Marion Cultural Alliance’s last exhibit of 2020 opened Friday, December 4. The one woman exhibit by Alma Lugo “Explosion of the Flamboyans” can be viewed at the Brick City Center for the Arts through January 2.
The exhibit will feature the art of Alma Lugo. Lugo’s work is a depiction of her life as a Puerto Rico native living in the diaspora. Lugo moved to New York City with her family in the mid-1960s where she worked for more than 30 years as a mental health counselor. She retired in 2012, finally having more time to devote to painting in oils and acrylics; although, Lugo has been an artist since she was young.
For the past 25 years, Lugo has been working on paintings with a theme she called “Explosion of the Flamboyans,” which is Spanish for the flowers that grow on the Royal Poinciana tree. Her paintings depict the flaming red flowers that are so traditional to her native Puerto Rico, sometimes mixed in with items from her more American lifestyle. Her work is vibrant and colorful, yet melancholic.
“While sadness certainly can figure into the work of any serious artist, there are times when you just have to laugh,” Lugo says. “As a mental health counselor all those years, I always thought there were a lot of things in your mind, and if you let yourself go, a lot of things come out,” she added.
Learn more at mcaocala.org.
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