René Treviño explores the idea of space as a symbol of vastness in his newest exhibition Cosmos. Fascinated with the idea of how small and insignificant we are in the universe, he finds optimism in the endlessness– in all that possibility. The stress and minutia of daily life can be overwhelming, but there is solace in the idea that we will all be swallowed up by a black hole someday.
Emptiness leads to possibility.
Within the suite of six moon paintings included in “Cosmos”, Treviño explores a palette of metallic pastels with colors reminiscent of delicately sweet French macaron cookies. Inspired by his experience of seeing a strawberry pink moon, Treviño also makes reference to the lyrical blue moon from popular culture, and the way that our perception of the moon is constantly changing. These colors are at first whimsical, but are true to the changing colors of the moon when we take a moment and look up with intention.
In addition to the moon series, Treviño’s exhibition will include paintings from a recent series of star fields.
About the Artist
RENÉ TREVIÑO was born in Kingsville, Texas. He received his BFA in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in 2003 and his MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2005.
He has shown at the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, CT; the Baltimore Museum of Art, Goliath Visual Space in Brooklyn, NY; White Box in New York; the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art; the Arlington Arts Center in Arlington, VA; the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in Baltimore, MD; and Pentimenti Gallery in Philadelphia, PA. He was also included in the 2007 WPA/Corcoran OPTIONS Biennial in Washington DC and was awarded a 2009 Baltimore Creative Fund Individual Artist Grant and won the 2009 Trawick Prize. In 2019 he received a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works grant in collaboration with the Old Jail Art Center in Albany, TX. Recent projects include solo exhibitions at the Kentucky College of Art and Design in Louisville, KY and Loyola University in Baltimore, MD, and a major commission for the Whitman-Walker Health Center in Washington, DC.