Artist's Statement

My work is about perception, attention and looking for beauty in the mundane. Using direct observation I paint the people and objects that surround me. I believe that only through drawing or painting something can I really see it and understand it. I enjoy both the process of discovering what makes something look the way it does and the struggle to translate that into paint in the simplest way possible.  The interaction with the subject and trying to capture the many moments of attention placed on it, is what keeps me most engaged in a painting and why working directly from the motif is central to my work.

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Bio

Julio Suarez received his MFA in Painting from Indiana University Bloomington and a BFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City where he first discovered his passion for painting and drawing from direct observation.  His influences range from old masters such as Velasquez and Vermeer to 20th century artists like Giorgio Morandi and the English painter Euan Uglow. Suarez's work has been exhibited  nationally including at the Painting Center and Blue Mountain Gallery in New York City and Principle Gallery in Alexandria Virginia. He recently received a Best of Show award at the 56th Annual Greater Michigan Art Exhibition organized by the Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Art.

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Suarez was raised in Miami, Florida after immigrating to the U.S. from Cuba at the age of eight. After living in big east coast cities for most of their lives, his wife, their yorkie-poo "Uzi" and him are very happy to now call Hillsdale home.

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