IMMORTAL STRUCTURES

IMMORTAL STRUCTURES—contemporary realist paintings spanning over three decades and the Atlantic Ocean, exploring the artist’s journeys from New York to Spain. Dense in intention, content and style, the two simultaneous series unintentionally contrast how two distinct cultures regard their structures. These paintings preserve a sweetened souvenir of a past left to decay in urban New Jersey, and also, beauty not permitted to die—as in forts, castles, casino and churches in my ancestral Spain. Mijares' two worlds are connected by two ill-fated majestic ships—the SS UNITED STATES and the MV AUGUSTUS, neglected and scrapped. The metaphor of buildings and ships as emotive containers adds relevance to beauty and beauty to disgrace.