Attention is back on the Center.
The Center for Contemporary Arts, like other local arts venues, was closed for months during the coronavirus pandemic. It reopened Tuesday.
And Anthony Fuentez, who challenged himself in November to create enough new art to fill the main gallery, breathed a sigh of relief.
Though, per current health guidelines, not on anyone within six feet.
His colorful and uplifting show titled "A Reflection of Who I Have Become" is not his first solo show but it's the largest viewing of his work and in the biggest space. He once displayed 20 pieces but in the back space of a gallery in Madrid, New Mexico.
It's all Fuentez when you clear the front door, with 38 paintings on the walls and several three-dimensional figures created using both baling and electrical wire.
He painted more than 50 pieces for the show, then worked with gallery assistant Allison Britten to pick and choose what created a flow for viewers and tell his story. Only one piece is a holdover, a work titled "..scared of what he may find" It's piece that he revisited many times with a brush and finally brought to closure.
Other shows are a group exhibition by the West Texas Photographic Society and a collection of work by the Center's Dirty Drawers artist group.
At this time, only 75 people can be in the building at a time. That usually is not an issue at the Center, but it could determine if there is a reception for Fuentez next month.
The exhibit is up through Aug. 15.
He hopes so because he wants people to see — and buy — his work.
Fuentez's timing went from the worst to the best. The shutdown, however, allowed him to add another piece titled "... quarantined from the only thing she knew." The work pictures his go-to image for this exhibition — a flower, isolated from the world.
The artist said it is one of the few times he has painted in the moment of a current event.
His journey brings him to Abilene
Fuentez is well-traveled but only has moved about 90 miles from where he grew up and went to high school. He is from San Angelo, but moved away for quite some time. His family moved to Abilene in 2014, when his wife, Sophia, relocated here instead of commuting to Midland to work for Coca-Cola.
He has been a full-time artist but currently works in his art with a day job, also at the local Coke operation.
He has been part of group shows at CCA, and works in a second-floor studio. He also is a sculptor, and muralist. His outdoor work can be seen near Farolito Mexican restaurant and on a building at Walnut and North 10th streets.
His new exhibit begins with a small self portrait subtitled "..my journey has led Me to This Moment."
Fuentez's exhibition is quite different than what you will see in his studio.
He previously incorporated a small figure he calls "Poet" into his work. Poet seems to react, perhaps sadly or deep in thought, to the world around him.
Think past tense.
In the new show, there may be a single or several flowers. There is expectation in his work.
Think future tense.
"I wanted to show new beginnings," he said. "A flower is born every day, and I wanted to use that voice."
Changing his style
Not only did Fuentez challenge himself to produce a large group of new work without rushing to meet his deadline, he wanted each piece to be finished. As with "..scared of what he may find," he often revisited a piece to make it right.
This time, he said, he wanted to go from Point A to Point B and be done. And be satisfied.
He wanted each piece to be finished and to feel "comfortable and content with it," he said. And then go to the next piece, though he most often had several working at one time.
He experimented, too. For example, his canvases vary in size. And a work titled "..mother and child" near his self portrait is textured. That is not his usual style.
"I did not allow myself to rush it," he said. But he wanted to get it right the first time.
Once he determined that he could do the work without rushing but still get it done by the opening of the exhibition, he more comfortably entered into the journey.
He said he is influenced by youngsters, who ask questions about what is unknown but without fear. They most often still go about being kids, not paying full attention to the world around them.
Fuentez recalled seeing images of kids playing in water spewing from hydrants in New York City, something that has been done on hot summer days for generations. That is their focus, not what worries their parents or other adults.
He said he can create darker work, both in choice of color and imagery. Poet's head most often is downcast, and it seems as if his place in the world is small.
Fuentez said he is asking the viewer to write their own story for Poet, and not necessarily a sad one.
"I'm not depressed," he said. "But I want to look at emotions that we all have. I am sharing with the viewer similar things we have experienced."
He said he is as happy today as he was 10 years ago but this show perhaps is allowing him to express that through a budding flower.
In his favorite work, " ..marco....," there are several flowers amid tumbling squares.
"We're living in crazy times," Fuentez said. But he sees joy.
Inspiration of children
The flowers are children, happily at play, perhaps the pool game "Marco?/Polo!" The boxes represent the world around them, scenes they are oblivious to.
"Kids are kids," he said. They are quiet against the noise of the world around them, he said.
"It's beautiful to know they are playing."
" ..marco....." contrasts with "..together they found comfort," a piece with one box. In it are two flowers. The work suggests that whatever the larger world may bring, the two have each other. The muted colors are much different that the colorful "..marco," which is set on a bright pink canvas.
His 10-year-old daughter inspired "..she dreams of what will be." It's a whirling mass of green and blue and yellow. Fuentez said it's his interpretation of her questions to him to explain something. It's chaotic but not daunting. He believes she will find her way and be successful in the big world she is learning to understand.
"I wanted to focus on the younger generation that has yet to step into the world," he said. The still have the shelter of parents and others to cling to.
He said today's youth is more in touch with "what's going on. They are asking, 'Why is this happening?'" he said.
Nearby is "..scared of what he may find."
"He has lived in my studio and painted him over and over," Fuentez said. For this show, he finally settled on the right facial expression for his young boy and the motion of his arms as he balances on a ball. A flower peeks out, emphasizing the boy's venture into life.
There are several figures in motion created from wire. Fuentez used baling wire but found electrical wire easier to manipulate.
In the CAA window, however, is his largest piece, a giraffe created from baling wire.
His painted pieces range in size but Fuentez said he enjoys the freedom of larger canvases.
"I can jump inside them," he said.
Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
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