Georgetown Publication 2023

Guyana

Ambassador Statement

Welcome to the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Guyana. The beautiful artwork on display by U.S. artists showcases a part of the rich cultural landscape of the United States through this exhibition supported by Art in Embassies.

Hailing from South Louisiana, a place known for its rich culture and diversity, much like Guyana, I have a deep love and appreciation for art and its power to connect people across borders. Art is essential to our societies, helping us to see and interpret the world through different perspectives. Read More

“Elemental truth of and in my subject and life drives me. I am focused on the expression of the essentials—the force and essence of my subject.”

– James Michalopoulos –

James Michalopoulos paints en plein air, or outdoors, using an abstracted, figurative style where each artwork focuses on color, volumetric shape, and graphic lines. Intrigued by the duality of beauty and decay, the architecture of New Orleans became his muse and, later, the French countryside and musical imagery. Michalopoulos is known for rendering shotgun houses and Creole cottages in thick impasto layers and vibrant colors. “Elemental truth of and in my subject and life drives me. I am focused on the expression of the essentials—the force and essence of my subject. [The] highest and best representation recreates the heart of the subject and its outward evident beauty or qualities,” he says.

James Michalopoulos, Beautiful View, Oil on canvas, 30 × 40in. (76.2 × 101.6cm), Courtesy of the artist and Michalopoulos Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana

James Michalopoulos (born 1951), Beautiful View, 2008, Oil on canvas, 30 × 40 in. (76,2 ×101,6 cm), Courtesy of the artist and Michalopoulos Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana

“I believe in the power of painting and its ability to evoke a visceral response from the viewer and to change how people see the world. I want to create work that is full of emotion and visual pleasure.”

– Anastasia Pelias –

Anastasia Pelias’s diverse craft includes oil paintings on canvas, works on paper, sculpture, video, and site-specific and site-responsive installations. Informed by her native New Orleans and ancestral roots in Skopelos, Greece, Pelias embraces subjects that involve love, death, destiny, and the female experience. In 2021, the artist collaborated with Folie à Plusieurs, a concept perfumery that “develops contemporary olfactive projects with artists and art institutions.” Along with six additional oil sticks and gesso works on paper, 7 (Entanglement) was inspired by the selected fragrances and created to visualize the experience of scent. “Color, and its emotional power, is a critical component in all of my work. I believe in the power of painting and its ability to evoke a visceral response from the viewer and to change how people see the world. I want to create work that is full of emotion and visual pleasure,” she says.

Anastasia Pelias, 7 (Entanglement), Oil stick and gesso on paper, Image: 18 3/4 × 24 3/4in. (47.6 × 62.9cm), Courtesy of the artist and Ferrara Showman Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana

Anastasia Pelias (born 1959), 7 (Entanglement), 2021, Oil stick and gesso on paper, 18 ¾ × 24 ¾ in. (47,6 × 62,9 cm), Courtesy of the artist and Ferrara Showman Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana

Color of the Year #3 is an example of emerging and submerging patterns and colors are metaphors for the actions of memories.”

– Laurel Porcari –

Laurel Porcari specializes in both two- and three-dimensional work. Saturated in pigment and suspended in resin, her layered acrylic artworks are atypical representations of physical spaces that map “intersections of visual and cultural coordinates and question the standard formalities of topographical surveying,” resulting in landscapes that are alien yet familiar. Color of the Year #3 is an example of how “emerging and submerging patterns and colors are metaphors for the actions of memories.” Each piece allows Porcari to “mine her past to formulate ideas and dreams of the future…in an effort towards stability, her works are encapsulated [and] frozen within a border of clear resin—a sort of specimen of her world’s geographical space.”

Laurel Porcari, Color of the Year #3, Acrylic on linen, resin layers, graphite on board, 17 × 17in. (43.2 × 43.2cm), Courtesy of the artist and Cole Pratt Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana

Laurel Porcari (born 1964), Color of the Year #3, 2020, Acrylic on linen, resin layers, graphite on board, 17 × 17 in. (43,2 × 43,2 cm), Courtesy of the artist and Cole Pratt Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana