Exhibit featured on WABE’s City Lights with Lois Reitzes

Alexi Torres at his solo exhibit
Alexi Torres and his solo exhibit, Unbrainwashable. (Sidney Chansamone/Brenau University)

Brenau University’s Director of Galleries Lybi Cucurullo and Atlanta artist Alexi Torres were featured on the Oct. 31 episode of City Lights with Lois Reitzes.

The show airs on WABE 90.1 FM, Atlanta’s National Public Radio affiliate. Reitzes covers Atlanta culture, including art, food, entertainment and more. City Lights began in 2015, but Reitzes has been hosting on WABE since 1979.

Torres’ solo exhibition Unbrainwashable continues at Brenau through Nov. 9 and features contemporary sculptures, installments and large scale oil paintings that emphasize the importance of thinking for oneself. 

Torres was born in Bermeja, Cuba, a small village about 70 miles southeast of Havana. He came to the United States in 2003 and maintains a studio in Atlanta. Much of his work is political in nature, and reflections of life under communism and political unrest in Cuba.

“I came to the United States, and I was so surprised you could say and do whatever you wanted because all of my art was trying to say something you couldn’t say, and here I had the freedom to express myself as I wanted,” Torres said.

Cucurullo, who also curated Torres’ show at Brenau, explained the curation of his work as a solo show.

“He’s working more, in my opinion, conceptually with these topics,” she said. “I think that seeing the work relate to itself, one piece to the next, there’s quite a beautiful flow. The way that it’s curated inside of our gallery space, definitely amplifies that.”

She also spoke about her plans for Brenau Galleries.

“What I’m looking forward to the most is expanding our community outreach,” Cucurullo said. “We have a beautiful permanent collection here, and we have really talented artists that are coming through, but getting it out into the public is my goal right now.“