ENIGMATIC FIGURES

ENIGMATIC FIGURES

Artspace/Virginia Miller Galleries 169 Madeira Avenue Coral Gables/Miami, FL, USA Friday, April 7, 2006–Friday, June 30, 2006

socorristas de biarritz iii by aurora cañero

Aurora Cañero

Socorristas de Biarritz III, 2004

Price on Request

Two Argentine artists, Mateo Argüello Pitt and José Benito, dominate the exhibition “Enigmatic Figures” at ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in Coral Gables.

Pitt, who often uses a male boxer as a metaphor for everyone’s daily struggles, is represented by 13 paintings. A typical work shows the boxer on his hands and knees, mouth open in a possible scream of anguish or triumph, carrying the burden of a tree symbolizing his family and heritage.

Three sculptures and two paintings by Benito feature his typical themes of children clasping something precious and male-female relationships. The children and their undefined treasures may be the artist’s comments on everyone’s cherished memories or possessions. A third work shows a male head emerging from beneath the skirt of a headless female figure.

Although both Pitt and Benito have exhibited widely in Argentina, this show marks their first major exhibition in a Florida gallery. Also in the exhibition are sculptures by Aurora Cañero of Spain and Maria Gamundi of Venezuela.

Cañero’s five-foot bronze-and-stainless steel work shows a figure surrounded by spheres, suggesting that each of us has our own place in the universe. Cañero is a well-established international sculptor whose works frequently are exhibited in leading international art fairs.

Gamundi, whose tabletop classical female nudes are familiar to gallery regulars, is exhibiting a nearly life-sized bronze of a reclining nude female, her languid form resting on a bronze cube. A 12-inch tabletop bronze shows a female nude in a compressed yoga position.

“Enigmatic Figures” will be shown through June at ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries, 169 Madeira Avenue, Coral Gables (Miami), Florida. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment.