Mariavelia Savino to Discuss the Influence of African Art in the Americas

“The Influence of African Art in the Americas” is the title of the conference to be given next Tuesday, June 9th by international curator and architect Mariavelia Savino.

Her exhibitions have been written up and commented upon in the New York Times, Miami Herald, LA Times, Art Nexus and other well-known publications in Europe and the Americas.

“The Influence of African Art in the Americas” is the title of the conference to be given next Tuesday, June 9th by international curator and architect Mariavelia Savino.

The dissertation will begin at 8 p.m. in the exhibition hall of Arte Berri at 105 Hostos Street in Colonial City with the assistance of the owner, Bingene Armenteros. Water color painters, curators, art critics and individuals linked to this area as well as clients of the gallery and special guests are invited to the opening. Ms. Armenteros announced that the conference is also open to the public but with limited space available.

The owner of Arte Berri announced that in Ms. Savino’s conference she will touch on a series of topics related to art from the African continent and its most relevant characteristics, African influence in Latin America, Afro-American culture in the United States and examples of Caribbean non-Hispanic art.

She added that Savino has presented exhibitions at important international venues from the archives of the Imperial Palace in Beijing, China to the headquarters of the Historical Society of Washington.

For a time Savino was the director of education and special projects of the Jacob Borges Museum and Director of the Casona Anauco Arriba Environmental Center in Caracas.

She also founded the Canary Cottage Cultural Center in Woolston, England where she presented exhibitions of well-known artists such as Sir Peter Blake, co-founder of the Pop movement; Andy Warhol, Graham Arnold, founder of the Brotherhood of Ruralists; and John Napper, who was the art teacher of the Prince of Wales.

From her residence in the United States, she has been the curator of the Cultural Center of Hollywood, Florida and the National Museum of Catholic Art in New York. She was also the specially invited curator for Jesús Soto’s retrospective held in the Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA) in Long Beach, California. She has since worked as a consultant and representative the East Coast MoLLA.

Her exhibitions have been written up and commented upon in the New York Times, Miami Herald, LA Times, Art Nexus and other well-known publications in Europe and the Americas.

Recently Savino was named the Commissioner of Public Art and Design for the 2010-2020 Cultural Plan for Broward County, Florida.

Her current project, “The Influence of African Art in the Americas” was inaugurated in Winwood at the prestigious Art District of Miami, this past March at the Art Americas 2009 Fair.

Other areas of interest to be covered are examples of non-Hispanic art from areas like Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, African American art from the United States Harlem Renaissance and Black Power.

The evening program will include the topic of art from Continental Africa, relevant characteristics, African influence in Latin America as well as origins and traditions currently practiced such as cadomble in Uruguay and the Dancing Devils of Venezuela.

Savino will also discuss the relationship with the European vanguard of the 20th Century, Pablo Picasso and Amadeo Modigliani, two European masters and two masters from the Americas Wilfredo Lam and Cándido Portinari.

She will analyze African influence in the work of Latin American artists of African origin including , Manuel Mendive and Onofre Frías; Creole artists like Cundo Bermúdez and Arnaldo Roche Rabel and artists without African heritage like Pedro Fígari and Ana Mercedes Hoyos.

Other areas of interest to be covered are examples of non-Hispanic art from areas like Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, African American art from the United States Harlem Renaissance and Black Power.

Arte Berri is an art house which promotes exhibitions of local and international artists for commercial and educational use. Its permanent collection includes the work of Amaya Salazar, José García Cordero, Eleomar Puente, Pablo Atchugarry, César Menéndez, Yoryi Morel, Alfredo Bikondoa, José Sistiaga and Aquiles Azar, among others.