Nicola Parente's first group museum exhibition opens at UTSA Art Gallery in San Antonio Texas on JUNE 3 to JULY 2, 2009

TWO LARGE PAINTINGS BY ARTIST NICOLA PARENTE WERE SELECTED BY CURATOR WADE WILSON AS A PART OF THIS EXHIBITION. PARENTE WILL BE PRESENT ON JULY 3rd FOR THE OPENING RECEPTION. This exhibition is free and open to the public.

San Antonio: Dr. Scott Sherer, director of the University of Texas at San Antonio Art Gallery (Main (1604) Campus) is pleased to announce a special exhibition, Transparent-Translucent, curated by Houston-based, art historianand critic, Wade Wilson. The exhibit opens with a reception for the artists from 6-8 pm, Wednesday, June 3, 2009 and will remain on view through July 2, 2009. Tranparent/Translucent includes works by artists Anila Quayyum Agha, Lucinda Cobley, Michael Crowder, Danielle Frankenthal, Meredith² Butch²Jack, Yoko Motomiya, McKay Otto, NICOLA PARENTE, Gordon Terry and Joan
Winter.

Working from places which reflect both literal and philosophical elements of the transparent and/or translucent, the artists in the exhibit,Transparent-Translucent remind us that things are not always as they appear and we cannot always see through them.² American playwright Lillian Hellman wrote in the Prologue to her memoirs, Pentimento, ³Old paint on canvas, as it ages, sometimes becomes transparent. When that happens, it is possible, in some pictures, to see the original lines: a tree will show through a woman¹s dress, a child makes way for a dog, a large boat is no longer on an open sea. That is called pentimento because the painter ³repented,² changed his mind. Perhaps it would be as well to say that the old conception, replaced by a later choice, is a way of seeing and then seeing again. The paint has aged now and I wanted to see what was there for me once, what is there for me now. The exhibit incites us to look carefully at what it is we are seeing and what we "think" we are seeing. So much of our vision falls between the two. Things which we deem transparent may in fact become more illusory or translucent.

The exhibit focuses on the myriad interpretations of exactly what it means to express a vision which engages either the physical and/or metaphoric aspects of that which is transparent and/or translucent.

Curator Wade Wilson has curated and co-curated more than 200 exhibitions over the past 25 years and has published more than 300 essay s and reviews since 1983. Wilson is president and owner of Wade Wilson Art, a contemporary art gallery in Houston.

W H E N: The exhibition will run from June 3-July 2, 2009.

The gallery hours are Monday-Thursday, 11-2, and by appointment. The
exhibition is free and open to the public.

OPENING RECEPTION: Wednesday, June 3, 6:00-8:00 pm. UTSA Art Gallery, Main
Campus. Free parking is available in Lot 8 during the opening reception.

W H E R E: UTSA Art Gallery, Arts Building, UTSA Main Campus, One UTSA Circle,
San Antonio, TX 78249

DIRECTIONS: The UTSA Art Gallery is located in the Arts Building on UTSA¹s
Main (1604) campus. From I-10, take Exit #557 to UTSA Blvd. At the second traffic light, turn right onto James Bauerle Blvd. Turn left onto O'Neil Ford Ave., and then make an immediate right into Lot 8. The Arts Building will be on your right at the top of the walkway to the center of campus.

Parente presenting in Spacetakers SPEAKeasy, Wednesday May 20, 6:30PM - 9:30PM

Tonight's Artist SPEAKeasy, featuring three fantastic local artists: filmmaker/animator Sharad Patel, musician/audio engineer Cesar Inserny, and fabulous painter Nicola Parente! Join us this evening for casual conversation, cocktails, and nosh!

Every third Wednesday of the month at the Artist SPEAKeasy, Spacetaker hosts two to three artists from varying disciplines (visual, performing, literary, etc.) to present, in an informal atmosphere, creative dialogs/talks/presentations about their work followed by a question and answer session where the audience can glean further insight into the artist, the artist's aesthetic and creative process. The evening is designed not only to bring together artists and those who appreciate the arts, but also to introduce local artists to each other to encourage conversation and cross-disciplinary collaboration between artists and their chosen media.

Presenting artists this month are painter Nicola Parente, video producer/animator Sharad Kant Patel, and musician/audio engineer Cesar Inserny!

Nicola Parente:
Nicola Parente creates expressive abstract paintings from his studio in Houston, Texas. Born in Italy, he draws from his rich Italian heritage and a deep well of cross-cultural experiences to bring his art to life. Working in a variety of media, he engages the viewer in dialogues of human encounter within the urban environment. Inspired by changes in metropolitan communities, his art defines the intersections of daily urban life and timeless multi-cultural celebration. His paintings capture the fluidity and static elements of the urban matrix, referencing the architectonic images, reflections, and rhythms of its landscape. Mr. Parente competed his undergraduate studies at Kings College and his masters from the University of St. Thomas. Recently, Parente collaborated with Dominic Walsh Dance Theater in designing and creating the set for the World Premier Production of Terminus. He is represented in Houston by Gremillion &Co. Fine Art, which featured his new work at a solo exhibition in July 2008. This June/July, Parente will take part in a group exhibition entitled Transparent/Translucent at the University of Texas Art Gallery Museum in San Antonio (curated by Wade Wilson). His works can be seen in public and private collections in the US, Italy, UK, Germany, and Spain.

Sharad Kant Patel:
Sharad Kant Patel has enjoyed a career as a creative director, video producer, animator, and writer at companies like Sybilmedia, AXBG, and Hexagroup in Houston Texas. Many of his animations and designs are on permanent display at the Houston Museum of Science. As a teenager, he attended the Glassell Junior School of Art for six consecutive years, by earning annual scholarships on the basis of his
portfolio of drawings and paintings. He went on to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin and with two BS degrees in Radio-TV-Film and Advertising. He began making videos and short films as a child and continues to produce such works both commercially and as personal projects of artistic expression. His short films have screened and been awarded at Aurora Picture Show, SXSW, WorldFest Houston, and the Beverly Hills HiDef Film Festival. He is currently in post production on his first feature length film entitled “Christian Roane."

Cesar Inserny:
Cesar Inserny is an Audio Engineer, Sound Designer, Musician, and a self-proclaimed Music Producer with expertise in film and television post-production audio, music production, and composition. Cesar sings and plays guitar for his band, The Watermarks, and collaboratively writes, records, mixes, produces, and masters all the band's music in his studio. He works as a freelancer under his company's name, Watermark Audio, with high profile clients such as MTV, Good Magazine, and The Fashion Network.