Exhibit spotlights to local immigrant artists

A combined 18 large-scale pieces by Mexican artist Alfredo Arreguin and Chinese artist Z.Z. Wei are showcased in the “Color, Composition & Unique Vision” exhibit. Artist June Sekiguchi, an independent curator for five of Era Living’s retirement communities, including Aljoya, said Arreguin and Wei pair well together because they are both “strongly visual storytellers” who use symbolism and narrative through pictures.

Arreguin, who lives in North Seattle, focuses on “minute, detailed patterns” in his work, Sekiguchi explained, while Wei, a Shoreline resident, uses “patterns on a broader scale.”

“What first drew me to [Wei’s] work was its sense of place,” said Patricia Rovzar, a Pioneer Square gallery owner who has represented Wei since 1992. “It captures vignettes of Americana without being cliché in interpretation. His bold and dramatic use of color is mesmerizing, and his sense of composition [is] always interesting.”

Arreguin’s work employs “colorful pattern painting, with an emphasis on Americana subject matter,” said Linda Hodges, whose gallery represents Arreguin. “It’s multicultural…. He creates his own mythology.”

Wei’s work currently hangs in Ambassador Gary Locke’s Washington, D.C., office and in the U.S. Embassy in Libreville in the Republic of Gabon as part of the federal Art in Embassies program. 

Arreguin’s work is on view in the Smithsonian Museum of Art, National Museum of American Art and National Portrait Gallery, among numerous other venues.

The “Color, Composition & Unique Vision” exhibit is open to the public during business hours at Aljoya Thornton Place, 450 N.E. 100th St.

Upcoming shows at Aljoya include works by theater photographer Chris Bennion and painter Earl Debnam.