Perhaps the most evocative common language in the world is art, which makes instant and lasting connections across cultures, borders and people. Sharon Weiss Gallery is proud to continue that tradition and spark new connections with a special showing of Cuban artist Luis Alberto Álvarez López’ as part of the “Cuba In Columbus” citywide exhibition October 1 through November 15.

Equally at home with photo-realistic oil paintings or abstract works in oil and watercolors, Luis earned his BA in Visual Arts from Art Academy “Benny More” in Cienfuegos, Cuba, and has been exhibiting since 2004.

“I like to work with both styles, because they feedback each other; it is a necessary balance. In a general view, I take from different art movements what is good and enrich my creations. My referents are the Russian painters from the second half of the XIX Century: Repin, Serov, Shishkin; Spanish such as Joaquin Sorolla, Velazques, Rembrandt, and other artists like Picasso, Warhol, Pollock, De Koonig, Rothko, Rauschenberg, Jenny Saville.

“Oil is my main medium; it is where I feel more comfortable, although have a special link with watercolors. It is a constant search for materials and medium that construct my work. Art is my medium, circumstance, my mindstate. it is my way of life.”

From the Cuba in Columbus website:

Cuba in Columbus is the result of an organizational collaboration between visionary Cuban curator and artist Lolo Osmany Betancourt and Columbus curator Michael Reese. Reese accompanied several groups of artists on people-to-people trips to Cuba, where the artists fostered connections with Cuban artists.

“It has been amazing to see the energy and the connections that have formed between the artists,” Reese says.

Five Columbus artists have been selected to show works in the 13th Havana Biennial in Matanzas Cuba, the country’s largest visual arts event, and an additional 34 Central Ohio artists have been invited to show pieces alongside work from Cuban artists in ConnectArt, a collateral exhibit to the Biennial.

For Cuba in Columbus, work from all 39 artists and 15 Cuban artists will be exhibited in the Columbus Museum of Art, Greater Columbus Arts Council’s office, Riffe Center, COSI, (not) Sheep Gallery, Brandt-Roberts Galleries, Hammond Harkins Galleries, Lindsay Gallery, Sharon Weiss Gallery, Sherrie Gallerie, and other art and business venues. Hilton Columbus Downtown will host the opening.