Santa-Rita Contemporary Art

Welcome to our site. We think of art as a  mysterious, fascinating, and fun field that should be a significant part of everyone’s life. The art we bring to you, the collector, is art that will enrich any environment, be it the wall of a private home or the exhibit space of a museum or corporation. Furthermore, it is art that will present frequent opportunities for contemplation and superior aesthetic experiences.

Last November during a visit to Lisbon I met a long time friend at a sidewalk cafe by the river and reminisced about old times in America, the twists and turns of life, and the meaning and present state of art.

We didn’t get too serious on this topic, we both know that our views are but a drop in the big bucket of intellectual discourse, but we restated our belief that art must be the reflection of an inner feeling that seeks expression regardless of its commercial viability. We also agreed that when the result of that exercise yields commercial success, there is no conflict as its nature remains pure, the expression of that multitude of moods, emotions, reflections, and whatever else we find in the make-up of an artist. Again, we knew that ours was only one one of many takes on the real meaning of art and  life,  a discreet exercise in attempting to understand.

So, whatever the paper or the canvas shows must, in our view, reflect an experience that is substantial in its creative impulse, and which finds a freedom of expression at its core, whether through drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, or some other mix of all the above or some of the more recent technologies that have entered the art field.

Indeed, we believe that contemporary art combines mastery of concept, composition, and technical execution. Painting, in particular explores the sheer use of paint regardless of any ultimate purpose. With the development of photography and the ability to capture “realistic” imagery at the click of a camera, painting has moved away from the representation of nature to explore other alternatives that combine a multiplicity of elements and themes. As for fine art photography, it reaches beyond the “captured subject” to consider composition and image manipulation, to find the hidden poetry, the subtle epic.

As we consider the ever present technical and scientific advancements, we see a new era of painting that confronts those changes, reacts to, and results from them. New themes, materials, and techniques influence society and the artist. The art world continues to follow this forward movement and looking out for its rising stars. Great art continues to enrich our lives and surprises us with its new trends.

In the times ahead we will incorporate some new artists and techniques into our group but, and here I borrow Anderson Cooper’s line, Keeping Them Honest…rest assured that our focus remains in art that is more than what meets the eye.

“Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it.”

Robert Motherwell

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