\u201cCompositions\u201d is on view in the Theatre Gallery at the the Alliance for the Arts. It features paintings and prose by Latino artist Julio Gonzalez Batista. He goes by Julio Julio.<\/p>\n
At the opening reception, Batista explained that he approaches his compositions without \u201cinherent creative intent.\u201d His artist statement accompanying the show amplifies that comment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my current practice, I begin non-objectively \u2013 applying color and gesture devoid of conceptual intent, inadvertently yielding natural forms that, to me, look like landscapes, figures, creatures and everything in between.\u201d<\/p>\n
At some point, the images speak to him, prompting him to analyze what he finds within the \u201cinitial chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
Composition painted by Julio Julio and presented on paper hung by twine and wooden clothesline clips.<\/p>\n
\u201cI build compositions intuitively, often covering and bringing back out elements to explore any aesthetic choice possible,\u201d his statement explains. \u201cFrom these outcomes, I title my artworks based on the monsters or vistas I find in them, clueing you into my view while still hoping you\u2019ll find something new.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he\u2019s working through this process, he lets his mind wander randomly. Commonly, his thoughts bear little or no relationship to the images that spring from his canvas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI write brief compositions based on those thoughts, which is why I titled this exhibition \u2018Compositions,\u2019\u201d Batista explained. \u201cThe title relates to my compositional analysis of the pieces as well as the written compositions that I have on display. They’re not narratively attached.\u201d<\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
Julio Julio writes brief compositions based on the thoughts he entertains while painting his compositions, which is why he titled his exhibition at the Alliance \u2018Compositions.’<\/p>\n
The artist statement continues:<\/p>\n
\u201cThough the figures and vistas I make are devoid of a grounded narrative, the creative process makes room for thoughts both attached and detached from the artworks themselves. These thoughts I ruminate on while making often become narratives of their own and I make simple, diaristic compositions out of them, oftentimes ignoring grammatical rules and making up words to mirror the train of thought that took me to the pitstop in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall<\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall<\/p>\n
Julio Julio displays excerpts of longer compositions on painted paper attached to twine with miniature wooden clothes hangers to replicate the clotheslines of his youth in Cuba.<\/p>\n
Their presentation is as interesting as the compositions themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up in Cuba,\u201d Batista explained. \u201cWe didn’t have a dryer, just clotheslines. I really like that manual labor look to them, so using leftover paint from the pieces, I painted paper, cut the pieces into smaller chunks, and rewrote the compositions onto the cut-up pieces of paper. Then I attached them on the cloth line, assembled them color-coordinated with each section of the exhibit.\u201d<\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
The artist characterizes his work as ‘corporeal abstractions.’<\/p>\n
While Batista initially resisted the request to categorize his work, he ultimately relented, labeling it \u201ccorporeal abstraction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though my pieces don’t necessarily talk about just one topic, bodies and body parts, more than anything, manifest themselves in the pieces,\u201d Batista said. \u201cSo that’s why I label them as corporeal. But I do classify [my paintings] as non-objective because I hope the viewer can find something in it that I didn’t inherently put there on purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
In that regard, Batista falls in line with the vast majority of contemporary modern artists. <\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
Abstract painting by Julio Julio Gonzalez Batista<\/p>\n
While his inspiration and the feelings to which he is giving expression are not unimportant, it’s basically up to the viewer to fashion their own connection to the painting.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I use my titles to clue the viewer into what I personally see,\u201d Batista conceded. \u201cBut I hope that they take it with creative liberty, the work itself, and find some meaning in it that I didn’t find.\u201d<\/p>\n
The artist statement for the exhibition completes the picture of Batista\u2019s process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese methods of work favor fun over direction as a way to reclaim my creative joy, and to bring out a playground of possible narratives out of each composition to explore the relationship between the viewer\u2019s interpretation and the artist\u2019s one pillar to stand on \u2013 the finished artwork itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
Viewers reading some of the artist’s written compositions during the opening night reception in the Alliance’s theatre gallery<\/p>\n
Batista noted during the opening reception that some of his earliest memories are of him drawing or doodling.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I started honing into it more when I got in middle and high school,\u201d Batista said. \u201c[Art] became the class that I felt most at peace with. So that’s where I actually felt the liberty to be completely myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Batista said he was fortunate to have great mentors during his years in middle and high school. But he credits his family with providing his creative spark.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany members of my family have an artistic eye of sorts,\u201d said Batista. \u201cMy mom was a hairdresser, so obviously there’s an artistic analysis to that. My sister’s a photographer. She does professional photography, so she’s a professional artist in her own right. But I would say that I’m the first, like more creatively. I don’t know how to describe it exactly but pursuing art as art only and not really a profession attached to that artistry.\u201d<\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
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WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n
Julio Gonzalez Batista at the opening reception for ‘Compositions.’<\/p>\n
Prior to \u201cCompositions,\u201d Batista last exhibited work as part of his senior thesis exhibition at FGCU in December of 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, this is my first official show since graduating,\u201d said Batista proudly.<\/p>\n
Support for WGCU\u2019s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cCompositions\u201d is on view in the Theatre Gallery at the the Alliance for the Arts. It features paintings…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-55948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}