Art in the Lobby: Ted Fleming
Hotel Congress is thrilled to present the work of artist Ted Fleming!
Join us on Saturday, November 3rd from 4-6pm to welcome Ted Fleming and his artwork in the Hotel Congress Lobby! Get to know the artist while enjoying complimentary chips and salsa courtesy of the Cup Cafe. Ted’s artwork will be available for viewing and purchase in the Hotel Congress lobby until November 30th.
ARTIST STATEMENT FOR ‘DIA DE LOS MUERTOS’
To Mexicans, life and death are inseparable and deserve to be fervently celebrated. Remembering and honoring the memories of departed loved ones with festivities is an ancient tradition in central and southern Mexico. Oaxaca City is the historical epicenter of this colorful yet somber tradition. In recent times, Dia de Muertos has become a national Mexican holiday that is celebrated with parades, festivals, private altars, and visitations at cemeteries. November 1 has become the day to honor deceased infants and children as ‘Dia de Los angelitos,’ and November 2 is the date to honor deceased adults as ‘Dia de Los Muertos.’
This collection of images comes Oaxaca City, Mexico, and Tucson, Arizona. In Oaxaca, I photographed street parades both day and night, ofrendas (colorful altars honoring the dead) in commercial locations and private residences, and preparations at graves in Xoxo, the main cemetery. As a resident of Tucson, I have attended events associated with Day of the Dead many times. The two major events – the Little Angel’s Parade and All Souls Parade – mirror similar events in Mexico and are attended by tens of thousands of people each year.
Many of the images in this collection are montages containing multiple digital photos taken in Oaxaca and Tucson. To complete my painterly approach to digital photo art, I have converted all of these images into digital paintings using Corel® software.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: THEODORE (TED) FLEMING
I’m an ecologist by training and a long-time amateur photographer. I spent most of my career as a Professor of Biology at the University of Miami. My research specialty is tropical plant-animal interactions, particularly pollination and seed dispersal mutualisms. In retirement, I have become a serious photo artist who uses digital tools to create my works of art. As an artist, I am often drawn to images that are visually complex (reflecting my lifelong interest in biological diversity) and colorful under the influence of artists such as Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Edward Hopper, and Georgia O’Keefe. I have rather eclectic tastes in my subjects but have not done much landscape photography. Given my background as a biologist, I particularly enjoy photographing wildlife, but I also like to photograph people ‘doing interesting things.’ One of my current techniques involves creating photo montages as a way of emphasizing the place of wildlife and people in their natural environments.
Please visit www.tedflemingphotography.com to see more of my photographic artistry.
Contact information:
Email: ted@sonaura.net
Phone: 520-797-5609