March 30, 2004 – An exhibition of works by internationally acclaimed artist Sacha Tebó from his recent series "Riding with the Sea" will open with a reception on Thursday evening at Maria Henle Studio in Christiansted.
Tebó, a Haitian-born artist whose work has been shown on St. Thomas, St Croix and St. John in recent years, creates in encaustic — a medium in use for two millennia.
Galley owner Maria Henle says Tebó is a master of encaustic painting. She describes encaustic as "an ancient method dating from Egyptian and Roman times" in which hot beeswax or wax mixed with varnish "is the medium in which the colored pigment is bound."
Born in Gonaives, Haiti, in 1934, Sacha Thèbaud — his birth surname is pronounced in French the same as the name he took as an artist — studied architecture and engineering. His successful architecture practice took him to the United States, France and Brazil.
Since he began painting in 1958, he has been represented in Brazil's prestigious Bienal de São Paulo and has had solo shows in Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Madrid, Barcelona, Montreal, New York and St. Thomas. He resides today in Santiago, the old inland capital city in the mountains of the Dominican Republic.
Tebó's semi-abstract work is noted for its recurring imagery — fishing boats, female figures with long, straight hair, umbrellas, horses, fish.
In his latest works, Henle says, he "employs encaustic in his inimitable style to evoke symbolic archetypes of the Caribbean. Pelicans, turtles, goats and horses, male and female forms cavort in vibrant celebration across the light-filled ground. The suggestion of shining sun and sea is always the foundation to his spirited, life-affirming visions."
The opening reception is a part of the April ArtThursday event. On the first Thursday of each month, various downtown Christiansted galleries and shops stay open until 9 p.m.
The reception will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. at the studio at 55 Company Street. For more information, call Henle at 773-7376.
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