Ignacio Fletes Cruz: Nicaraguan Primitivista Painter (2007)

Note:
With the high cost of shipping many of our customers choose to ship by USPS. For small and light shipments this is usually less expensive, but please be aware that their estimates are often wrong and their service can be very slow (sixteen days for Priority Mail from Philadelphia to New York City recently). The service is not always as economical as it may appear, particularly on larger or more valuable shipments. USPS estimates only include insurance up to $100 for its domestic shipments. If you ask for full insurance we will recalculate the shipping cost and send you an invoice for any difference in cost. For overseas shipments USPS will not insure for over $650. On request we can get estimates for overseas shipping from DHL.

Ignacio Fletes Cruz: Nicaraguan Primitivista Painter (2007)

February 2, 2007 to March 31, 2007

Philadelphia, PA - Noted Nicaraguan Primitivista artist, José Ignacio Fletes Cruz returns to Philadelphia for his second solo show at Indigo Arts Gallery in Old City. Fletes Cruz will be on hand for a reception at Indigo Arts Gallery on First Friday, February 2nd, from 5 to 9:30pm. He will also be at the gallery on saturday afternoon, February 3rd (2-6pm), to demonstrate and discuss his work. His lush landscapes and scenes of peasant life will be on display through March 31st. While in Pennsylvania, Fletes Cruz has also commissioned to paint two murals, at the Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, PA, and the University of Pittsburgh.

Ignacio Fletes Cruz is a veteran of the 'Primitivista' painting movement which arose during the upheaval of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, and has continued to flourish under both the Sandinista and subsequent governments. These largely self-taught painters work in a naive style typified by scenes of community life, lush flora and fauna, and pastoral utopias, executed in bright colors and intricate detail. The paintings recount the folklore of Nicaragua and events in the country’s history. The 'Primitivista' movement originated on the island of Solentiname in Lake Nicaragua, where Father Ernesto Cardenal had formed a small utopian Christian community in 1966. The community attracted worldwide attention as a center of art, poetry and the ideals of liberation theology. But it inevitably became a target of the repressive Somoza regime. In October 1977 the National Guard invaded the island and completely destroyed the community in a rampage of killing and rape. The survivors went into exile and many joined the Sandinista revolution. They ultimately prevailed with the overthrow of Somoza in 1979. Father Ernesto Cardenal became the Minister of Culture of Nicaragua, and the surviving peasants returned to rebuild Solentiname.

José Ignacio Fletes Cruz was born on July 31, 1952 in Managua, Nicaragua. He studied for one year at the School of Fine Arts in Leon before joining the original community of primitivistic painters on the Island of Solentiname. His work was included in the landmark book, The Gospel in Art by the Peasants of Solentiname (Orbis Books), and the World Encyclopedia of Naive Art by Oto Bihalji-Merin. Between 1978 and 1979, Fletes Cruz took refuge in Costa Rica, but he still contributed paintings to the movement to overthrow Somoza.

After the war Fletes Cruz settled in Leon and joined a group of painters in the comminity of Sutiava known as El Grupo de Pintores Primitivistas Rodrigo Penalba Martinez. Named after a famous Nicaraguan painter, the group has been together for well over a decade and is officially recognized by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Culture. Members of the group have won national prizes and exhibited internationally. Fletes Cruz’ work has been exhibited in many galleries in Nicaragua and in international exhibitions in Germany, France, England, Italy, Switzerland, Cuba, Austria, and Costa Rica. Fletes Cruz has been exhibited on several occasions by Americas’ Arts Gallery in Gettysburg, and at Indigo Arts Gallery in Philadelphia, most recently with a solo show in 2004.

Indigo Arts wishes to express its thanks to Larry Knutson of Americas’ Arts Gallery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for arranging Mr. Fletes Cruz’s visit to Indigo Arts Gallery, as well as the mural projects in Lancaster and Pittsburgh.