Shades of Us: Portraits by Eloy Torrez

For artist Eloy Torrez, the Shades of Us portrait series is like a music album in which each song is different in tone and rhythm, but similar in theme. His artwork steps in and out between figurative, realistic paintings and surreal scenes with elongated, timeless landscapes. His friends, family and acquaintances are his painted subjects, through which he asks difficult questions. Torrez is constantly traveling to the well of wonder as his main source of inspiration. 

In this body of work, Torrez negotiates between body gestures, the language of clothing and fashion, and shades of color as a unique combination in the personal language of each of his painted guests. Torrez is guided by his musical background in the rendition of this series. The canvas and his surgical brush strokes are where Torrez builds mystery similar to a sheet of music in the process of becoming a song. His meticulous details in every portrait are the fine-tuning needed in finalizing his artistic quest into human interaction and the meaning of ideas that shape people's lives. Torrez's inquiry into the process of thoughts is, what do we think and why? 

This series comes in full bloom during the pandemic and the isolation of human contact that came with it. How does Shades of Us tie in with the Black Lives Matter movement, or with the migrant caravans making their way from Central America to the US border? What role does each of his painted guests play in the field of life? Is there a connection or not? This body of work is Torrez's subjective visual essay in which not only does he expose his imaginary talent, but examines it in the form of an existential search for a sense of place, purpose and meaning.

Jimmy Centeno, guest curator

Source: Exhibition catalogue for Shades of Us: Portraits by Eloy Torrez.