In the 1975 exhibit catalog at the Gruenebaum Gallery, Ltd. NYC. Thomas Gruenebaum wrote: “In these elegant, powerful oils one can appreciate his masterful technique. His transition from the the printed medium to the painted one gives a new dimension to a vision which grows in strength and originality with each canvas. His world is a surrealistic one with strong roots in the past, evoking thoughts of Hieronymus Bosch and Francisco Goya as they might have viewed our modern world. His paintings intrigue and fascinate, composing strangely beautiful and mysterious images never before seen. His landscapes teem with living and mechanical forms which struggle to dominate a continuously changing scene. Tornero's portraits seem to be of alien creatures, grotesque but at the same time elegant and humorous-yet we can recognize ourselves in them, as a part of a world never fully at peace with itself. Tornero's work, once seen is impossible to forget.”
Sergio Gonzalez-Tornero, painter and printmaker, was born in Santiago, Chile, on May 27, 1927. The son of diplomats, he studied in Chile, Brazil, and the United States. In 1958, he studied at the Slade School in London before moving to Paris, where he worked at Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17 and met his wife, fellow printmaker Adrienne Cullom. They settled permanently in New York in 1962, where Sergio and Adrienne worked together at Bob Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop. After visiting the Canadian archipelago of Haida Gwaii, Sergio became fascinated with the work of the indigenous Haida peoples, finding it to be deeply spiritual: this became and remained a powerful influence in his work.
Gonzalez-Tornero’s original etchings and aquatints have been the subject of over 53 solo exhibitions in Chile, the United States, Canada, Italy, Germany, and France. He has received over forty awards for his art, including the UNESCO prize at the International Biennial in Krakow, Poland, in 1966 and the first prize at the 10th Biennial of Prints from Latin America and the Caribbean in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1993. Public Collections in France, England, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, and Mexico all include examples of his etchings and engravings in their permanent collections.
Unframed prints available, call the gallery at 203-966-9700 x 220
Sergio Gonzalez-Tornero's art is represented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bronx and Brooklyn Museums, the New York Public Library, and the Museum of Modern Art. His contributions to the art world have been acknowledged with a fellowship from the New York State Foundation for the Arts in 1987 and a grant from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation in 1990. He was a respected member of the Society of American Graphic Artists, Boston Printmakers, Philadelphia Print Club, and Silvermine Guild of Artists.
To inquire about the availability of Sergio Gonzalez-Tornero's work, call Silvermine Gallery at 203-966-9700 x 220
Credits:
Silvermine Arts Center