February 12 - April 9, 2006
Opening Reception: Sunday, February 12, 2-4 PM
Artist talk with Ms. Valdez at 2:30 PM

L.A. legend Patssi Valdez will take over Angels Gate Gallery A, the Center's first solo exhibition in its recently remodeled main gallery.

The show includes five works produced in 2005 not been previously shown anywhere. Peter Grimes, Turandot, Ainadamar, Lucio Silla, and The Barber of Seville were commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera to promote the opera company's most recent season of musical classics and new works.

Ms. Valdez is a leading Chicana artist with roots in the political and artistic movements of East Los Angeles community in the 1970s and 80s. Her style has evolved over three decades, passing through several distinctive periods, but maintaining an accessibility and directness that has made her work beloved by art audiences and collectors alike. A frequent theme of her recent work are domestic interiors, swirling with magic, open to airy sun- or moon-lit exteriors through enchanted windows. A sense of constant motion and a fabulous array of colors bring an instantly recognizable passion and intensity to the paintings. The new opera works include figures embedded in scenic dramas that represent a notable departure from her previous work.