Amaya Salazar (born 1951, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican artist known for her faceless personas that inhabit mystical and magical environments where light and the Antillean flora are present.
Amaya Salazar studied at the Academia Artium, Madrid, Spain and at the School of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A.
Salazar is mostly inspired by the female form and by mother and child images. She captures those intimate moments where women are escaping the reality of life and entering the warm of the Caribbean light.
Light and flora play an important role in Salazar's work. In her work, the rays of the sun and moon create kaleidoscope of tones throughout the landscape. In the nightscapes the palette turns dark almost black, but there is always an internal light that shines. Her brighter works give us the different tonalities that the sun create as it warms the landscape. The flora is an integral part of Salazar’s work. The banana leaves, the palm trees, the bamboo trunks are part of the environment that surround the characters; in some cases they are the only element of the piece.
Salazar also works in bronze, steel, and marble as well as creates charcoal on paper drawings and water color and Chinese ink on paper.
Her work can be found in important collections worldwide. There are two monographs about the artist’s work and a third one is being produced.
Collections holding Salazar works
ABN/AMOR, Miami, Florida
Admiral Club American Airlines, Santo Domingo, DR
Banco Popular, Santo Domingo, DR
Bilbao Biscay, Kutxa, Bilbao, Spain
BPD International Bank, New York
Caja de Ahorros de Vitoria, Vitoria, Spain.
Compañía Dominicana de Teléfonos, (CODETEL), Santo Domingo, DR
Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, DR
Museo Hermanas Mirabal, Salcedo, DR.
The National Museum of Catholic Art and History, New York, NY
Voluntariado del Museo de las Casas Reales, Santo Domingo, DR
Selected exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
Conference: Landscapes and Mother and Child Images in the Work of Amaya Salazar, conference by Marianne de Tolentino in celebration for the 60 years of the State of Israel., Santo Domingo, DR (2008)
Merrill Lynch Arteamericas, Miami, Fl. (2008)
Illuminated Forests, Arte Berri, Santo Domingo, DR (2006)
Antillean Colors, Sociedad Renovación, Puerto Plata, DR (2006)
Chromatic Fusion for the opening of Arte Berri (2005)
Galería Imagen, Panamá. (2004)
Atlas Art, San Juan, PR. (2003)
Exhibition and book signing Amaya Salazar Atmospheres of Light, SD. (2002)
Galería Imagen, Panamá. (2000)
Galería Imagen, Panamá. (1997)
La Galería Santander, Miami. (1996)
Galería de Arte Nader, retrospective exhibition and book signing, Amaya SD. (1991)
Galleria d’Arte La Torre, Milan, Italy and itinerary exhibition in the Basque Country. (1990)
Itinerary exhibition with Caja Madrid en Barcelona, Madrid and other cities. (1987)
Group exhibitions
The National Museum of Catholic Art and History, New York, NY this exhibition will travel to Washington DC in October (2008)
Atlas Galleries, Chicago. (2001)
Conference organized by the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiative. (2000)
Maison de l’Amerique Latin, Paris. (1996)
Cagnes-Sur-Mer, France. (1995)
Invited artist to give the speech for the opening of the II Biennial of Caribbean and Central American Painting, Museo de Arte Moderno, SD, DR, (1994)
Montecampione, Italy, Musée de Luxembourg, Paris. (1990)
