Alvaro Alvillar

artist and owner, Studio Art Services Inc.

Formally from Los Angeles, I moved to Atlanta in August of 1993. I am currently a dedicated husband and father and I became a full time artist in 2002. Married to one of Atlanta's finest artists, Jennifer Cawley, we have two beautiful kids: Our son, Aidan, is seven and our daughter, Aran, is three. Our work can be viewed here at our site: studioartservices.com I am also proud to say that Andrew Breitbart himself, after coming across my first attempt at a video in 2009, asked me to become a contributor to his then newly created Big Hollywood. I've also had the honor of posting once on another of his newer sites, Big Government. These two blogs are responsible for breaking two of the most controversial stories of 2009: The Obama/NEA propaganda connection: http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/08/25/the-national-endowment-for-the-art-of-persuasion-patrick-courrielche/ and the ACORN pimp/prostitute undercover investigation: http://biggovernment.com/2009/09/10/introducing-james-o’keefe/ I am not currently represented in Atlanta, due in part to some of my personal and political observations (no secret here) which run contrary to the vast majority of my peers, and not because of my work. When shown, my work always gets a positive response, in terms of quality and content and a lot of audience engagement and sales. In fact, in the largest art venue in Atlanta: The Art Papers Annual Art Auction, one of my paintings sold for $3000. I've been told this price range puts me in company with a select group of artists in an event where art patrons/collectors/buyers, know to come for up and coming, established and/or well known artists for incredibly low starting prices, due to it's charitable event status. I think this shows my works growth over the past few years and proves (among other things) that there is an audience and a market for my work, when given the opportunity to show. In 2007, I created one of Atlanta's most controversial works of art...ever:: http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/aalvillar/2009/03/10/politically-its-ok-to-hate-the-white-man/ I am currently working on a new series that I hope to show this year. I don't want to, but most likely will have to produce the show myself. I did my last solo show in 2006, which garnered press in almost all of the local papers as well as two national magazines. I am not thrilled about putting on my own show, considering how time consuming and expensive that is. It reminds me of how I am disappointed in Atlanta's art community. A community which keeps asking for more opportunities for local artists while ignoring qualified artists that they consider outsiders. Showing my work against those who think differently about our country, would make for a great show and it would be in every ones best interest to promote as many diverse and qualified artists as possible. We should all recognize the importance of opinions not necessarily our own, and above all else, should defend the absolute priority of a free and open environment in which to air and debate them. Especially amongst artists!