This article is reposted in memory of Albert, who recently passed away. Albert’s work lives on.
Original posting date: August, 2015. At Chinatown’s Red Pipe Gallery Albert Vitela’s “New Works” exhibition revealed the Los Angeles native’s work as a sweeping panoply of color; abstract depictions of historical events, religious figures, and celebrities. Worlds expressed in fragments of motion-filled color, Vitela combines memories and history in a combination of pop art and abstract expressionism.
Curated by art critic Mat Gleason, Vitela’s show is about history, anger, war, peace, resolution, and beauty. His belief is that beauty itself cannot exist without awareness, and that peace can become a natural outgrowth of this awareness. He seeks mystical, surreal moments from concrete events ranging from World War II to battles between Samurai, all of which exist for Vitela beyond conventional time constraints.
Vitela has a strong concept in mind when he paints. “My goal is to enrich humanity through my work. I want to create an environment that leads to world peace. You look at television news and you see warfare, you see crime, you see situations such as Watergate. I meditate on all these things. On warfare and peace, the beauty and the ugliness. And then I meld them together.” He finds himself inspired by both current and historical events, and views them as of one piece.
Vitela’s art uses an Impressionist’s color palette in his abstract approach. His samurai in “Kojiro Vs. Musashi, Ganryujima Japan” are cast in striking yellow and blue, his angels’ skin is salmon pink. “I’m looking to create in my art, in my meditation, a beautiful future for the human race. If we do what we say, if we want what we see, that’s emblematic of both war and peace. We can go either way. My paintings express that.”
A talented emerging artist, Vitela works from his own dreams to create vibrant dreamscapes of figures from history and modern life.
- Genie Davis
Albert Vitela is my cousin. Unfortunately, he died from injuries he suffered due to an attack on that occurred on August 3rd of this year. He was put on life support for a duration of a month and a day. He passed from his injuries and his death was listed by homicide. Any photos and video that you have of him would be great to help the family heal from this awful tragedy. Thank you for your time and I hope we can get a call soon so we can have prepare his service with beautiful photos of him and his passion.
That is so tragic. I can pull photos down from this article and email to you (or you can yourself) but it is from 2014, and I do not have original photos, so the resolution will not be perfect. I had heard that Albert passed, but this is truly horrific. I am so very sorry.
Thanks for doing this memorandum. He was a good friend and super talented with art and music.
A really sad loss <3
I am so sad to hear of Albert Vitela’s passing.
He helped to hand out hugs and greet people with an inspired hug photography project I did back in 2017. He was a talented artist, creative thinker and such a beautiful caring soul.
My deepest condolences to the family and all who knew him.
Hi Esther my name is Frank, I’m a long time friend of Albert’s.. we played in a band together for many years. I just found out of his passing today, I’m shocked, it’s such a tragic loss, he was a good man with a heart of gold.
I would like to do anything possible to help the family through this tough time, please contact me as soon as possible., as many of his close friends are just finding out today. Any information on his services will be greatly appreciated 323 377 8067
Frank – wish I could help connect you with information, but you are posting to an arts website, not sure if the person you are intending this for will see this. So sorry for your loss.
Thank you Frank. I will make sure to pass your information over to my cousins, siblings of Albert. Truly a loss.
I am so sad to hear of Albert Vitela’s passing.
He helped to hand out hugs and greet people with an inspired hug photography project I did back in 2017. He was a talented artist, creative thinker and such a beautiful caring soul.
My deepest condolences to the family and all who knew him.