For Latin American artist collective Contrapunto, camaraderie extends beyond gallery walls

Photograph courtesy of Contrapunto

In 2008, Venezuelan artist Carlos Solis looked around the Atlanta metro and found the representation of Latin American art lacking. He reached out online to another local Venezuelan artist who he thought might share his vision of creating together and raising awareness about Latin American art. Over the next decade and a half, the contemporary artists collective known as Contrapunto came together.

The group remained nameless for several years. In 2011, then-member Stanley Bermudez suggested Contrapunto, the Spanish word for “counterpoint.” A musical term for blending complementary melodies, it suited the image of individual artists working together.

“Our goal for Contrapunto is to change minds and break stereotypes—not just to show art,” Solis says. “We, Latin Americans, are the biggest minority in the United States. But in the art world, we have work to do.”

Composition has shifted through the years; today, members hail from Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Nicaragua. Styles range from abstract to surrealist to realistic, and the artists employ a variety of materials. For his recent oil painting Unconscious Temperament , for instance, Pedro Fuertes created textured swipes using a windshield wiper blade. The artists all agree that their daily lives provide plenty of inspiration. Nicaraguan artist Melvin Toledo’s portrait In the Sea of My Mind depicts his young son, while Solis’s painting The First Time is a surreal portrayal of the small Venezuelan town of La Puerta, where he met his wife.

With only seven members, Solis says, Contrapunto has remained small on purpose. He wanted to ensure he selected the right artists, not only for their dedication and quality of art but also for their character. “I wanted people who care about who they are as a human,” he says. “Who are easygoing and have a good sense of humor, but also are professional and have a good work ethic.”

On a recent Saturday morning at RobertKent Galleries in Marietta, several Contrapunto artists gathered to share their stories, covering everything from life in the United States to the group’s recent road trip to Allentown, Pennsylvania, in a gigantic van. “We are a family: We travel, we have dinner, we visit galleries,” says Solis. “Twice a year, we have a formal meeting, but we need our ‘me’ time to keep creating and networking.”

This year, Contrapunto exhibited works together at Oglethorpe University Museum of Art and Gallery 100 . They sometimes show in smaller formations, as Toledo did at Quinlan Visual Arts Center in Gainesville this spring, alongside fellow Contrapunto member, the Colombian artist Catalina Gomez-Beuth. This November, beginning at the First Friday art walk, the whole collective will mount a group show at RobertKent, including their newest member, sculpture artist Carolina Rojas.

Toledo says joining Contrapunto expanded possibilities for his art and boosted his confidence. Trained at The National School of Fine Arts in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Toledo primarily works in oils, graphite, and lithographic ink. In 2018, a self-portrait he displayed at The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia caught the eye of Solis, who later invited Toledo to join Contrapunto.

“Contrapunto has really been fantastic,” Toledo says. “When I joined the group, it opened spaces that I daydreamed about, such as the Cobb Museum in Marietta, where I’m excited to have my first solo museum show.”

As Solis sees it, Contrapunto is helping Atlanta embrace its creative diversity. “We want to be exposed to multiple cultures and different backgrounds,” he says. “That’s how you become a better human being.”

This article appears in our September 2024 issue.

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