Silvia Lareo Vazquez - 2001

The Robin Rice Gallery announces a solo exhibition of photography by Silvia Lareo-Vazquez. The opening reception will be held on Wednesday, May 16, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Graced with an Irving Penn-like flair for capturing elegance and ease, this collection of boldly composed black and white photographs by Silvia Lareo-Vazquez is transportive. It takes viewers on vacation. Lareo-Vazquez focuses closely on people, frequently gazing over their shoulders as they relax at the beach or at poolside or as they engage in other activities such as viewing a new haircut or idly watching a game of bocce. The sense of calm evoked in these large scale photographs provides a welcome respite from the endless hurry of our daily lives.

The invitational picture Asley, photographed in Cuba, is a portrait of youthful beauty and mystique. In it a boy stands in profile against a glowing backdrop of sand and sea. The long smooth curve of his back and neck are wittily topped by a hat he made himself from a few large grape leaves, with sprig-like twigs jutting out with casual style.            

Asley finds an echo in Surf Club, another image in the show.  Here a woman viewed in profile is seated poolside, poised and effortlessly glamorous with a drink in hand and a magazine lying open on her lap. Evoking a Penn model, she is adorned in a tapering ruffled hat and early 1960Õs-style swimsuit, which are offset by a pattern of crosshatched floor tiles behind her. A billow of reflected light dances on the pools surface and seems, like an invitation, to emanate from the dark colored drink in her hand.

Silvia Lareo-Vazquez born of Cuban descent was raised in Miami Beach. A self-taught photographer with a penchant for travel, Lareo-Vazquez apprenticed the still life photographer Terry Niefield in the early eighties, before embarking on her commercial career. Her clients include Vanity Fair, Vogue, She Magazine U.K and Working Mother; she has also shot annual reports for such clients as New York University, National Urban Fellows and Emisphere Technologies. This is her first solo exhibition at the Robin Rice Gallery.

Gallery hours are Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 1 to 7 p.m., Sunday 1 to 6 p.m., and by appointment Monday through Wednesday.