BIOGRAPHY
SInce the early 2000’s Lui Ferreyra has been working with a signature fragmented style. His technique, which is arguably the most prominent feature of his work, should not be thought of as mere embellishment. There’s a double move at play here. The first move is substantiated by a geometric matrix which functions as surface: it embraces and emphasizes the aspect of flatness within a complex network of geometric shapes, each unique unto itself. The second move is fulfilled by the cumulative effect of all the shapes functioning together as a color-field in which each shape contextualizes every other shape, thereby providing all the necessary visual cueing to manifest a kind of window one can look through. Surface and window, at and through, like language which points both at the world and back at itself.
The formal interplay between flatness and three-dimensionality in Ferreyra’s work is managed by an adherence to technical limitations. For instance, the quality of flatness is achieved through the dispensation of gradation, which in traditional representational painting is used to convey naturalism or even realism. Instead, solid shapes are made to bump up edge to edge along interlacing linear boundaries. Therefore, any effect of three-dimensionality is achieved by the relative tightness of the breakdown pattern, much in the way digital imagery depends on dots per inch (dpi) to achieve lo-res or hi-res results. In his technique, Ferreyra seeks a happy-medium in which the image is neither completely spelled out nor completely impenetrable. One can choose to dwell within the surface of the work, or slip through into the simulated space the shapes help to contextualize. In this regard, it is the viewer who completes the image in his/her own mind by synthesizing the abstract shapes into a cohesive, intelligible whole. A similar effect was employed by the impressionists during the 19th century. However, instead of brushy pointillism, Ferreyra’s work is imbued by the all-pervasive digital character of our own 21st century; a labyrinthine, fragmented network of connectivity.
The most hidden aspect of Ferreyra’s work is perhaps what would seem to be the most obvious: the question of subject matter. In his various depictions of figures and landscapes there’s a deliberate resistance against narrative cues. Typically, narrative interpretation takes on a primary role within the context of western art, and therefore something the western mind is conditioned to look for. In this case, while the possibility for narrative interpretation hasn’t been completely obliterated, it does take on a secondary role. In the absence of obvious narrative cues, visual perception itself has an opportunity to override our literate bias, in which the eye can adopt a seeing mode instead of a reading mode. In a certain way, the subject-matter of the paintings at hand (i.e. the figure, the landscape, etc.) become the vehicle for the intended subject of his work: the deconstruction of visual experience itself and its re-presentation.
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In recent years Ferreyra’s work has been included in some of the region’s most prestigious invitationals and competitions such as, “Colorado Masters”, “The Best of Colorado” and “Art of the State”. Recent commissions include a 50′ mural for chef Jennifer Jasinski’s Stoic & Genuine restaurant (Top Chef Masters), a portrait for the Institute for Children’s Mental Disorders, three portraits for the Colorado Symphony, and two landscapes for The Foothills Art Center. His work has garnered both regional and international attention through print and online publications such as, New American Paintings, Art Ltd, Wired Magazine, 303 Magazine, Art Papers, The Denver Post, The Westword, Forbes, FastCompany, Colossal, Huffington Post Arts & Culture, My Modern Met, Fubiz, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, DesignCollector, Booooooom, American Express Essentials, Modern in Denver, et cetera.
Lui Ferreyra’s work can be seen in person by appointment at his studio in Golden, Colorado.
RESUME
SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS, 1998 – 2020
Solo Show, New Worlds, William Havu Gallery, Denver, CO, Curator: William Havu, 2020
Solo Show, Survey, William Havu Gallery, Denver, CO, Curator: William Havu, 2017
Solo Show, Sum Ergo Sum, William Havu Gallery, Denver, CO, Curator: William Havu, 2016
Solo Show, Means of Approach, Arvada Center for the Arts, Arvada, CO, Curator: Collin Parson, 2015
Solo Show, Superimposition, William Havu Gallery, Denver, CO, 2014
Solo Show, Interregnum, William Havu Gallery, Denver, CO, 2012
Solo Show, Altered Reality, Gallery 1261, Denver, CO, Curator: Christine Serr, 2012
Solo Show, Grounded, Sandy Carson Gallery, Denver, CO, Curator: William Biety, 2008
Solo Show, Lui Ferreyra: Paintings, Sandy Carson Gallery, Denver, CO, Curator: William Biety, 2006
Solo Show, Cadence 2, Space Gallery, Denver, CO, Curator: Michael Burnett, 2006
Solo Show, Cadence, Space Gallery, Denver, CO, Curator: Michael Burnett, 2004
Group Show, Art of the State, Arvada Center, CO, Curators: Louise Martorano, Ellamaria Ray, Collin Parson, 2022
Group Show, The Big Draw, William Havu Gallery, CO, Curator: William Havu, 2018
Group Show, New Regionalisms, McNichols Building, CO, Curator: Michael Paglia, 2018
Group Show, Art of the State, Arvada Center, CO, Curators: Gwen Chanzit, Michael Chavez, Collin Parson, 2016
Group Show, Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, Palm Springs, CA, 2015
Group Show, Colorado Masters, Sandy Carson Gallery, Denver, CO, Curator: William Biety, 2007
Group Show, Best of Colorado, Denver International Airport (Jeppeson Terminal), Denver, CO, 2006
Group Show, Reflecciones Del Alma, Galeria de Arte Jose Clemente Orozco, Mexico City, 1999
Group Show, Paraiso, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile, 1998
Commission, Two Murals, Alexan LoHi at Dickinson Plaza, Denver, 2018
Commission, Mural, Chef Troy Guard, Denver, 2016
Commission, Mural, Four Seasons, Punta Mita, Mexico 2016
Commission, Mural, Stoic & Genuine, Denver, CO, 2014
Commission, Portrait, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Denver, CO, 2013
Commission, Portrait, Institute for Children’s Mental Disorders, Denver, CO, 2010
Commission, Two Landscapes, Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO, 2008
Commission, Two Portraits, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Denver, CO, 2006
Award, Artistic Excellence Award, Art of the State, Arvada Center for the Arts, Arvada, CO, 2016
Award, Catalog of Winners’ Work, Western Competition, New American Paintings, Boston, MA, 2006
Award, Juror’s Choice, “ZipCo”, Emmanuel Gallery, Denver, CO, Curator: Ivar Zeile, 2004
Award, UROP Grant, University of Colorado, “Paraiso”, Exhibition and Reception, Santiago, Chile, 1998
Award, UROP Grant, University of Colorado, “Dia de los Muertos”, Mural Project, Boulder, CO, 1998
EDUCATION
BFA, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1998
INDEPENDENT STUDY
Heidegger, University of Colorado at Denver (Audit), 2012
Nietzsche, University of Colorado at Denver (Audit), 2011
Heidegger, Section 2, Hubert Dreyfus (Audit), 2010
Heidegger, Section 1, Hubert Dreyfus (Audit), 2009
Man, God, and Society in Western Literarure, Hubert Dreyfus (Audit), 2008
Existentialism in Film and Literature, Hubert Dreyfus (Audit), 2007
Evolution of Consciousness, University of Colorado at Denver (Audit), 2006
INSTRUCTION
Art Students League of Denver, 2009