Upcoming Exhibition:

Baby Blue Gallery is excited to announce Love Yours, a solo exhibition of Marcelo Eli Sarmiento. The exhibition presents a new series of paintings and ink-on-paper studies, which express a "joie de vivre" by looking at Pre-Colombian motherhood and his own relationships. This is the first series Marcelo has addressed the themes of the matriarch and partnership. He confronts the tropes of classical European painting and ecclesiastical history, in the subject matter of mother and child and Eternal Life. In the painting Eternal Life, a statuesque goddess-like female figure feeds her child, and contrasts the massiveness of the figure with the vulnerable action of feeding. In the painting Unity, Marcelo shows us the relationship between two people creating one body— an idea rooted in marriage. When two individuals agree to become one, he accomplishes this conceptually and materially, combining two found doors into one picture. Two original studies accompany both works, introducing his process from conception to the finished picture. With this, Marcelo takes on these subjects to speak on the nurturing nature of gratitude. The understanding that with effort, happiness can be reached by appreciating what we already have in our lives.

Personal Statement

Marcelo Eli Sarmiento is an American artist whose works aim to connect the contemporary experience and Pre-Columbian symbolism. Pulling from his Mexican and Ecuadorian heritage, he creates new mythologies surrounding gods, warriors, and life & death. Although known for his oil paintings, he maintains a diverse studio practice that includes acrylic and watercolor, oil pastel, and ink drawings. His work is often expressive, heavily textured, intuitive, and direct, juxtaposed with the cosmology of the Pre-Columbian culture's visual language. Marcelo works prolifically but also methodically, constantly working in distinct series. The works promote tradition and identity and question the preservation of the Latinx experience. Marcelo has said that through his practice, he has been able to learn and express an excavation of the self and self histories.

Artist Bio

Marcelo (b. 1989 Chicago) lives and works in the greater Chicago area. Solo exhibitions include 2023 Love Yours, Baby Blue Gallery, 2022, Be without Fear, Uncurated Gallery Online, 2021 De Sangre, De Tierra y De Oro, AMFM/Compound Yellow Gallery, Chicago. Group exhibitions include 2019 PINK THINGS, AMFM, Chicago, IL Nada y Todo, Chuquimarca Projects, Chicago, IL 2020 Artist-Run Chicago 2.0, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL, 2021 Alternating Currents, Fridman Gallery, New York, NY Sabor Interno, Belong Gallery, Chicago IL Strawberry Moon, Rupture, Baby Blue Gallery, Chicago IL, The Sum of Unity, Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis IN, Vol.1, Uncurated Gallery, Online. Awards and Residencies include The Center Program Hyde Park Art Center and Tanda Fellowship with Chuquimarca; Marcelo is excited to announce his recent invitation to the Macedonia Institute residency.

Please note* Baby Blue resides in the MANA Contemporary Building. The entrance is on the east side of the building next to the parking lot, and not on Throop Street.

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