News release Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu     www.selu.edu/news Contact: Christina Chapple Date: 8/19/03   Click on image for publication quality photo SLU’S CLARK HALL GALLERY TO EXHIBIT TOUCEDA’S “ARTEAMERICA”       HAMMOND -- “Arteamerica,” an exhibit by painter Julian Touceda, will open with a reception from 5-7 p.m., August 28, at Southeastern Louisiana University’s Clark Hall Gallery.       A native of Honduras, Touceda studied art at Delgado Community College, and graduated in fine arts from the University of New Orleans. His brightly colored works contain symbols such as mangos, hummingbirds, flags and bilingual graffiti. These images point starkly to the violence, greed, and betrayal of the modern world.        Touceda immigrated with his family to New Orleans at the age of six. Unable to speak English, he communicated in school by drawing beautiful pictures of his homeland. Now a professional visual artist in graphic arts, murals, paintings, photography, and computer arts, he has received numerous awards as both an artist and poet. His work has been supported with grants and an artist fellowship from the Louisiana Division of the Arts and has been exhibited throughout the South. Many of his works are in private collections in the United States, Spain, Germany, and Latin America.       In his artist statement, Touceda said the exhibit’s purpose is “to promote Latin American culture through art.        “Because of the large Hispanic population in the United States,” he said, “we are seeing what I consider to be a cultural evolution in the United States. It is this cultural evolution that has inspired me to create a pictorial history of the Hispanic world, and the hope that the Anglo and African American will have a better understanding of the Latin Culture, and embrace its complexities and not fear it.”       Touceda said “Arteamerica” is a combination of many styles that he has used throughout his career, which began at the age of 16. “The ever-changing themes and colorful motifs promote not only my Hispanic culture but different trends of contemporary art in the new century,” he said. “The rich regional canopy of New Orleans on the edge of the tropical sphere blend with its historical commonality to the rest of the Latin American disapora.”       The exhibit will be on display at Clark Hall Gallery through September 25. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekdays. For additional information, contact Gallery Director Dale Newkirk at 985-549-5080. Return to News Releases