Naturally Grown, an exhibition of new paintings by Luis Macias, opens at Michael Steinberg Fine Art on May 31st, 2007, and will remain on view until July 13th, 2007. This show, which is the artist’s first solo show in New York since 2002, focuses on three categories of paintings, identified by Macias as “Calamity,” “Monaco,” and “Mixed Characters.” In each of these groups, Macias presents the “living” creatures he began to create in 2004, combining human, animal, and inanimate elements.

According to Mr. Macias:

This body of work is about breaking the boundaries of human representation. Not only history but our present time teaches us that we can treat people, animals, and objects the same way – we can create them, buy and sell them, and finally destroy them. Contemporary life makes it difficult to isolate the human being from his industrialized environment. My painting are not about resisting but surrendering.

Luis Macias was born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and has lived and worked in New York since 1996. He has had previous one-man shows in New York at Roebling Hall and The Roger Smith Gallery. Mr. Macias has participated in numerous group shows in the United States , Europe and South America. He has had solo shows both in Madrid and Barcelona, where he is represented by Joan Prats. Among the distinguished collections that have acquired work by the artist are the La Caixa Foundation, Barcelona, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid.