Fernando Reyes, Paper Dolls, paper collage from life model

PAPER DOLLS

NEW FIGURATIVE WORK
Colorful hand printed paper cut outs from the model

Art is a second career for Fernando who spent 17 years in banking in San Francisco. He began as a self-taught artist, then decided to seek formal art education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago graduating with a BFA in 1997. He then returned to the Bay Area and has lived in Oakland since 1998. Fernando’s studio is located in the Jingletown neighborhood in Oakland at Ford Street Studios.

Colorful hand printed paper cut outs from the model

Art is a second career for Fernando who spent 17 years in banking in San Francisco. He began as a self-taught artist, then decided to seek formal art education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago graduating with a BFA in 1997. He then returned to the Bay Area and has lived in Oakland since 1998. Fernando’s studio is located in the Jingletown neighborhood in Oakland at Ford Street Studios.

Throughout the years, Fernando has produced a large and diverse portfolio of artwork. His work has been primarily representational and includes oil paintings, drawings, and printmaking. His primary interest is in depicting the human figure which are straightforward and representational, often depicting a single figure. Others, however, through the juxtaposition and overlapping of multiple figures, can appear somewhat abstract. Fernando’s recent paintings reflect a departure from the linear aspect used in his earlier work, inviting figuration to move a step toward abstraction.

In 2014, a visit to MoMA in New York for the Henri Matisse “The Cut Outs” exhibition made such an impact on Fernando that he embarked on creating his own cut outs of the figure which he continues to produce today. This new venture subsequently also led to his new abstract work of cut outs reminiscent to Mid-Century Modern Art.

Fernando has an extensive resume of solo and group exhibitions on a regional and national basis. His work has been acquired for the art collections of Stanford University Medical Center, Alameda County Arts Collection, Amoco Corporation, Ruth Chris Steakhouse, Tom of Finland Foundation, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, and George and Cynthia Miller Wellness Center and numerous private collections.
Fernando Reyes
Nov 30, 2016