Harmonia Rosales facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Harmonia Rosales
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Rosales in 2021
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| Born | February 6, 1984 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Glenville State University |
| Known for | The Creation of God (2017 painting) |
| Style | Painting |
Harmonia Rosales, born on February 6, 1984, is a talented artist from Chicago, Illinois. She is known for her unique paintings that often reimagine classic artworks with new perspectives. Harmonia is an Afro-Cuban American artist who uses her art to share important messages about identity and representation.
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About Harmonia Rosales
Harmonia Rosales was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, Giraldo Rosales, was from Cuba. Her mother, Melodye Benson Rosales, was an illustrator from Jamaica. Harmonia grew up learning about the Santería religious tradition.
When she was a child, Harmonia even modeled for the original illustrations of Addy, a popular character from the American Girl doll series. Her mother painted these pictures.
Harmonia's Art Career
Harmonia Rosales studied Fine Arts at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her paintings are known for their bright, lively colors. She often combines ideas from African cultures with styles seen in classic European art.
Harmonia's artwork has been shown in famous places like the Museum of the African Diaspora and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Through her art, she talks about important topics like race, gender, and identity. She helps people think about how different groups are shown in art today. She also shares her ideas in interviews and discussions.
The Creation of God Painting
In 2017, Harmonia Rosales created a powerful painting called The Creation of God. This artwork was part of her first solo art show. It took her two months to paint this piece using oil on canvas.
In this painting, Harmonia reimagines Michelangelo's famous work, The Creation of Adam. In Michelangelo's original, God and Adam are shown as men. But in Harmonia's version, both God and Adam are Black women. Harmonia's painting shows God as a Black woman, creating the feeling that the heavens are like a womb. From this, she is giving birth to Eve. This shows strength and empowerment.
Harmonia created this image to make people think about why white people are often the main focus in classic art. She challenges viewers to consider why this is so commonly accepted.
Other Important Works
In 2017, Harmonia Rosales also showed her painting Innocence Lost at the Museum of Science and Industry's Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition. This painting shows her daughter. It explores what it feels like to be seen and judged too much at a young age. Winning an award for this painting encouraged Harmonia to create more strong and meaningful artworks.
That same year, an art gallery in Los Angeles, Simard-Bilodeau Contemporary, began to represent Harmonia. They gave her first solo exhibition. This show included Creation of God and another important work, The Birth of Oshun.
The Birth of Oshun is an oil painting that reimagines Sandro Botticelli's famous work, The Birth of Venus. In Botticelli's painting, Venus, the goddess of love, is shown as a white woman in a seashell with white angels around her. Harmonia's painting, however, shows Oshun, the Yoruba goddess of fertility and beauty, in a seashell. She is surrounded by Black angels. This painting celebrates Black beauty and African mythology.
See also
In Spanish: Harmonia Rosales para niños
