Hyper color, large scale, and filled with energy, Fernanda Lavera has a new show at Miami’s Manolis Projects Gallery called The Inventive Mind of Fernanda Lavera: A Solo Art Exhibition.
A contemporary approach to Neo-Expressionism is evident in Lavera’s vibrant, monumental works.
A Miami-based contemporary artist, originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, she discovered her fascination for art, sketching, and painting through her aunt. Her aunt gave her brushes, canvas, encouragement, and purpose at a crucial time in her artistic development.
As her vision expanded and grew, she began to utilize the images of murals, graffiti, and street art she saw every day on public walls. She also incorporated the spirit of this visual life surrounding her neighborhood, and the bold colors, symbolism, and inspiration that a cosmopolitan city can offer– Buenos Aires has a wealth of street art, with the world’s largest collection of outdoor murals, as well as a steady stream of first-class artists. Lavera’s style is also akin to graffiti abstraction, a genre first explored by Jean Michel Basquiat in the 70s and 80s.
The Manolis Projects exhibit is comprised of 30 original paintings that have already been collected by billionaire political commentator, David Rubin, and legendary music producer, Clive Davis. They both attended the opening in early March.
“When I saw Lavera’s work in Buenos Aires in 2016, I immediately felt her enormous talent… a second-generation neo-expressionist with a very special feminine twist, Lavera is the real deal. I love her art ….a second-generation neo-expressionist, with a feminine Latin twist, who could pick up where Basquiat left off and take it higher, maybe much higher. I love the stories behind her work!” Davis says.
An in-depth exhibition essay by WPB Magazine‘s legendary art critic, artist, and art historian, Bruce Helander highlights Fernanda with rave reviews of the recently opened exhibition.
According to Helander, “Most successful artists evolved from their hometown surroundings and personal ambitions. Some were fortunate enough to be born into a creative environment, while others intuitively knew to gravitate to a metropolis. Fernanda Lavera is a gifted artist who fits like a glove into a historical context where the validation and potent vibrancy of one’s hometown or an adoptive city is often what gives a vital professional component for achievement.”
“A hometown girl is making her way into fame and critical acclaim, for which she credits personal motivation and her invigorating surroundings. Buenos Aires has a powerful, proactive arts community and a remarkably energetic street art environment, from murals to graffiti, which has been an artistic blessing for Lavera.”
Fernanda Lavera is following a long tradition of artists who generated excitement and discovery with the aid of urban momentum and municipal innovation.
Lavera explains that she likes to let things happen intuitively, without a clear intent. She is fascinated by the effects of color, the play of light and shade that allow her to explore her moods freely.
“I looked at my canvas and asked, can I be free like him? So I let my feelings inspire me, my emotions, and the colors and the shapes that dance in my own being. It gave me the courage to let me be me, who I was, and who I am. Here and now,” Lavera says.
In her winter exhibition at Manolis Projects, Lavera delivers a smartly curated selection of paintings, polished with sophistication, and highlighted with street art smart wit. The selected works on view are packed with colorful creative energy, strong brushwork, unconventionality, and imaginative intellectual figures and shapes.
Fernanda Lavera knows that “every picture tells a story”, so she imbues every canvas with an energetic narrative that plays to contemporary themes.
On exhibit through March 26 at Manolis Projects, 335 NE 59th St, Miami, 33137.
Online at www.laverart.com
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Fernanda Lavera’s winter exhibition at Manolis Projects
