Artist Biography

Elio López is an American artist of Northern Spanish decent. The artist reports drawing at an advanced level since he was a child. Born in Tampa, Florida, he attended Hillsborough Community College where he studied under world renowned artists, Jerry Meatyard and Steve Holms. His first professional attempt resulted in having a work purchased and placed in the college’s permanent collection.
Upon graduating from the University of South Florida the artist used his skills over the years to help others express their own inner feelings. He provided art therapy for the chronically mentally ill, successfully assisting this population in interfacing with the community by creating arts programs through the City of Tampa Recreation Department.
Ever inventive in his approach, he created a new technique for making pictures that he calls ‘resist painting.’ This new technique brought the artist national acclaim. In June 2003, the art dealer Charles-Harold purchased ten of sixteen works he showed that day. The following December he exhibited at the Kotler Gallery, which experienced its largest turn-out ever. That evening the Hillsborough County Public library purchased “Yo: autorretrato” and “Maja #3” for their permanent collection. The show also resulted in extensive media coverage in the local papers.
One year later the artist was the cover story article for Art & Frame Review magazine. The Tampa Tribune in a half-page write-up covered his next show. Invitations to show  with world renowned artists Drs. Ferdie Pacheco and Anthony Cardoso followed. The results of those shows led to an invitation by the University of Tampa to present a lecture on his art and cultural heritage.
In January 2005, the artist gave back to his community by teaching six disadvantaged Latino children the resist technique. In partnership with The City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Dept., John F. Germany Library, and M.I.R.A., Mr. López completed a ten-week workshop with the children. Their work, and a completed mural, is now in the library’s permanent collection.  Local government documented the event for CTTV, and the Spanish-language television station, Univision, interviewed him before and after the project was completed. Again, the artist garnered favorable reviews in all the major print Medias. He was also presented with a plaque from MIRA and the Colombian senator Alejandra Piraquive for his work with the children.

 Mr. López next completed a mural for Dade City Boys & Girls Club. Again the media covered the event. In September 2007, Mr. López was chosen for a special group showing at the Tampa International Airport, where his major work, “El abrazo #1”(The Embrace), was exhibited for a year, enabling visitors from all over the world to see the new technique first hand. Mr. López was also filmed for a documentary that is now in the permanent collection of the Tampa History Center.  More public projects followed which the media greeted with rave reviews. In Sept. of 2008, the artist was given the position of artist-in-residence with the Children’s Board and completed a mural that traveled Hillsborough County throughout the year. The artist’s next accomplishment was designing three awards that were presented by the Vitamin Angels, Inc. at their annual gala event in Los Angeles. In November 2009, the local Arts group TBBCA invited the artist to be their featured artist at their gala auction.