The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is proud to present AL AMANECER, an exhibition centered on a new painting by Gabriella Rodriguez. Born and raised in Las Vegas, Rodriguez has always enriched her art with a melange of local influences—the 702 area code, Mexican snack foods, idiosyncratic personal references to casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard—as well as her trademark round-headed figures, and references to Mesoamerican and Caribbean history. With AL AMANECER she advances her technique, realizing her self-recognized “complex vocabulary” through a fresh combination of painting and fabric. 

 

In the artist’s own words, this artwork says:

 

AL AMANECER will be on view in the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art’s outdoor Window Gallery from January 17–May 17, 2025, with an opening reception from 5–8 p.m. on the evening of January 24. The Marjorie Barrick Museum is open from Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Entry is always free.

 

 

Gabriella Rodriguez is a multimedia artist who gently reflects on early formed memories and cultural emblems in her artwork. She layers these images with different mediums and textiles to craft familiar, yet vague moments in time. Playful colors and solemn moments hold hands in every piece. Born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, she received her BA in Studio Art and Psychology from Whittier College, CA. Rodriguez has exhibited her work throughout Las Vegas and California. She was featured in two recent shows curated by the Scrambled Eggs collective, Sketch Party at Fremont Photo Co (2024) and Never a Cat’s Paw at The Gather House (2023). Her favorite childhood snack is pasta de guayaba con queso fresco, which is held near and dear to her heart.

 

“I sometimes wonder why the nature of life is the exaggeration between simple and grandiose. Colors and shapes exist within complex vocabulary, concealed messages and the extensive system of cells keeping me alive. I don’t understand it, but I recognize it. I paint what I see as a form of condolence for not being able to know.  I paint because things feel good sometimes and bad other times.”

 

Image: Gabriella Rodriguez, AL AMANECER (detail), 2024, Air brush, oil paint, fabric