Two of Michele Guieus Paintings Selected for the September Exhibition at the San Diego Art Institute



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San Diego, CA September 11, 2007 -- Michele Guieu's recent paintings: "The Border", about the California border with Mexico, and "Peace 2" are to be shown at the San Diego Art Institute, California, from September 14 to October 7, 2007.

Michele Guieu's "The Border" reflect her interest in the social and political aspects of living in California today. At a time when the immigration debate grows and divides the U.S., and because she is an immigrant herself, she is very concerned by the many problems one can have when leaving his/her country to come to live in the U.S. She says, "I really love California, the weather, the landscapes, the ocean but I cannot help thinking about what that paradise hides, or barely hides anyway."

She recently visited the border with Mexico near Tijuana and took a series of photos that she used to create the painting "The border". The people depicted in the painting are actually members of her family. She likes her close family members to participate in her work, and they appear frequently in her paintings.

"Peace 2" is part of a series concerning the war. Guieu says: "I am interested in current world events, staying informed, and keeping my eyes opened. I feel a sense of duty as an artist to express my concerns and my views about the world in which I live."

Michele Guieu works in parallel on digital and painted piece, and each field feeds and enriches the other. She is growing a strong body of work, mixing portraits of family members, soldiers in the Iraq war, and portraits of women. She is also working on a series of self-portraits.

Michele Guieu has traveled extensively and now lives and works in San Diego, California, where she finds a strong attachment to the land, between the desert and the ocean, and the space that inspires her art.

She recently participated in the the Juried Biennal at the Cannon Gallery, Carlsbad (2007), the 2006 International Digital Exhibition at the San Diego Art Institute, the 2006 All Media Juried exhibition at the Palos Verdes Art Center, the "OMA 4" at the Oceanside Museum of Art (2005), and won several awards. All in Southern California.

The juror of the exhibition is Ann Berthold, Director of L Street Fine Art Gallery in San Diego and the curator of



Two of Michele Guieus Paintings Selected for the September Exhibition at the San Diego Art Institute