On October 4, Manitou Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, will present new work from modernist painter Alvin Gill-Tapia. The show will feature a collection of new paintings that exemplify his modern compositions and color, as well as his use of gold, copper and silver leaf, which make his paintings shimmer under even the faintest light.
The show, titled Gilded Structures, will feature primarily historic buildings in Northern New Mexico, including the Taos Pueblo and the famous San Francisco de Asís Mission Church.
Luna at the Pueblo, gold and copper leaf with acrylic on linen, 20 x 16 in.
The artist explains how his first love in the art world was Native American pottery, which helps explain the tactile nature of his work, with its smooth surfaces and textures that combine acrylic paint with foil leaf. “I was always in love with Indigenous pottery. It goes back to when I was 5 or 6 years old. I remember always wanting to spend time at any of the pottery booths during [Santa Fe] Indian Market. It was like an art fest. I was always attracted to those booths, and I always was interested in how they made it,” he says. “Later, I bought this ancient book. I think it was written, if I remember correctly, from the 1930s. It was filled with traditional methods of pottery making of the Indigenous peoples of San Ildefonso, which is where Maria Martinez is from. That book kept me enthralled. I asked my dad to build me a little exterior firing box for my pottery. That’s how art began for me.”
Ladders to the Sky, gold and copper leaf with acrylic on canvas, 48 x 84 in.
Many years later, after his interest turned to painting, Gill-Tapia returned to the pueblos of New Mexico and once again took in interest in Native American art, this time looking through an architectural lens. “I was visiting the different pueblos and villages and I started compiling photographs, drawings and sketches from all the places I was visiting. I would use those images to assemble about 15 different architectural works in bright colors, particularly red and yellow. I was trying to depict light through these primary colors,” he says, adding that he took his entire inventory to a gallery for consignment. By the end of that season, 90 percent of the pieces had sold. He was on his way in the art world.
Sacred Found, copper and silver leaf with acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 in.
Today, Gill-Tapia is a known force in the Southwest, where his works appear in many major collections and delight viewers with their size, color and modern design. There is also a spirituality to his paintings, a spirituality that can have a subtle presence on viewers.
“I can’t control what [viewers] sense, but I hope that I can evoke from them a sense of peace and calm and a connection to, in my case, Mother Earth and light,” he says. “Those connections feed my pieces.” —
Manitou Galleries 123 W. Palace Avenue » Santa Fe, NM 87501 » (505) 986-0440 » www.legacygallery.com
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