SAN LUIS — Ventero Open Press Fine Art is proud to host an exhibition “Old Town – New Art”. Ventero Open Press is located in San Luis, the oldest town in Colorado and will hosting a show featuring new work by a new generation of San Luis Valley artists. “Old Town – New Art” will feature works by Matthew Capell, Nora McBride, Henry Blount, and Kendall Mcneilsmith. The opening reception will be June 10th from 6-8 p.m. at Ventero Open Press 316 Main Street San Luis.

Matthew Capell, pictured above: “I like to explore the tactile visual world in vignette using fractal like prints and collage, drawing the viewer into a micro land created by seemingly random physics and repurposed materials. Associations made by the viewer based on shape, color and material are the interesting end result, similar to a Rorschach test. I enjoy using simple design and visual communication that can be appreciated solely for its aesthetic qualities, or taken to deeper levels of thought and endless interpretation.”

Nora McBride: “I’m creating symbols that transmute my personal fear, sickness, and anxiety about the future of the world into collective love, acceptance and stability. I use viruses, refineries and toys from my childhood to create these metaphorical devices. On some level these images embody for me what is creative and good as well as what is heartbreakingly destructive in humanity. As Gozer the Gozerian quotes in the 1984 film, Ghostbusters, ‘Choose! Choose the form of the destructor!’ I am, if only for myself, choosing the form of the destructor and transforming it into a portal for peace.”

Kendall Mcneilsmith: “My art focuses on the perception of emotion explained through a visual language of shapes and colors. Everyone interprets their experiences of the world differently and my art intends on bridging that gap in a way where everyone can communicate through their visual perspective and learn to relate and begin to understand one another.”

Henry Blount: “I consider myself to be a wildlife painter. The work often contains a who, what, and where, leaving the why to be determined by the viewer. My scenery is a reaction to the art I grew up with in southern Colorado. The imagery comes from recognizable creatures found in the Rocky mountains, with a characteristics changed or combined with other creatures. This symbolizes the need to stay close to home while wanting to see something new and different.”