(Entertainment-NewsWire.com, October 22, 2012 ) Santa Fe, NM -- The jet-black bull and the dark horse face each other across the floor, the former a painting composed of wild black strokes and the latter a sculpture made from steel and cement. This is the work of artists Gino and Siri Hollander, father and daughter, who are showing for the first time at Mark White Contemporary Art this month. Though Gino and Siri's work is in two different dimensions, a common thread runs between them: they're both inspired by the fierce, proud culture of the Iberian Peninsula.
Gino was a documentary filmmaker in the 1950's, but took up painting and opened a gallery in New York in 1960. Two years later, when Siri was three, the family took a one-way boat voyage to Spain.
The move gave Gino the opportunity to show his paintings across Europe. He opened galleries around the world, from New York's Soho to Mount Street in London, exploring the then-new medium of acrylic paint and developing an emotional style that blends the figurative and the abstract.
Meanwhile, Siri ran wild among the dogs and horses at the Hollander ranch in rural Andalusia. She got a “hands-on” education from her parents—they watched bullfights, visited Roman ruins and explored castles.
Siri's first experiments with sculpture started when she was 17. She would use bundles of sticks and chicken wire to craft animals and figures.“They didn't stay together too well,” Siri says with a smile.
At 19, Siri headed off to art school at Vermont's Goddard College, but dropped out after one semester and moved to Southern California before hopping over to New Mexico. In Taos she found a people and culture with direct lines to Spain, and she hasn't left since. Siri now lives with her husband and kids in Truchas.
It was in New Mexico that Siri bought her first welder for $100 and began crafting the steel-and-cement animals and figures for which she's known. The pieces proved to be much more durable than bundles of sticks, and the process of their creation was invigorating.
“I'm totally hooked on the energy it takes,” Siri says. “I don't know if it's the 220 volts of electricity or the strength it takes to manipulate the metal. But it's an intense workout—and a love-hate thing, too.”
About Mark White Fine Art:
Mark White Contemporary Art is located at 1611 Paseo de Peralta across from SITE Santa Fe in the Railyard District. Contact Charles Veilleux at info@markwhitefineart.com for more information.
