Pedro Vélez and Greg Klassen present new bodies of work at Portrait Society Gallery, September 11 through November 14, 2015, in an exhibition titled Revealing Nature.  Curated by Claudia Arzeno and Debra Brehmer, the exhibition brings together two artists who individually consider the entwined relationships between the artist, his or her influences, creative production as well as the relationship these have to both human nature and the natural world.

​

Vélez, one of three Milwaukee-affiliated artists in the 2014 Whitney Biennial, is known for his paintings and photo collages that use social media references to express commentaries on cultural, political and racial issues. This body of work, Revealing Nature: Pedro Vélez Social and Private Portraits, steps away from these previous explorations and delves into more personal and intimate subject matter.

​

In this new series, Vélez looks at the idea of the artist’s muse- in other words, the artist’s source of inspiration. What does this influential person, thing, place or idea say about his or her nature? The artist has revisited past photographic work as well as personal relationships, romantic relationships, break ups and places in order to analyze what tends to spark his creativity.  In an effort to be more self-aware, Velez asks himself why he keeps going back to certain people as sources of inspiration.  The findings were then translated into new portraits, flower paintings, abstracted depictions of the body and intimate photo collages that function as a fractured narrative in which the dynamics of personal and platonic relationships are blurred.

​

Vélez has re-examined previous work while analyzing past romantic and non-romantic relationships, pinpointing their effect on his work. Subsequently, he has gone back and re-photographed these subjects, creating paintings from the photographs that are most significant to him. The artist has found that certain people are constantly repeated in his work while other people with whom he has had important relationships are barely featured. These muses are not the passive figures of Greek and Roman times, but instead active important protagonists in Vélez’s work.

​

Rosalyn Martir, a friend of Vélez’s has been the subject of multiple photocollages, including a piece referencing Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, which was censored here in Milwaukee. Mónica Rizzo, one of the artist’s former romantic partners, has also been featured in a variety of pieces—one of the most well known being Ann Lee Lives!, a controversial protest piece where she embodied the popular purple haired Japanese figure, Annlee. Vélez considers Walter Robinson, whom with the artist worked closely at Artnet, as an important muse. This was reflected in the series of work he created for the 2014 Whitney Biennial. Tony Fitzpatrick, and his work, have also surfaced as important muses, as one of the pieces in Revealing Nature illustrates.

In addition, Vélez has realized that over the course of his career, it has not only been people who have served as inspiration for his work, but places and ideas as well. For example, political issues and the city of Chicago, where Vélez long-resided, both constantly serve as sources, or muses, for new artworks.

​

​