Monday, August 30, 2010

NYC Restaurant Turns Gallery: Arte Hispano En Gonzalez Y Gonzalez


A new type of art gallery called "Arte Hispano" has emerged at Gonzalez y Gonzalez, one of downtown Manhattan's hottest destinations. The NoHo-based, Mexican restaurant, bar & nightclub is putting a different spin on New York's art scene by featuring the works of local, up-&-coming Latino artists. Open to the public, Thursdays through Saturdays in the live music room, Arte Hispano will be exhibiting the works of a different artist every three months. The gallery is curated by salsa music historian Jose Abando (salsasight.com).

"We view the Arte Hispano gallery as an ideal way to support and provide exposure for Latino artists while giving our clientele the ability to enjoy beautiful works of art," said Sounni de Fontenay, General Manager for Gonzalez y Gonzalez.


The inaugural launch of Arte Hispano features the work of El Salvadorian artist Zoila Minaya, whose five woodcut prints are based on folklores & mythologies from her home country.

"The work in this series of woodcuts sprang forth from my interest in my culture's rich history and legends," explained Zoila. "I was born in El Salvador and always have had pride in my culture. Most of my work including my present efforts reflects my cultural heritage. My current woodcut prints are based on well known Salvadoran mythologies. The literary works of the famous Salvadoran author Dr. Efrain Mendez proved to be a valuable source."

ABOUT GONZALEZ y GONZALEZ
Located just steps from Soho and great shopping, Gonzalez y Gonzalez serves authentic, South-of-the-Border cuisine in a festive downtown location. NYC's longest bar is always buzzing with happy hour specials and great music. Thursdays through Saturdays, Gonzalez features some of the best local salsa bands as well as DJs spinning Latin hits and free salsa lessons; all the while charging no cover. The last Wednesday of every month, the venerable establishment also hosts a comedy night with some of NYC's funniest talent. Open since 1989, Gonzalez y Gonzalez has become an indispensable destination for a diverse community hailing from the New York metro area to enjoy delicious Mexican food, refreshing drinks, grooving salsa dancing and Latino culture.
http://www.gonzaleznyc.com/

ABOUT ZOILA MINAYA
Zoila Minaya was born in El Salvador in 1983. She studied Visual arts at Herbert Lehman College from 2001 to 2006 and in the spring of 2010 obtained her graduate degree in arts at Herbert Lehman College. Zoila began exhibiting in the mid-to-late 1990s and in 1999 she created a mural painting for the Crayola company who was apart of a high school program, New York City. Since then she has been showing her artwork in different galleries.

Zoila textile work was shown at The High School of Fashion Industries Gallery, New York, New York . In the year 2000 she obtained the tittle of president of the art gallery in The High School of Fashion Industries. For three consecutive years she showed oil painting and ceramic art pieces at the Herbert Lehman College Gallery, Bronx, NYC. In 2004 she became the Vice-president of the Herbert Lehman College Gallery, Bronx, NYC. In the Spring of 2009 she exhibited a Woodcut print at Herbert Lehman College, Bronx, New York. During the Summer of 2009 Zoila performed as a face painter and exhibited a mural in the Hacia Afuera Festival coordinated by Art for Change. Further more, during the Fall of the same year Zoila donated a Woodcut print for the Art for Change a Nonprofit Foundation who took place in Julia de Burgos Cultural Art Center.

During the Spring of 2010 Zoila was part of the 25th Anniversary Salon show at Lehman College Art Gallery in which she sold one of her paintings; Zoila was also part of the MA/MFA Thesis Exhibition Diverse Vocabulary in Lehman College. During the Summer of 2010 Zoila volunteer as face painted in Figment New York City Zoila also donated a woodcut print to Beach Ball Boys and Girls Club of the Bellport Area.
http://www.zoilaminaya.webs.com

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