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"MAPA of Colors"

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Para la Version en Español, Apriete Aqui.

Title of this work: "Map of Colors." Created in acrylic and oil on canvas. All mini canvas have their own stretched bar and their own hardware system to be hanged. The "miniature" idea have the origen in the 5 "Artist's Books" I created in the 80's and in the year 2000.

Contrary to the "Artist's Books", all miniatures will be sold individually. The general idea of this work is offer to the public "a taste" in miniature of my art.

The concept of this work is inspired in the multicolored racial reality of the Dominican Republic, product of the blend of three races, the European, the native and the African, including Arab, Chinese and other, that arrived the country before and in the government of Dictator Trujillo. The racial reality is over 70 percent blended, known as "mulatto", and the other percent divided between black and white. There is so many "skin tones" in the population that I preferred no painting "natural skin" in my works, but "colors": primary and secondary colors, and other "pastel colors" (yellow, orange, red, green, violet, purple, violet, blue, pink, brown, beige, gray, white and black -the colors-).

"Map of Colors" will be exhibit hung on a map drawn in the wall. This work have 59 pieces that will be exhibited this Saturday October 14 in the show of Oakhurst in Atlanta. The public will be able to buy a single piece or make their own combinations of two, three, four, six, eight or ten pieces.

- The 59 pieces are created in three different sizes (Numbers in bright red are sold):

- Forty nine pieces are 6"x6"x1. 5": $65. 00 each one: No. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39. 40. 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 55 and 56. Sun: No. 58. Moon: No. 59. Extra piece: No. 18.

-Tree pieces are 6"x6"x2.5": $75.00 each one: No. 3, 26 and 28.

- Seven pieces are 6"x6"x3.5": $100.00 each one: No. 9, 19, 27, 38, 51, 54 and 57.

IF YOU ORDER BY INTERNET, FIND THE NUMBER OF YOU PAINTING IN ANY OF THOSE TWO WAY:

a.- As if you looking for a direction in a map.

Example: Horizontal: 7 + Vertical: 6 =

b.- Press the right side of the mouse + "Properties"

In the chart opened you will see the number (43.jpg) at the ending of the UTR: http://www.felixberroa.com/parts/5.newsletter-parts/mapa-2006/43.jpg

6"x6"x1.5"

6"x6"x2.5"

6"x6"x3.5"

______________________________________________________

History of my Works in Miniatures and "Artist's Books".

From the beginning of my career in the art I have always preferred the large formats because I notices that my best results in my works was achieved it with "group compositions" of the human figures.

While I fulfill a study of Graphic (Etching, Silk Screen, Lithograph, Experimental Drawing, etc.) in 1979, at the Fine Arts School of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, I had heard speak on about a modality of expression called "Artist's Book". I never end up seeing one, but it had catch my attention. I had read about the "Artist's Book", but I had not seen an image of one of those books. I made myself my own idea of what could be one "Artist's books". I thought: "has to be a work product of a lot of investigation between the visual art and the concept to be communicate".

Around the mid 1981, the Museum of Modern Art in the capital city of the Dominican Republic was organizing the XV National Biennial of Fine Arts, -the most important fine arts event in the country-. In those days I had already decided to emigrate to the United States. Before that uncertain trip, I planned to create my first "Artist's Book", that I know, the first one presented in a biennial in the Dominican Republic. I began to collect information and to make sketches about the general idea. Already for October 1981, the Artist's Book "La Vida y la Muerte" (The Life and the Death), was printed in the back yard of the house of my brother, using the silk screen technique, everything done by hand (not photographic positive or emulsion used). I finished it and delivered it to the museum. Also, an installation of those I have created with hanging painting canvas from he ceiling or the wall, and two graphic. The art critic Marianne de Tolentino writes the following about that book:

"Félix Berroa has presented with his graphic series "The Life and the Death", the only Artist's Book of the Biennial, at the moment a genre in bloom and investigation.

Placed as vertical panel and as a book to browse into sheets, it is a very serious work that takes advantage of the texts like image (ideogram) and literary extract, with fineness and drawings with humor, apart from his Dominican idiosyncrasy, folklore and anthropology. His works is one of the few in the Biennial, with a marked national and popular identity, transferred to the artistic language that demonstrates the cultural level of information of the author."

(Fragments from her extensive art critic of 5 days for the XV National Biennial National of Fine Arts of the Dominican Republic. Listin Diario -newspaper-, November 30, 1981).

Artist's Book "La Vida y la Muerte". 1981.

The idea of the Artist's Book was continuous like me. So in 1987 I prepares another, called "A Ritmo de Cintura, Cantos y Otras Vainas" (To Waist's Rhythm, Songs and Other Things). This time, the book was created with small drawings with pen and ink on paper (10"x12"). I exhibited it among a group of paintings in Casa de Francia (French's House) in Santo Domingo (French cultural institution in the country). Behind me in the picture below, you ca see part of the "open book" exhibit. The subject was about the "dancing and singing in the life of the Dominican people, from the birth until the death".

As 7 years had passed without having gone to Dominican Republic, I had titled that show "Despues del Silencio, Cinco Leyendas para Dormir un Niño" (After the Silence, Five Legends to Put to Sleep a Child).

Artist's Book: "A Ritmo de Cintura, Cantos y Otras Vainas". 1987.

"Most of works are taken out directly of the five "Artist's Books" elaborated by Félix Berroa. In them it stands out the investigation work expressed in graphic form." Marta Madina. Listin Diario, (newspaper), March 28, 1988. Pag. 12-c.

In 1991, The Islip Art Museum in Long Island, New York, call artists for an exhibition on "Artist's Book". That show was curated by Matha Wilson, Executive Director of the Franklin Furnace Archive. I take two of my books and they were accepted. ("A Ritmo de Cintura, Cantos y otras Vainas" y "La Vida y la Muerte". Below, photos of the Artist's Book "To Waist's Rhythm, Songs and Other Things". In this show I saw other "Artist's Books" for first time. "Artist's Book" are no to popular, probably because it requires a lot of elaboration of the ideas integrated to the visual expression. Some of those artists put brain to their creations, but other select a "short-cut". Those second group had looked for the short distance through the representation of an objecto as symbol: the concept of an idea. Example, an old book with some extra had writing, several objects combined, etc.

"A Ritmo de Cintura, Cantos y Otras Vainas" was Copyright at the U.S. Copyright Office, Washington, D.C. in 1990 by Félix Berroa. In 2001 I had planned to print an edition of 1000 books, but the economic consequences later the destruction of the Twins Towers in New York, stopped that project.

Later to this Book "Artist's Book ", in the year 2000 I made two assembling, motivated in the miniature arts for the books. The concept was simple, less pieces and without thinking of an edition. I title them "Expressions 1" and "Expressions 2", and I exhibited them in the outdoors show of most prestige in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut: the "Armonk Outdoor Art Show" of the Friends of the North Castle Library in Armonk, New York.

Expresiones 1

Expresiones 2