19 - International Visions, Scherezade Garcia & Bela

INTERNATIONAL VISIONS CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO

Scherezade Garcia & Bela

OPENING RECEPTION
this Saturday, June 19
6.30 - 9pm

Tropical Catholicism by Scherezade Garcia, mixed media on paper, 22 x 18"
i rouge, series I by Bela, mixed media on canvas, 10 x 10"

Come by for a slice of the Caribbean -- A SUMMER SHOW YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS! It's hot!

International Visions is pleased to present an exhibit of mixed media works by artists Beatrice Mellinger ("Bela") and Scherezade Garcia. Bela, who was born in Martinique, and Garcia, who is Dominican-American, both reference their Caribbean heritage as the force behind a passionately creative spirit.

Bela explains, "Painting allows me to reconcile my multicultural references... the influence of my ancestors, my world travels, and the Western Civilization in which I am culturally grounded." The fusion of cultures in her island nation - French, African, Asian, and native - is celebrated and contemplated in vivid compositions.

For Garcia, these creations are her memories: recollections "of a faraway home, the hopes and dreams that accompany planting roots in a new land." The New York Times writes, "Ms. Garcia matches those expectations with the reality, asking her subjects to reflect upon the success and failure of their hopes and dreams."

SHOW DATES. June 16 - July 31, 2010

Beatrice Lampla Mellinger, also known as Bela, her artist signature, was born in Martinique and now resides in Brasilia, Brazil. Although Bela developed a love of art early on, it was not until adulthood that she dedicated herself to painting. She has studied art extensively at the Centre de Diffusion et d'Action Culturelle in Nice, France and the Escuela de Artes in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Her paintings have been exhibited at the International Caribbean Art Fair in New York City, Sandy Spring Slave Museum and African Gallery (MD), Centre de Diffusion et d'action Culturelle (France), and multiple galleries in the Washington, DC area.

Brooklyn-based artist Scherezade Garcia was born in the Dominican Republic, and moved to New York in 1986 to study at Parsons School of Design. Recently, she earned her MFA from City College of New York. Her work has been widely exhibited in venues including the Queens Museum of Art, El Museo de Barrio (New York), the Museum of Modern Art in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), and the Havana and Caribbean Biennials. Her work can be found in the collections of the National Palace of the Dominican Republic, the Consulate of the Dominican Republic in Haiti, the Barcelo Public Collection in Santo Domingo, and the Museum of Modern Art in Santo Domingo.

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INTERNATIONAL VISIONS - THE GALLERY| 2629 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20008

gallery hours. wed-sat, 11am-6pm or by appointment | t. 202 234 5112
www.inter-visions.com