cultural Center, East Hartford, CT
1998 Hartford Youth Art Renaissance, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
1998 Past, Present and Future, The Bushnell, Promenade Gallery, Hartford, CT
1997 Our Best, Pump House Gallery, Hartford, CT
SELECTED PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Jack Perugini, Newington, CT
Mark and Christina Del Nero, West Hartford, CT
Washington Gomez, Miami, FL
Marjorie Kalins and Jack Taylor, New York, NY
Fredda Weis, New York, NY
Nancy Rogers, Litchfield, CT
Mark Fina, New York, NY
Thomas Augenthaler, Austin, TX
Christine Mohn, Mountain View, MO
Signed up on 11/29/2006
Category: Painting