Enigmatic Figures
ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries

Opening: June 23, 2006, 5 – 9 p.m.

Dates: June 2 – July 5, 2006

Location: ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries – 169 Madeira Avenue, Coral Gables (Miami), Florida 33134 USA

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Two Argentine Artists Being Introduced
At ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries

Two Argentine artists, Mateo Argüello Pitts and José Benito, dominate the exhibition “Enigmatic Figures” at ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in Coral Gables. Pitts, who often uses a male boxer as a metaphor for everyone’s daily struggles, is represented by 13 paintings. A typical work shows the boxer on his hands and knees, mouth open in a possible scream of anguish or triumph, carrying the burden of a tree symbolizing his family and heritage. Other paintings show an eccentric androgenous figure wearing a skirt and mis-matched hose, possibly representing artists as iconoclasts. Three sculptures and two paintings by Benito feature his typical themes of children clasping something precious and male-female relationships. The children and their undefined treasures may be the artist’s comments on everyone’s cherished memories or possessions. A third work shows a male head emerging from beneath the skirt of a headless female figure. Although both Pitts and Benito have exhibited widely in Argentina, this show marks their first major exhibition in a Florida gallery.

Also in the exhibition are sculptures by Aurora Cañero of Spain and Maria Gamundi of Venezuela. Cañero’s five-foot bronze-and-stainless steel work shows a figure surrounded by spheres, suggesting that each of us has our own place in the universe. Cañero is a well-established international sculptor whose works frequently are exhibited in leading international art fairs. Gamundi, whose tabletop classical female nudes are familiar to gallery regulars, is exhibiting a nearly life-sized bronze of a reclining nude female, her languid form resting on a bronze cube. A 12-inch tabletop bronze shows a female nude in a compressed yoga position.

A virtual tour of the exhibition can be viewed at www.virginiamiller.com. “Enigmatic Figures” will be shown through July 5th at ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries, 169 Madeira Avenue, Coral Gables (Miami), Florida. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment.