{"id":5084363,"date":"2019-09-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctlatinonews.com\/latino-artist-speaks-universal-language-through-jazz-themed-art\/"},"modified":"2019-09-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T04:00:00","slug":"latino-artist-speaks-universal-language-through-jazz-themed-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/2019\/09\/17\/latino-artist-speaks-universal-language-through-jazz-themed-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Latino Artist Speaks Universal Language Through Jazz-Themed Art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By\u00a0Annika Darling<\/a>,\u00a0CTLatinoNews.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

Andres Chaparro first heard jazz music when he was 13 years old. As he whimsically flipped through radio channels one night he stumbled across the song \u201cLove Supreme\u201d by John Coltrane. It was as if, at that moment, Chaparro was struck by lightning. His life would never be the same. <\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cAt the time I wasn\u2019t sure what kind of music it was,\u201d recalls Chaparro, \u201cbut I felt the connection. Jazz has touched my soul; it has warmed my heart and has moved me to tears. I cannot envision my life without songs like Billie Holiday\u2019s \u2018Strange Fruit\u2019, John Coltrane\u2019s \u2018Alabama\u2019, the music of Nina Simone, Billy Harper, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Roy Hargrove, Dizzy Gillespie, Eric Dolphy, Jackie McLean, Ray Barreto, Albert Ayler, and this list goes on and on \u2026 I think there is a sense of freedom and liberation I feel with jazz music. It is a spiritual experience for me and one which fuels my work.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

Chaparro isn\u2019t a musician, although he is inspired by them. Chaparro is an artist, a painter. Utilizing oils, markers, crayons, pencils, spray paint and found objects, he creates paintings that are interpretive, incorporates jazz-related visual elements and evokes powerful emotions. And on Thursday, Sept. 19, Chaparro will be discussing his work and why he created it in an hour-long Art Talk sponsored by Western Connecticut State University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI recently had the honor to curate a major exhibition, which runs August 26 through October 6, 2019, entitled American Subtitles at Western Connecticut State University\u2019s Visual & Performing Arts Center Gallery,\u201d Chaparro explains. \u201cThe exhibition features my mixed media paintings and collage artwork as well as 14 pieces of artwork by sculptor Robert Charles Hudson. I will be discussing my work in the exhibition, works which interpret the American experience of people of color. Both Robert and I share a common passion for our artwork to invite and challenge viewers to re-examine social crises from a fresh perspective. The show strives to inspire the viewer to explore their own individual contributions to humanity while embracing visions of both unity and diversity in a very honest way. There is a painting in the exhibit entitled \u2018Strange Fruit\u2019, which was inspired by Billie Holiday. The painting is part of a series of work I created entitled the \u2018Unmarked Graves Series\u2019, which concentrated on lynchings in America. My talk will be more about why I created my work than about how I created it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

Chaparro creates his work tucked away in his studio in Windsor, Conn. He was born and raised in Hartford with parents from Puerto Rico and says that being bi-cultural has had a profound influence on his life. \u201cI have always connected to my Puerto Rican roots and my parents made sure that my siblings and I spoke the language and were proud to be Puerto Rican,\u201d says Chaparro. \u201cI was raised speaking two languages and my father was an avid music listener, which instilled in me a deep appreciation for music. It was these early experiences that help shape and value my cultural awareness and appreciation for music that morphed into creating artwork that is culturally sensitive with a passion and love for jazz.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

While Chaparro would doodle and sketch as a child growing up, he didn\u2019t start creating paintings and artwork until later in life. It was in the 1980s when he was living in New York that he created his first painting depicting John Coltrane. \u201cI ended up gifting that painting,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI wish I could revisit that piece of art. I am not sure where it ended up.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

Hopefully whoever has this first painting, holds onto it, as Chaparro\u2019s paintings are widely sought after now. Chaparro says that he believes people have embraced and collected his artwork all over the world due to its universal language of jazz and his ability to transcribe that onto the canvas. <\/p>\n\n\n

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