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July, 11 1991 Lifestyle/Arts 'Splendors' painting damaged, already repaired - Page 2-E San Antonio, Texas Express~News Artist makes joyful return By DAN R. GODDARD Express-News Arts Writer From the firebombing of his wife's car by terrorists sympathetic to Iraq to seeing the great museums of Europe, retirement in Italy has been an adventure for pioneering Chicano painter Mel Casas. Casas will attend the 5:30 p.m. opening Thursday of an exhibit of his recent paintings and of the works of Cesar Martinez at the Jansen-Perez Gallery as part of Contemporary Arts Month. Casas, who retired last summer as head of San Antonio College's art department, has been living in Brindisi, Italy, a port city of 80,000 across the Adriatic Sea from Albania. Brindisi has been overrun by nearly 30,000 Albanian refugees and has an American air base that played a key role in the Persian Gulf war. Done a good job "We have a second-story apartment overlooking the airport, which is usually very quiet," said Casas. "But a few weeks before the war, we woke up to the sound of what seemed like hundreds of transport planes landing and taking off. The Albanian refugees are an entirely different problem, but the Italian government has done a good job of dispersing them throughout the country." His wife, Grace, teaches art at the American military base in Brindisi. During the Gulf war, her car was one of several at the base destroyed by terrorists using crude Molotov cocktails. "The Persian Gulf war did create a lot of problems for us because it interfered with so many aspects of daily life. Our mail was cut off, which really made us feel isolated. They forbade Americans from congregating in large groups to prevent them from becoming terrorist targets. It was a difficult time," Casa said. "Though we've had our problems, I think it is a great time to be living in Europe. You can see history being made almost every day. The world is changing rapidly. The main thing I have learned is that we take an awful lot for granted in this country. We have much more freedom than any other people in the world and we are not so weighed down by the burden of culture and history." At Jansen-Perez, he will be displaying small, square paintings suggested by his life in Italy. For example, one of the first ones he did is "Brindisi Nocturne," showing tall firs silhouetted against a night sky in a scene that brings to mind Vincent Van Gogh. Other paintings deal with the imagery of the Greek religious icons, black female American soldiers, French snobbery, German mythology, the influence of the Medicis' in Florence and studies of cast, bugs and sheep. His colors have grown darker and more somber, but his lively intelligence and witty wordplay in his titles remain as fresh as ever. Colors flow better "As far as my painting, I think my technique is much more fluid and spontaneous; the colors just seem to flow onto the canvas much easier," Casas said. "Of course, the subject matter is influenced by what I see around me. The great thing about finally seeing the museums of Europe is that I can see things that I have only known from art history books. And when I see something I like, it triggers all sorts of things in my imagination." The rest of the exhibit consists of new work by Martinez. Particularly impressive are his new altarlike large paintings based on the landscape of South Texas. The Virgin of Guadalupe shines over his "Brush Pile of the Imagination in South Texas," incorporating thorny branches and corrugated surfaces reminiscent of tin roofs. Richly painted in dark, moody colors and heavily textured, Martinez's new work makes South Texas seem mysterious and strangely powerful. Both exhibits will remain on display through Aug. 31 at the Jansen-Perez Gallery, 175 E. Houston St., 227-0900. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays. [[image - photograph of a painting]] PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS~NEWS Painter Mel Casas left San Antonio College to move to Italy. The move produced a considerable change in his work, as shown in this one called 'Icon II."
