Elba Alvarez

Elba Alvarez, Venezuelan

 

Elba Alvarez was born in Pedernales, Venezuela in 1944. At the age of 18, she went to Europe and studied in Paris. She came to the United States in 1968 carrying the ideas and visions which would fill her canvases with bold, striking colors. The paintings that Alvarez created caused gallery after gallery to lavish high praise for her innovative and provocative abstracts. She was encouraged to set up a studio in New York City. Through years of study and experimentation her talents have evolved into a highly unique and engrossing style of painting.

 

Her work has been shown successfully from New York to Honolulu, Anchorage to London. Gallery shows featuring Alvarez paintings have taken place on five continents, most recently premiering in Africa. In addition, corporate sponsors have collected her work from the early days of her career -- IBM, TRW, Gulf Oil, General Motors, Citicorp and Xerox, to name a few.

 

In contrast to the woman, Alvarez canvases are large and the energy that flows from her use of colors evokes powerful feelings in those viewing her work. After seeing an Alvarez show one reporter noted, "Anyone looking at an Alvarez painting gets a strong message and then it's the viewer's eyes which are made to dance by the myriad of forces." Many other publications have covered Alvarez as well, from the New York Times to Art Business News to Forbes. The acclaim for Alvarez's work has consistently been high; the honors vast.

 

In 1984 and again in 1986, Alvarez was asked to create the official poster commemorating the International Art Exposition, the world's largest art fair held annually in New York. In 1986 another honor was bestowed upon her. The national organization for disabled youngsters, the Easter Seal Society, requested that Alvarez create a special painting which would become the organization's benefit poster.

 

Through her art, Alvarez has explored new dimensions in texture, color and depth.