By Kelly Shoemaker

 

Bordello Galería will be hosting its first 2021 reception, featuring the paintings of Morelian artist Rubén Morales. The reception will be held on Sat, Feb 6, from 6-8pm. Morales will be on hand to greet patrons.

 

Morales has been a long time favorite at Casa de la Noche, where his works are featured in many of the common areas and historic sleeping rooms. This event will mark the 10th anniversary for the Bordello Galería to be designated Morales’ primary venue.

 

Barbara Poole, the exhibit organizer, first became interested in Morales’ work in the 90s and has since collected many of his oil and acrylic paintings. These works now grace many of the guest rooms at Casa de la Noche, a boutique-style bed and breakfast, focusing on the romance of “Old Mexico.”

 

Though seemingly naïve, these paintings of typical Mexican figures and street scenes may seem simple at first, but Morales’ use of rich, contrasting colors, light, and texture reveals a more complex and intentional piece of art.

 

“I try to create a feeling or emotion, not just a picture,” says Morales. He does this through faceless subjects in everyday situations: a woman selling flowers, an older man walking with a cane, or a girl washing clothes. Mood is evoked through posture, composition, and color applied in broad strokes with a pallet knife or brush.

 

A former student of Morelia’s Bellas Artes, Morales says he rejected most of the traditional art education and learned from other painters he met. He works from his memory and imagination, remembering everyday life in Mexico in a nostalgic way.

 

Morales esteems Diego Rivera as his favorite influence, but only his subject matter reflects Rivera’s style. Both pay tribute to the common man and woman, but Morales’ gestural works are technically looser and more flowing than Rivera’s, and the tone is less strident.

 

In the past, Morales sold his work in artisan’s markets, on the streets, and through galleries in Mexican beach towns. He has been noticed by American collectors over the years and has had exhibitions in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, Florida, and New York. He has traveled to Uruguay with his paintings and won a Parisian Painters award when one of his pieces was entered anonymously by a patron. Bordello Galería continues to be honored as the official venue for Morales’ exhibitions.

 

Bordello Galería is so named because of its location on the walls of a house where “ladies of the night” once made their way. It now takes up several rooms of this reinvented hospitality center, Casa de La Noche.

 

Please enjoy our hospitality and art and meet Rubén Morales.

 

Morales’ exhibit will be available for viewing for a month. Social distancing and masks requested.