2008 Keynote Address
Patterns of Dreams and Nature
Painter Alfredo Arreguin, whose visual art work has been compared to the literary work of Spanish lyric-narrative poet Federico Garcia Lorca and the South American magic realism writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, will deliver the keynote address at the 2008 BizArt conference. In his talk titled Patterns of Dreams and Nature, also the name of a book by Lauro Flores chronicling his work, Arreguin will share his artistic and personal journey from his childhood in Mexico to his success today as an internationally acclaimed artist. Images of his work will help illustrate the stories he has to tell.
Biography
Internationally renowned painter Alfredo Arreguin was born in Mexico in 1935 and developed as an artist in Seattle where he has resided since 1957 - receiving both a BA and MFA from the University of Washington. Alfredo's work is a unique combination of his Mexican roots and the Northwest landscape. His intricately patterned and exuberant paintings have gained him international recognition and made him one of the Northwest's most prominent artists.
Alfredo has a long and distinguished list of accomplishments. In 1979 he was selected to represent the US at the International Festival of Painting at Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, where he won the Palm of People Award. He was chosen to design the poster for Washington State's Centennial Celebration, as well as, the White House Easter Egg. In 1995 he received an "OHTLI Award", the highest recognition given by the Mexican government for to distinguished individuals who contribute to promoting Mexican culture abroad. His works hang in many collections including the Smithsonian Institute which acquired his triptych "Sueno" (Dream Eve Before Adam) and, more recently, invited him to show his work in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
Lauro Flores, author of the University of Washington Press publication Alfredo Arreguin Patterns of Dreams and Nature states that Alfredo Arreguin is a genuinely American painter, in the real, hemispheric sense of this term - an artist of magic, mystery, and revelation whose place in the history of North American art has already been secured.