Artist Renzo Ortega and "Art of Peru"

5:30 Cash bar
6 PM Gallery talk and short Q & A in the gallery. Reception to follow. Space is limited. Please arrive early to find a spot.

Join us for a talk by Renzo Ortega, whose work is on view within "Art of Peru." This gallery features ceramics, textiles, metalwork and carvings produced by ancient cultures across what is known as present-day Peru. A two-paneled painting by Renzo, who was born in Lima, Peru, depicts corn as a symbol for the native identity of the Americas and the Indigenous knowledge that led to its cultivation.

From the artist's bio: Renzo Ortega is an artist based in Carrboro, NC. He earned a BFA in painting from the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes del Perú (1999), studied at the Art Students League of New York (2000-04), and earned an MFA in painting from Hunter College (2014). His work has been shown in solo and group shows across the United States and Perú, and he has created public art projects and community murals. In 2022, his work was part of the group exhibition Reckoning and Resilience: North Carolina Art Now at the Nasher Museum.

He is a recipient of the 2018-2019 North Carolina Arts Council Artist Fellowship Award, 2018-2019 Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artists Grant Durham Arts Council, 2018 Orange County Arts Commission Artist Project Grant, and 2016 Queens Council on the Arts New Work Award. In 2013, as a Kossak Travel Grant recipient, Renzo traveled to Berlin to study German Expressionism, and also in 2015 traveled to Honduras as a part of the U.S. Department of Cultural Affairs Cultural Envoy Program. He took part in the Visiting Artist Residency at the Rubenstein Arts Center at Duke in 2019. In 2020, Renzo was the inaugural artist of the New Wave Art Wknd artist-in-residence program in West Palm Beach, FL. Renzo is also a musician and has been performing and recording songs for over 30 years; he performs solo as Ancestor Piratas, a keyboard cumbia-electronic music project.