Reflecting the world

Young Chang

Alejandro Nava comes from Zacatecas, Mexico -- a city that encourages

artistic possibilities, a place where artists go to inspire each other.

But the 44-year-old painter’s works reflect a broader world. While

Nava’s earlier paintings are abstract depictions of his hometown, his

most recent pieces pay homage to Henri Matisse, images of phone booths in

England, perceptions of New York and experiments with a symbol of an

African mask.

Zacatecas may have nurtured the artist, but Nava seems to be the one

placing his hometown on the map.

His works, which can be viewed at the Boudreau-Ruiz Gallery in Newport

Beach through April 29, are often shown in Europe but less known in

America, said Debra Boudreau, co-owner of the five-month-old gallery. The

20-piece collection is accompanied by sculptures by Perla Sschwarz of

Mexico City, and jewelry by local Marian Sanders.

“We’ve encountered a lot of people from Orange County that aren’t

familiar with Mexican artists at all,” said Boudreau, who has dedicated

the first year and a half of her exhibits exclusively to Mexican art.

“I find that Americans have quite a skewed idea of what Mexican art is

-- they think it’s always decorative. But this is very

contemporary-looking work,” she added of Nava’s paintings. “And you don’t

have to be a connoisseur or art scholar to enjoy it.”

His most recent series was inspired by Matisse’s “The Dance,” which he

saw up-close during a trip to Paris. Nava has called this show a

reaction, homage and visual poem to the late artist.

One of his pieces is titled “The Dream that Everybody Wants to Dream

About.” It is a beige-toned painting showing what looks like a floating

telephone -- just the handset part -- with smudges of black and red

beneath it. It is the artist’s sarcastic response to the idea that

society is trapped in a communication whirlpool.

“The telephone represents technology,” he said through Celia

Ruiz-Rich, co-owner of the gallery and interpreter for the interview.

“Everybody wants to have this dream, but now technology has taken so much

of our lives.”

“The Telephone Booth in London” shows sharp lines -- the frame of a

phone booth -- against a lightly-colored background, and a phone.

“The person tries to communicate, the booth becomes a more intimate

place and there is an intimacy of the conversation,” Nava said.

“Lost Shoe in Manhattan” pictures a brown shoe at the bottom end of a

brown-colored canvas.

“This shows how a person becomes so insignificant in the magnitude of

a big city,” he said.

Cynthia MacMullin, director of LatinArt.com and formerly a curator at

the Museum of Latin American Art, said there is a rhythmic sense of

poetry to Nava’s work.

“He uses domestic objects that are personal,” she said. “And the

images talk about . . . the exterior and interior in daily observations.”

One of Nava’s recurring images is a black bicycle seat. It reminds him

of traditional African masks, he said. Like Matisse and Picasso, who used

symbols and icons from foreign cultures during a pivotal time of modern

artistic movement, Nava said he wants to incorporate images from other

cultures into his work.

“My work is based on my experiences,” he said. “Which I’m applying on

a daily basis.”

FYI

WHAT: Works by Alejandro Nava, Perla Sschwarz, Marian Sanders

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Sunday, through April 29

WHERE: Boudreau-Ruiz Gallery, 3000 Newport Blvd., Newport Beach

COST: Free

CALL: (949) 675-4766