A new display featuring Las Vegas artist Gig Depio’s paintings opens Monday and runs through March 17 at the Nevada Arts Council’s OXS Gallery.
A reception and artist talk is set for 5 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 24. Depio’s discussion begins at 6:15 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.
In his series, “Negotiating the Influence of Culture,” Depio focuses on the convergence of cultures within the diverse population of Las Vegas. His paintings highlight the unique role of the individual and the collective efforts of the people who continually reshape the cultural and economic landscapes of Las Vegas.
Depio is a figurative painter, strongly influenced by his father’s style of portraiture. His emphasis on the use of broad and heavy strokes, thick contour lines and a limited palette create a sense of brevity and urgency in his works. He believes the grit and texture of the paint play an important role in the strength of form of his paintings.
His works revolve tightly around social realism, drawing heavily from his involvement with Downtown Las Vegas culture and from past experiences in the Philippines as a socially active volunteer in the community youth council, university outreach programs, and the Philippine Red Cross. He’s currently an active member of the Las Vegas Artist’s Guild and an advocate for the arts in the Las Vegas community.
After graduating from the Ateneo de Manila University, he worked as an apprentice under his father, Gig C. De Pio, a fine-arts professor in the University of the Philippines. He was awarded the NAC Fellowship Grant in Visual Arts in 2016. He has worked on various exhibitions and projects with the Nevada Museum of Art, Reno; Clark County’s Winchester Cultural Center Gallery; Clark County Library Galleries; the City of Las Vegas Galleries; the Nevada State College Galleries, and the UNLV Healy Hayes Gallery. OXS Gallery is in the council’s office at 716 N. Carson St., Suite A, in Carson City. Managed by NAC’s Artist Services Program, the gallery is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, call 775-687-6680.
