About 12 faculty and students, mainly consisting of Arts and Literature Society members, attended a small Q&A with artist Rigoberto Gonzalez in front of his paintings in the Juanita Harvey Art Gallery in the Fain Fine Arts building on April 3, the day before the opening reception for his exhibition “Baroque on the Border.”
Gary Goldberg, professor of art and gallery director, organized the event as well two others previously in the day.
“I wanted to reach out to the different segments. We had art and literature just now, before that we had the Spanish club,” Goldberg said. “I think his work touches on a lot of different areas and I just wanted to try to reach out to as many areas of our campus as I could.”
Gonzalez also spoke to Art Department Chair Ann Marie Leimer’s class in Shawnee Theatre at noon.
Gonzalez gave attendees insight into his paintings that portray gruesome scenes and aftermaths of drug cartel killings on the Mexican border, but Gonzalez said his work also shows “the beauties of the drug war in Mexico.”
“I’m not a journalist. I’m an artist, I like poetry,” Gonzalez said, explaining how his interest in rhythm and verse influenced his work. “This painting has a visual verse.”
The opening reception for “Baroque on the Border” is Friday, April 4 from 6-8 p.m.
