5230 East fort Lowell Road; Tucson,
Arizona 85712
520.323.1843
The life and landscapes of the American Southwest has been the lifelong subject of Tucson watercolorist Al Romo. Now for the first time, a retrospective show and sale of his work will be featured in a setting uniquely suited to such a display. The Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood Association, Inc. is pleased to hostAl Romo: A Retrospective in the San Pedro Chapel, in the Historic District on Fort Lowell Road. The exhibition, to be held May 19 – 25 2004, will be the first of what residents of the District hope to be annual events.
Al Romo is a native of Southeastern Arizona, who has lived with his wife, Hazel in Tucson since the 1960s. His will feature 35 important watercolors articulating the themes and periods of Romo’s life. His artist’s eye was apparent as he began to paint during his childhood, and at 82 years he has never stopped painting.
Al Romo born near Benson, Arizona, has lived in Tucson since the 1960s. He began painting in his childhood and continued throughout the course of his life, developing his artistic sense in California , Mexico, and throughout the Southwest.
Those who live in the Southwest recognize at once the landscapes and the people of Mr. Romo’s watercolors, even as we recognize that the placitas with tiny adobe bungalows, old farmsteads with working windmills, and serene churches set in wide landscapes may hardly exist as modern life encroaches. His peaceful landscapes, streetscapes, and serene churches clarify the simple beauty of the American Southwest. Painted from life, personal photographs, and an imbued ancestral heritage, the work thematically documents the rapidly vanishing (and lost) small Mexican and Southwestern villages; neighborhoods destroyed during the urban renewal of the 1960s, and the great mountain vistas of Arizona. The work is playful, sweet, and nostalgic, yet ornamented in honest realism: plaster cracks, dust and an occasional garbage can break the otherwise perfect landscape, creating a warm human quality. Al Romo’s Southwest uses the soft colors of the earth and the mountains, the sunburned paints over adobe casitas, and the landscapes created by nature. Those who meander through the brightly colored kokopelli and coyote replicas in today’s Southwestern art will recognize that Mr. Romo’s art preserves a classic and distinctive Southwestern ethnography, important in the canon of Tucson, Southwestern and Mexican&American Art. Mr. Romo and his wife will be present at the Artist Reception on May 21 to meet old friends and new.
This first retrospective gallery exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see and purchase one of these elegant art works. Portions of the proceeds go to the Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood Association for the restoration and conservation of the historic San Pedro Chapel.
Viewing Hours: May 2004 Artist reception: Friday, May 21 – 6pm to 9pm
Wednesday, May 19 – noon to 5pm
Thursday, May 20 – noon to 5pm
Friday, May 21 – noon to 5pm
Saterday, May 22 – 11am to 6pm
Sunday, May 23 – noon to 5pm
Monday, May 24 – noon to 5pm
Tuesday, May 25 – noon to 5pm
For additional information contact
Demion Clinco 520.323.1843
Bobbie Rothbam 520.907.5702