Exhibit By Soto is On Display At Buffalo Arts Studios

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- "Ceremonial Lands," an exhibit by Leandro Soto, University at Buffalo artist-in-residence in the Department of Theatre and Dance, is on display through May 30 at Buffalo Arts Studios, 2495 Main St., Buffalo.

The opening reception will take place from 7-9 p.m. on April 18. Regular gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays.

The exhibition consists of a collection of paintings and installations that capture the ancient mythology of indigenous traditions, recontextualized for the U.S. of the 1990s. The works reveal magic and the mythical connotations that allow the observer to participate in a new version of an old reality.

The exhibition celebrates the conference, "Mayan Culture at the Millennium: Retrospect and Prospect," sponsored by the UB departments of English and anthropology, that will take place on April 25 and 26 at UB.

A recent critical essay said that "the essence of Soto's art resides precisely in his reverence for the land, which he considers a sacred space, his admiration of ancient cultures, his refined feeling of expression and his distinctive approach to art as a spiritual quest and as a communal healing awareness which puts him close to shamanism and his art close to a Shamanic journey."

Soto, a renowned native Cuban artist, has been involved in the art world for the past 25 years, participating in 94 group exhibitions and 41 personal shows on the international level in Canada, Poland, Peru, Jamaica, Yugoslavia, Argentina, Mexico, Russia, Italy, Iran, Cuba, Germany, Spain, Japan and the U.S.

In 1981, he was one of the founders of the famous "Volumen Uno," an art group and movement that marked the beginning of a new period in Cuban art.

Soto holds a bachelor's degree in visual arts from the National School for the Arts in Cuba and a master's degree of fine arts degree in visual art and theater from the University of Havana.

He is a resident of Amherst.