La Raza Galeria Posada~ 1022-1024 22nd St. Sacramento

“What Is This Thing Called Love? Interpretations by Raphael Delgado“ Exhibition Creates Excitement at Sacramento’s
La Raza Galería Posada
“El Artista de Cambio” /”The Artist of Change” Set for Six Week Run beginning January 23, 2010

(Sacramento, CA) At the young age of 28, Raphael Delgado embodies the growth and maturity of Chicano/Latino art in Sacramento. Appropriately, Sacramento’s La Raza Galería Posada announces his first solo gallery exhibition in his home city on Saturday, January 23, 2010. The gallery is located at
1022-24 22nd Street in Sacramento’s popular Midtown arts district.

Titled “What Is This Thing Called Love? Interpretations by Raphael Delgado,” the annual theme has regularly featured Sacramento’s own Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF) artists and Chicano artists from the Bay Area. La Raza Galería Posada grew out of the famous art/activist Chicano Movement beginning in the late 60s. Esteemed RCAF artist, Esteban Villa, has dubbed Delgado “The Artist of Change.” Says Villa, ‘His art is about life that is in constant change, the only absolute there is.”

Mature and powerful in every diverse style and medium he chooses, Delgado is most recognized for the muscular cubist qualities in his abstract-expressionist art. He uses rich, organic earth tones with splashes of vibrant colors in the geometric aspects applied to the human figure. Oils and acrylics on canvas are his main mediums. Thirty pieces will be featured in both gallery rooms.

Delgado paints constantly he says “to capture and transcribe my daily thoughts for that day. My family’s faces are used as a constant reference. The daily news creates the mood that influences my color choices and subject matter. At times, the painting can be bright and energetic, filled with love and movement. At other times the painting is dark and nocturnal, tensioned-filled. Life is a constantly changing and evolving environment, so I believe my artwork should be too.”

In 2006, Delgado finished his studies at the Academy Art University in San Francisco. Moving back to his home city afforded him a combination studio and one person art gallery in the busy midtown district.
“Now I get to share my art with the community that helped fuel it.” And he does. On Second Saturdays, the Delgado Art Studio (1018 22nd St.) is always packed with both young and old. Unlike many visual artists, Delgado has a warm gift for conversation and an ability to engage in deeply thought conversation, and then just as nimbly, dart out.

Coming from an extended family of artists from Southern California, Delgado smiles remembering his toddler days. “Next to my coloring books were books on impressionism and surrealism. The visual language was always around.”

La Raza and Delgado’s missions match up perfectly. Delgado says “Along with Picasso and Dali, the RCAF were heroes to me. When I was a child, our whole family would come to La Raza Galería. It is important for me now to say to youth that art can be a real, tangible path to take –a real option as a career.”

Here is the planned program for “What is This Thing Called Love”:

Friday, Jan. 22- Artist Opening Reception 5PM-8PM (with live music)
Saturday, Jan. 23- Exhibition opens to the public including Delgado’s Artist Workshop for Kids (ages 7-12) 11 AM-1 PM. “Create Your Own Valentine” Mixed media.
Wednesday, February 3- Artist Talk with Raphael Delgado, interviewed by Michelle Alexander, Executive Director of the Sacramento Arts & Business Council. 7 PM
Thursday, February 11-Poetry Fest featuring Hannah Jones, Michael Collett adn more. 7 PM
Saturday, Feb. 13-Second Saturday
with very special suprise performance

Other great resources on Raphael Delgado:
www.ArtByRaphael.com
A 2009 film: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r1sHAryO6g