A new art exhibit at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will display a series of underwater photographs inspired by traditional Mexican legends and culture.

In partnership with the Consulate of Mexico in Little Rock, UA Little Rock will display photographs by Mexican artist Mauricio Silerio from Aug. 15 to Sept. 20 in the Maners/Pappas Gallery in the UA Little Rock Fine Arts Building.

The exhibit – titled “Los demonios de mi tierra” or “Demons of This Land” – is a collection of 20 underwater photographs exploring traditional Mexican legends. The artist explores universal concepts that can be understood by any spectator, even if they do not have a profound knowledge of Mexican culture.  

“Every moment of life is a step closer to the destruction and disappearance and so every moment is a moment of lack of proximity to the infinite being,” Silerio said.

Silerio was born in Queretaro, Mexico, in 1979. He has studied diverse courses in painting, drawing, engraving, writing and photography in different institutes of the state of Guanajuato and Romania. He has held more than 50 individual exhibits in Mexico, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Serbia, Cuba, U.S. and Costa Rica, in addition to more than 45 collective exhibits in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Canada, Cuba, Malaysia and Romania.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and closed university holidays.

For more information, contact Gallery Director Brad Cushman at 501-916-5103 or becushman@ualr.edu.

The upper right photo shows Mauricio Silerio’s 2015 piece, “Circulos de vida” or “Circles of Life,” from his “Demons of This Land” collection.