Mexican-born painter Luis Sottil, whose works are in thousands of collections, opens an exhibit on Thursday, March 5 at Key West Gallery, 601 Duval St., where he will offer live painting demonstrations and unveil new works through Monday, March 9.
The creator of the expressive art movement he calls naturalismo, Sottil invites viewers of his work to explore the emotional resonance of nature through color and form. His work goes beyond literal representation and transforms pigments drawn from nature itself into canvas expressions.
This immersive process, he said, is central to his artistic mission: to capture not just how nature looks, but how it feels.
Throughout the weekend, attendees at Key West Gallery can watch live demonstrations of Sottil’s technique, which blends meticulous observation with an almost poetic connection to his subjects.
Born and raised in Tampico, Mexico, Sottil is committed to sharing the emotions and colors of the flora and fauna of his native country with the world through his paintings, sculptures and leather creations.
Sottil created a new painting process more than 30 years ago that he named naturalismo, a process that a number of major universities have incorporated into their art curriculum. He photographs, takes careful notes and studies the habitat of his subjects, collecting intense natural pigments from the same environments. Using colors extracted from nature — a penetrating blue from the cochinilla insect, the red of the Jamaica flower, dramatic purples from beets and vibrant orange tones from the achiote seed — Sottil celebrates the parallels of nature and art.
“To view a work of art that you can touch, smell and taste is to embrace nature’s soul,” said Sottil, the first Latin American painter to be invited by the Walt Disney Co. to become an official artist for Disney Fine Art.
His works are in over 3,000 private and corporate collections around the world, including King Fahd’s Royal Palace collection of Saudi Arabia.
More information is at keywestgallery.com.
