Navarro exhibits at Horizons

RAMON NAVARRO was born in Port of Spain in 1945, one of five children, to a Trinidadian father and a Venezuelan mother. He sold his first artwork at 14 and knew from that point that he was destined for an artistic career. Navarro’s artistic abilities eventually led him to the world of advertising, where he worked for 20 years. He developed other art-related interests along the way, including silkscreen printing and signpainting.

Navarro’s artistic development was greatly influenced by his travels. A visit to Venezuela introduced him to artists such as Arturo Michelera, and Cristobal Rojas. He journeyed to Paris, his dream mecca of art, and spent day after day at the Louvre studying the great masters. He then spent six months in New York, studying the works of the great American artists and sharing ideas and discussing different genres of art with the young painters he met at the Art Students’ League.

The works from this exhibition are impressionistic in nature, displaying looser brushstrokes, which have characterised the artist’s style of late. Be it corn vendors in dramatic chiaroscuro from the light of the flambeau, to pastoral scenes in Aranguez under the glow of an evening sky, Navarro is known as a master of lighting, and these paintings do not disappoint. His idealistic scenes have come to be appreciated by many private collectors. Executing his signature works in oils, he presents a collection of work that tells the stories of the Trinidad of yesteryear, evoking a sense of nostalgia for the simpler, quieter times in life.

Ramon Navarro: A Review opens at Horizons Art Gallery on September 3 from 7- 8.30 pm. The exhibition will continue until September 14. The gallery is at 37 Mucurapo Road, St James. Opening hours are 9 am-5.30 pm Mondays to Fridays, and 9 am-1 pm on Saturdays. For further details call 628-9769