| From August 28 - September 25, The Folk Tree presents the prints of La Mano
Press artists Daniel Gonzalez, Ixrael, Poli Marichal, and Artemio Rodriguez, as
well as a selection of mixed media pieces by Miguel Angel Murillo. La Mano
Press was founded by Artemio Rodriguez, originally from Mexico, who now resides
in Los Angeles. La Mano Press is an organization whose mission is to
increase the appreciation of printmaking in general, and specifically to promote
the work of local and international artists who share a similar vision. Also
featured is the work of Miguel Angel Murillo, a Los Angeles based artist also
originally from Mexico, who creates mixed media pieces in a manner
reminiscent of techniques employed by the surrealist movement. A reception is scheduled
for the artists on Saturday, August 28, from 2 - 6 P.M. La Mano Press, overseen by Artemio Rodriguez, recently opened a space in a converted two thousand square foot automotive shop in Los Angeles. The group now has a functional showroom and printmaking studio. The organization is artist run and offers a series of workshops. Artemio Rodriguez was born in Michoacan. He was introduced to art when he was an apprentice to and learned letterpress printing from Juan Pascoe. Rodriguez's black and white signature style is based he says "on two characteristics of medieval woodcut: the simplicity of line and the straight forwardness of its visual style." Though comfortable working in a wide variety of artistic media, Rodriguez regards printmaking as his true calling. His work has been shown in galleries in the United States and Mexico, and he has illustrated and published several books. Also represented is Daniel Gonzalez, a young artist who studied graphic arts at the California College of the Arts and Crafts (CCAC), Oakland, where he studied graphic design and later started exploring linocut. Ixrael was born in Mexico, where he began his formal art studies, continuing with them after his arrival in the United States in 1993. His linocuts incorporate his passion for drawing as well as for poetry and literature, and is inspired by traditional Mexican printmaking themes and a deep sense of expressionsism. Poli Marichal, a multi-disciplinary artist originally from Puerto Rico, received her Master of Fine Arts at the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston. Her training in painting, graphic design, and filmmaking have all influenced her printmaking themes and style. Miguel Angel Murillo, though not a printmaker. has a similar affinity for traditional themes and methods. He studied in Mexico City, but never had formal art training, though he took advantage of whatever free classes he could find offered by Mexico's best artists. Deeply impressed by the pictorial work of Frida Kahlo and Salvador Dali, he started painting in an autodidactic manner at the beginning of the 80's. His main sources of inspiration in his earlier work were musicians like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jim Morrison, and Bob Dylan. He was also moved by the poetry of Jaimes Sabines and Carmen Boullosa, and some of the literary texts of Milan Kundera, Ricardo Garibay and Jose Agustin. He has lived in Pasadena since 1992. His paintings are dedicated to his family, who still reside in Mexico, and from whom he has been separated because of the legalities of immigration. He says, "I paint...because I need, it, like I need to breathe, love or drink water." The Folk Tree is located at 217 South Fair Oaks Avenue (just fifteen minutes from downtown Los Angeles off the end of the 110 freeway). Hours are: M-W, 11-6; Th-Sat, 10-6; Sun, 12-5. For more information, contact Kathi Oshima at The Folk Tree at 626/795-8733. |
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