About Eduardo Lapetina

About

Eduardo Lapetina is largely self-taught and constantly experiments in his studio. This has led him to develop a painting technique with unique characteristics. He has also attended painting classes with Professor Kimowan McLain at the University of North Carolina and with painter Jane Filer at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.

His ambition with his paintings is to use symbolic shapes and colors to express his deepest emotions and passion for life. This leads him to apply paint to the canvas in unusual ways -- by pouring, splashing, dripping, and scratching. His paintings also require layers upon layers of paint to create a sensuous and turbulent surface texture that is as vital and as complicated as life itself. He uses color to allure an imaginative and subtle spatial elusiveness. His abstract expressions are the product of many days of working and reworking.

The steps leading to his abstract paintings are the art of hiding and disclosing. It is the discovery of mysteries of the subconscious mind that are part of his own personal legend. Personality counts. These abstractions hold the promise of dreams, visions, fears, intangibles, and will. It is a collaboration of mind and spirit. It is a form of magic that may speak both to you and for you with a private, secret, confidential language. They also require something from the viewer; it demands contemplation, study, feeling, and flights of fancy.

My paintings are a way for me to enter the world, not an escape from it. A painting opens a door into a space in which a play may be staged, where plot points, conflict, climax, and resolution all come together. In the process of creation, a painting becomes a battlefield for my struggles about what is, what is not, what ought to be, what I like, what I love, what I hate, frustrations, disenchantment, embarrassments. My art exposes to the world my most private thoughts and feelings, forming a spatial connection between what lives within me and what is alive in everyone else.

I want my spaces to be painted without intention, without conscious technique, without anything that might interfere with the connections I seek to create. I do not want to keep a tradition. I am not looking for beauty but the viewer might find it in my art. And it is not about any particular theme or motif, it is about effectively conveying the immaterial through materiality. My aim is to project energy, visual vibrations, light, voices,excitement, and enthusiasm, captured in a physical form that you can take home with you.

EXHIBITIONS:

2023
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist Show
• Sertoma Arts Center, Raleigh, NC, Solo Show with 32 paintings

2022
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist Show
• Raleigh Arts Block Gallery, Raleigh, NC, presented "THROUGH THE LAYERS" with Wiley Johnson and Eduardo Lapetina
• Art Access, A Series of Fortunate Events, presented "MOVEMENT" at the Sertoma Arts Center, Raleigh, NC, with a group of invited artists.
• Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, NC, "ART IN TRANSLATION" sponsored by the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability and I was invited with five other artists.

2021
• Solo exhibition at the North Carolina Medical Board, Raleigh, NC
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist show

2020
• 16 paintings at Carol Woods, Chapel Hill, NC, Solo show
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist Show

2019
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist Show
• 23 Paintings at Saladelia, Durham, NC, Solo Show
• Women Club of Raleigh, Raleigh, NC, Solo Show

2018
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist Show

2017
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist Show
• Hock Plaza, Durham, NC, Solo Show

2015
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist Show
• Chapel Hill Art Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC, Featured Artist Show
• 27 Paintings at Saladelia, Durham, NC, Solo Show

2014
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist Show
• Chapel Hill Art Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC, Featured Artist Show

2013
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist Show
• Chapel Hill Art Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC, Featured Artist Show
• Red Door Gallery; Richmond, VA; Featured artist

2012
• Saxart Gallery, Saxapahaw, NC, Featured Artist Show
• North Carolina Central University Art Museum, Durham, NC, Group Exhibition of Latino Artists
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist Show
• Unitarian Universalist, Chapel Hill, NC, Featured Artist Show
• North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Art of the Auction 2012, Raleigh, NC, Curators Mark Hewitt, Elysia Borowy-Reeder, Trevor Shoemaker, One Selection.

2011
• Focal Point Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC: Featured Artist Show
• The Gallery, Beaufort, SC: Two-man show
• Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, Hillsborough, NC, Featured Artist Show
• Raleigh Fine Arts Society, 2011 Artists Exhibition, Raleigh, NC, curator Peter Nisbet, one selection
• Red Door Gallery, Richmond, VA., Two-man show

2010
• Block Gallery, Raleigh, NC, Two-man show
• Heyholde Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, Two-man Show
• Main Street Gallery, Carrboro, NC. Solo Exhibition
• 2010 Durham Art Guild Show, Durham, NC. Curator Jim Kellough, one selection
• Gallery C, Raleigh, NC, Representation
• Raleigh Fine Art Society, 2010 North Carolina Artists Exhibition, Raleigh, NC: One selection
• Mad Hatter’s, Durham, NC, Solo Exhibition

2009
• Tyler D Studios and Gallery, Burlington, NC, Solo Exhibition
• Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston Salem, NC, Solo Exhibition
• Turning Point Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC: Representation/Solo exhibition
• FedEx Global Education Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Invitation for a Solo Exhibition
• The Gallery, Beaufort, SC: Solo exhibition
• The Gallery at Harrison's, Burlington, NC, Solo Exhibition

2008
• Durham Art Guild’s 54th Annual Juried Show, Durham, NC: One Selection
• Main Street Gallery NC: Representation/Solo Exhibition
• Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, NC: Juried Exhibition
• Carrboro Art Center, East End Gallery, Carrboro, NC, Solo Exhibition
• Main Street Gallery, Carrboro, NC: Representation/Group Exhibition
• Raleigh Fine Art Society, 2008 North Carolina Artists Exhibition, Raleigh, NC: One selection
• The Preservation Society of Chapel Hill, Horace Williams House, Chapel Hill, NC: Juried Solo Exhibition
• Sky Art Gallery, Aberdeen, NC: Group Exhibition

2007
• Durham Art Guild’s 53rd Annual Juried Show, Durham, NC: One Selection Awarded Honorable Mention
• Bill Hester Fine Arts Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC, Representation
• The Gallery, Beaufort, SC, Representation/Solo Exhibition
• Vignettes Art Galley, Raleigh, NC: Solo Exhibition
• Sky Art Gallery, Aberdeen, NC: Solo Exhibition
• Fine Arts League of Cary, NC, 13th Annual Juried Exhibition: Two selections
• The Frank Porter Graham Gallery (University of North Carolina Student Union) Chapel Hill, NC: Solo Exhibition
• Vignettes Art Gallery, Raleigh, NC: Group Show

2006
• April and George Art Gallery and Wine Bar, Raleigh, NC: Solo Exhibition
• Little Station Gallery, Skopje, Macedonia: Group Show
• Sizl Gallery, Carrboro, NC: Representation/Solo Exhibition
• Sizl Gallery, Carrboro, NC: Group Show
• Exchange Gallery (VAE), Raleigh, NC: Group Show
• Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, NC: Group Show
• The Gallery, Beaufort, SC: Group Show

2005
• Durham Art Guild’s 51st Annual Juried Art Show, Durham, NC: one selection
• Sizl Gallery, Carrboro, NC: Representation/Solo Exhibition
• Sizl Gallery, Carrboro, NC: Group Show
• Side Street Gallery, Pittsboro, NC: Two-man Show
• Lee Hansley Gallery, Raleigh, NC: Group Show
• Town of Chapel Hill (Town Hall), Chapel Hill, NC: Two-man Show

2004
• Fine Arts League of Cary , NC, 10th Annual Juried Exhibition: Purchase Award
• Sizl Gallery, Carrboro, NC: Representation/Solo Exhibition
• Sizl Gallery, Carrboro, NC: Group Show
• Living Well Center and Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC: Solo Exhibition

ART COLONIES/ RESIDENCIES:

• 2007: Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
• 2006: International Art Colony of Kicevo, Macedonia
• 2005: Cedar Park International Art Colony, Highland Beach, FL

CORPORATE COLLECTIONS:

• Young Moore & Henderson Law, Raleigh, NC
• Municipal Art Collection, Raleigh, NC
• Jackson Lewis Law Offices, Raleigh, NC
• Duke University Divinity Library, Durham, NC
• Old Peak Finance, Chapel Hill, NC
• Cato Research, Tel Aviv, Israel
• Lawson Hunter, Ottawa, Canada
• Cato Research Inc., Durham, NC
• Health Planning Source, Durham, NC
• The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
• Starbucks Coffee Co., Chapel Hill, NC
• Biomerieux, Inc., Durham, NC
• Ogletree and Deakins, Law Firm, Raleigh, NC
• SAS, Inc., Cary, NC
• Paul Timmers, EU, Brussels, Belgium
• Lord Corp, Cary, NC

HONORS AND AWARDS:

2023

• Jurors Valerie Hillings PhD, Director of the North Carolina Museum of Arts, and Peter Baker PhD, Director of the Comtemporary Art Museum, selected my painting “Found Deep Down In Our Oceans” 30” x 48” for the NC ARTISTS EXHIBITION of the Raleigh Fine Arts Society. They selected 79 pieces from the 970 submitted.

2022
• Raleigh Arts, Art Access, and LEAD (Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability) invited me to exhibit my paintings at the Block Gallery, Sertoma Arts Center and the Raleigh Convention Center during the summer, Raleigh, NC
• My painting "A TREE PLANTED IN THE HEAVENS" was selected by the Raleigh Art Collection

2021
• A jury from the Durham Art Guild has selected me for a special 6 months exhibition of my paintings at the North Carolina Medical Board, Raleigh, NC

2018
• Ultralight 2 Exhibit of the Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, NC, selected my painting "A Simple, Happy Life"
• My painting "What Memory Is Made Of" was included in the exhibit THE WALLS WE BUILD of Pleiades Gallery, Durham, NC

2017
• Juror Michael Rooks, Wieland Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, High Museum of Art, Atlanta GA selected my painting "A Pause and Awakening" for the 2017 North Carolina Artists Exhibition of the Raleigh Fine Arts Society
• Curator Ruth Gould, Liverpool, UK, selected two of my paintings for the Ultralight Exhibit of the Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, NC. This exhibition showcased the work of 21 artists across the United States. My painting "Where the Intangible Hovers" was awarded Third Place

2015
• Juror John Beerman selected the painting, "A Pause and Awakening I" for the 2015 Bank of the Arts juried exhibition and awarded a Merit Award
• Awarded the 2015 Latino Diamante Award for Arts and Culture, North Carolina

2013
• Eddie Carpenter selected the painting Back When We However Moved, We Danced The Tune for the 59th Annual Juried Art Show of the Durham Art Guild

2012
• Juror Sarah Powers selected the painting The Deep Solace of Spring for the 58th Annual Juried Art Show of the Durham Art Guild
• Jurors Mark Hewitt, Elysia Borowy-Reeder, and Trevor Shoemaker selected my painting A Space of Lingering Remnants (I), for the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Art of the Auction 2012 Exhibition

2011
• Juror Peter Nisbet, Chief Curator of the Ackland Museum of Art of Chapel Hill, NC, selected my painting _A Place to Dwell in my Own Serenity_ for the Raleigh Fine Arts Society 2011 Artists Exhibition

2010
• Invitation to present a lecture about my paintings at the Ackland Museum, Chapel Hill, NC
• Juror John Beerman selected my painting “Traveling through the Maze of Time” for the 2010 North Carolina Artists Exhibition

2008
• The jurors at the “2008 Arts at the Meadows Festival” organized by the Orange County Artists Guild of North Carolina awarded me the prize “Best Show in Fine Arts” of the Festival
• Juror Brad Thomas, Director of the Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davison College selected my painting “Rainfall Through Trees” for the NEW (Never Exhibited Work) Annual Juried Art Show of the Visual Art Exchange of Raleigh, NC
• Juror Beverly McIver selected my painting “Silence Escapes from my Skin” for the 54th Annual Juried Art Show of the Durham Art Guild
• Juror Dr. Lawrence J. Wheeler, Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art, selected my painting “The Impressions of Forestal Dreams” for the 2008 North Carolina Artists Exhibition

2007
• Juror Barkley Hendricks selected my painting “Snake Charmer’s Playground” for the 53rd Annual Juried Art Show of the Durham Art Guild and awarded the Honorable Mention to that painting

2006
• Juror Petah Coyne selected my painting “Floating Nothingness” for the 52nd Annual Juried Art Show of the Durham Art Guild and awarded the Third Prize to that painting

2005
• Juror Judy Chicago selected my painting “Building Lights on Past Pains” for the 51st Annual Juried Art Show of the Durham Art Guild

2004
• The Phyllis and Tyler Bennett Purchase Award at the Fine Arts League of Cary 10th Annual Exhibition was awarded to my painting “Pain in Spain”

PUBLICATIONS:

2013
• The Daily Tar Heel, Chapel Hill, NC

2010
• The Blotter Magazine, Durham, NC

2009
• The Herald Sun, Durham, NC

2008
• The Herald Sun, Durham, NC

2007
• Low Country Weekly, Beaufort. SC
• The Pilot, Southern pines, NC
• AARP Segunda Juventud, Washington, DC2006
• Dnevnik, Skopje, Macedonia
• Utrinski Vesnik, Kichevo, Macedonia
• The Herald Sun, Durham, NC
• The News of Chatham, Chatham County, NC

2004
• The Chapel Hill News, Chapel Hill, NC

2003
• The Chapel Hill News, Chapel Hill, NC