Abstract Artwork to be Displayed at FedEx Center

Posted on May 4, 2009

Abstract paintings by Argentinean artist Eduardo Lapetina will be displayed May 6 through June 11 in UNC’s FedEx Global Education Center.

An opening reception from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. May 9 at the center will include remarks by the artist at 3:30 p.m. About 25 of his large-scale paintings will be displayed, some as wide as seven feet. The exhibit will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays.

Lapetina has said that he uses symbolic shapes and colors to express deep emotions and passions. He applies paint to canvas by pouring, splashing, dripping and scratching. He intends for each work, with layer upon layer of paint, to create a sensuous and turbulent surface texture that is as vital and complicated as life itself.

The son of Italian immigrants, Lapetina spent his early years in Argentina. He moved to North Carolina in 1976 to conduct medical research at Burroughs Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) in Research Triangle Park. Since he retired in 2002, Lapetina has devoted much time to his art and exhibited in numerous galleries across the state. He received his first award at the Fine Arts League of Cary’s 10th annual exhibition a year after he began painting.

“There is some correlation between scientific research that I did in the past and my actual concentration on paintings,” said Lapetina, who lives in Chapel Hill. “When you do scientific experiments, you do not know what the results will be. When I start my paintings, I don’t have preconceptions, I follow the colors and shapes in a very emotional way. The result is always like a new discovery. It is most interesting to see the reaction of people to my paintings. They see things I did not think about. At that point, you believe that the observer is finally making the painting.”

The exhibition is hosted by the Office of International Affairs with support from the Institute for the Study of the Americas.

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