CHICAGO, IL.- In his largest solo show to date, rising art star Angel Otero will share an array of new works in the exhibition Touch with Your Eyes: Recent Work by Angel Otero. Having received both his BFA and MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Otero has quickly established himself as a major artist to watch on the arts scene.

The exhibition Touch with Your Eyes: Recent Work by Angel Otero will be on view in the Sidney R. Yates Gallery on the fourth floor of the Chicago Cultural Center from January 23 to March 28, 2010 . Admission to the exhibition and associated programs is free. The exhibition is organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and curated by Lanny Silverman, Associate Curator of Exhibitions.

The deeply personal and passionate paintings and sculptures of Angel Otero have made a mark on the cultural scene over the past few years. Otero, having just completed his MFA degree this spring, was one of only four awardees nationwide to receive the prestigious Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the visual arts this year, which will support his work over a two-year period in New York. The exhibition will bring together 12-15 new works from the artist’s studio and private collections as evidence of his masterful use of materials, as well as revealing his ideas that stem from growing up in Puerto Rico and training in Chicago.

Otero was raised by his grandmother in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and moved to Chicago in 2005 to attend the School of the Art Institute. Heavily influenced by the Abstract Expressionists of the 1950s, Otero began to form a vision for his work that was purely his own. His time at SAIC informed his distinct aesthetic and thematically reinvigorated works that soon caught the attention of the international art world.

The themes of family and home occur frequently in his works. His grandmother inspires much of his art; and the memories of her home are present through vases and furniture that often jut out of his paintings. Otero’s native Puerto Rico also continues to inform his work through brightly colored abstract portrayals of the island’s lush and urban landscapes. Often working with materials such as cloth, he creates collage and 3-D effects to add a vibrant intensity to his paintings.

Angel Otero’s works were prominently shown at Art Chicago 2009 to great success. He has had solo exhibitions in both Chicago and Puerto Rico and his work has been shown across Illinois , Florida , and Puerto Rico . In 2009 the Chicago Tribune named Otero one of its “4 Under 40” artists to watch.

Also on exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center in the Sidney R. Yates Gallery and Exhibit Hall is “Hollis Sigler: Expect the Unexpected” running January 30 to April 4. The Chicago Rooms on the building’s second floor will exhibit “Christine Tarkowski: Last Things Will Be First and First Things Will Be Last” from January 30 to May 3. The Michigan Avenue Galleries on the building’s first floor will exhibit “Queen of Heaven: Photographs by John Allan Faier” from January 2 to March 28, “Up is Down: Paintings by Joel Sheesley” and “R&R (…& R): Works by Susanne Slavik” both from January 9 to April 4. The Project Onward Gallery is showing “Sereno Wilson: All That Glitters” from January 12 to March 1.