Julio Larraz' Art Headed to Houston Gallery for Exhibit

HOUSTON, TX — His art is owned and shown around the world in homes and museums, and his caricatures and drawings have appeared in publications such as Vogue and the New York Times for decades. His name is Julio Larraz, and he's a big deal.

Soon, you'll have a chance to see more than 30 of his works in Houston in an important exhibition at Art of the World gallery.

The gallery, owned by Liliana Molina and Mauricio Vallejo, will show Larraz' creations from February 24vthrough April 15.

Larraz spoke with Harold Farber, publisher of Cuban Art News, about his technique and background:

In past interviews, you’ve mentioned Edward Hopper as an influence. That’s strikingly apparent in canvases like Sunset at Cape Laplace. Could you talk a bit about Hopper in your work?

Edward Hopper was a “wadi” in the art world of the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, in which realist art is as American as chicken-fried steak! It was nearly as forbidden as abstraction was in Russia and Germany, where it was called degenerate art; here, it was short of being called that.

Your art has been described in various, sometimes contradictory ways: realist, surrealist, subtle, exaggerated, dreamlike, contemplative, epic, and more. Have there been any descriptions of your work that you think describe it accurately?

I believe they all do. Art should be interpreted by the one that sees it, it is an intimate experience. I believe is for your eyes only…

What would you like the viewer to take away from seeing your art?
The intriguing mixture of their personal response and the visual impact. Then the painting belongs to them.

— Image of "La Fragoletta and the King of Diamonds Off the Coast of Cumae" courtesy Contini Art UK)