Raymond Bonilla
Pa'lante



Exhibition:
Saturday, November 18, 2023-Saturday, December 23, 2023


Artists page with bio and addtional works. link

 

The most recent collection of Bonilla’s stories is called Pa’lanteand is on exhibit at Meibohm Fine Arts in East Aurora from Saturday, November 18 through Saturday, December 23.

  

Ray Bonilla concentrates on the beauty of soft illumination on the mundane. His paintings seduce the viewer through a controlled narrative of rich brushwork and minimal lighting. Each work is a silent story waiting to be deciphered Each artwork is a chapter in a Bonilla’s novel. 

 

Pa’lante, Spanish slang for “moving forward,” examines Bonilla’s life events since his last solo exhibition at Meibohm in 2019. The paintings incorporate Buffalo scenes as metaphors for reflection on family deaths, living through a pandemic, making a living as an artist, and becoming a father. “With each piece I try to capture a meaningful moment,” Bonilla says.

 

Each painting is inspired by scenes he repeatedly sees in Allentown on daily walks with his wife and daughter; depending on the lighting and what is happening in his life that day, he perceives the buildings differently as though they possess different identities. The After the Storm drawing and painting reflect upon a moment during the holidays last year after a November snow when he was walking, wondering about being a new parent, and if he’d made the right decision to quit teaching to become a full-time artist. The two studies capture a moment in time when the light highlights a powerful single building with some wear and tear but with the hope of things to come. 

 

Repair reflects on a period when Bonilla was trying to put his life back together after a stressful time raising a child through the pandemic. The composition includes a small home enveloped in darkness as the day’s last rays of light fall on the cluttered porch filled with mementos. Bonilla understands that the viewer won’t understand the story behind every painting, but he hopes to create shared emotional experiences. 

 

Bonilla graduated from the State University in New York at Fredonia with a degree in New Media and Illustration and continued his studies at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where he completed his Masters of Fine Art. His artwork has been awarded Gold Medals in advertising from both Society of Illustrators of New York and Los Angeles, juried into the Communication Arts Illustration Annual and is in the permanent collection of the Burchfield Penney Art Center and Ellen Noel Art Museum in Odessa, Texas. 

 

Bonilla is a sought-after instructor for online courses and seminars through internationally renowned programs such as SmART School and Visual Arts Passage, and he is continually creating illustrations for the New Yorker Magazine, Netflix, The National Labor Federation, Cruising World magazine and Uncle Nearest Whiskey while also creating paintings for Principle Gallery in Alexanderia, VA, Abend Gallery in Denver, CO and, of course, Meibohm Fine Arts

 

Alberto Rey, Buffalo Spree magazine, November 2023

·                     Dimensions are in inches, height precedes width.                 

·                     All works titled & signed by the artist.

·                     Additional works by Ray Bonilla are available through Meibohm Fine Arts.

·                     View the full exhibition and additional works at meibohmfinearts.com

·                     Artist’s website: raymondbonilla.com; Instagram: @raybonillapainter; facebook: raybonillapainter

 

Catalog of Exhibition:

1.         Leftovers #2

            18 x 12, oil on panel                                               

            1450.00 (sold)

2.         Study for- After the Storm #2

            9 x 12, oil on panel                                                 

            900.00 (sold)

3.         Study for- After the Storm #2

            9 x 12, mixed media on paper                              

            675.00

4.         Study for- Leftovers #2

            6 x 4, oil on panel                                                    

            495.00 (sold)

5.         Leftovers #1

            18 x 12, oil on panel                                               

            1400.00

6.         Wednesday Morning

            36 x 36, oil on panel                                               

            6100.00

7.         After the Storm #2

            18 x 24, oil on panel                                               

            3300.00 (sold)

8.         Repair

            30 x 40, oil on panel                                               

            6100.00

9.         Study for- Walk to Casa Azul

            6 x 12, oil on panel                                                 

            800.00

10.       Study for- Last Light on Bidwell

            6 x 12, oil on panel                                                 

            800.00 (sold)

11.       Afternoon Walk

            18 x 36, oil on panel                                               

            5150.00

12.       Last Monday

            36 x 36, oil on panel                                               

            6000.00

13.       Bingo

            30 x 24, oil on panel                                                   

            5300.00

14.       Study for- Wednesday Morning #2

            8 x 8, acrylic on paper                                              

            675.00 (sold)

15.       Study for- Last Monday

            8 x 8, mixed media on paper                                    

            550.00 (sold)

16.       Study for- Together

            10-1/2 x 10-1/2, mixed media on paper              

            600.00 (sold)

17.       Study for- Last Light on Bidwell

            6 x 12, mixed media on paper                              

            600.00

18.       Study for- After the Storm #1

            12 x 9, mixed media on paper                              

            650.00

19.       Afternoon Walk

            18 x 36, oil on panel                                               

            5150.00

20.       Study for- Leftovers #2

            12 x 8, mixed media on paper                              

            650.00 (sold)

21.       Study for- After the Storm #1

            12 x 9, oil on panel                                                 

            900.00 (sold)

22.       Before Dinner

            36 x 36, oil on panel                                               

            6200.00

23.       Before Grace #2

            12 x 24, oil on panel                                               

            2850.00

24.       Night Night

            24 x 30, oil on panel                                               

            5000.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

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