Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/819918
Even a casual observer can see that he succeeds. His technique allows the viewer to experience the world through the artist's eyes, to catch a glimpse of the emotions he feels when he gazes upon the world around him. But Apodaca does so without imparting his opinions of what he sees; rather, his work leaves space for the beholder to insert his or her own take on the subject. This is the work of a true master. It's, well, poetry on canvas. Johnny Apodaca was born in El Paso, Texas. As a young military brat, he lived in Germany; he recalls this period as the time he became fascinated with the medium that would define his adult artistic life. "There was a painting in our dining room that I loved," he recalls. "I decided then that I wanted to do that." Back in Texas, he studied art at McNay Institute founded by Marion Koogler McNay in San Antonio. "She had a great collection," Apodaca says. "I once held a Van Gogh drawing in my own hands. Things were more casual then." The budding artist studied abstract impressionism under the tutelage of the renowned Reginald Rowe. The young painter found his way to California in the early 1970s to fur- ther his studies at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. On a visit to sib- 152 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 7 (top) "Shoreline," (bottom) "Fields," (opposite) "Pamplona" Separated by 6,300 miles, Carmel and Perugia, Italy, serve as dual home bases and muses for Apodaca's art. A full time artist, he spends time working in both locales.