Javier Tapia to Discuss “Acuarelas en Gran Formato” at Art @ Happy Hour, April 26

Enjoy a free guided tour of the exhibit, Acuarelas en Gran Formato, at Art @ Happy Hour on Thursday, April 26 from 5 – 7 pm at Piedmont Arts.

Exhibiting artist Javier Tapia will lead a gallery talk from 5:30 – 6:30 pm. Complimentary refreshments and an open bar will be available during the event.

Acuarelas en Gran Formato, which translates to ‘large format watercolors,’ is a study in abstraction and color, featuring brightly hued geometric forms that tower over the viewer.

Of his process, Tapia says, “My attempt is… to arrive at an energized and surprising surface through which color, space and layers interact. Certain marks come at certain times—some released without deliberation and others made with focused intention. In these paintings, my attempt has been to stay with a subject until I have exhausted what I know, sometimes finding new questions that drive the next work.”

Tapia is an associate professor of painting and drawing at Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with honors. He has been awarded several grants and scholarships and has participated in numerous international and national exhibitions. Tapia’s work is part of the collections of the National Museum of Peru, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans and the Museum Pedro de Osma in Lima, Peru.

ART 180: Imagining a World Where No Youth are Locked Up, featuring work by incarcerated youth from the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center’s Post-Dispositional Program; PhotoVoice, featuring photographs by students participating in CHILL MHC; Work by Donna Koger; and Second Chances, featuring work by trustees from the Martinsville City Jail will also be on display.