By Daniel Shube
Entertainment writer
PALM BEACH GARDENS - When you hear artist Darwin Leon talk about his art, it sounds so simple. You can feel his passion for the masters.
Yet, when you see his work, it is so complex.
"I've been doing art as long as I can remember, maybe since I was 6 years old," says Mr. Leon, who was born in 1972 in Santiago de las Vegas, a small town in Havana, Cuba.
"I used to draw characters, but when I moved to the United States I stopped doing art and began working at a bank as a teller."
While Mr. Leon's days at the bank could have meant the end of the road for his art, it actually was the beginning.
"During the years I worked at the bank, I did over 500 drawings on the back of the bank receipts."
He enrolled at Miami International University of Art Design where he earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts.
"My time spent at MIU changed how I saw art forever. I began to get more into surreal artwork," he said.
Mr. Leon's art combines aspects of the masters of the Renaissance with his own surreal style. He describes it as, "classical art of masters in a contemporary mode of expression."
Mr. Leon has had his work exhibited often in South Florida.
In the 2004 Arts & Music Festival, a juried exhibition in Hollywood, Mr. Leon won first place in painting. His work is represented at galleries in the Miami area.
"I am currently looking for gallery representation in the Palm Beach area," he said.
The Art of Darwin Leon, Art Revolutions: A Neo-Renaissance Resurrection will be on display and available for sale, priced from $1,000 to $6,000 from May 15 through Sept. 4, at the Eissey Campus gallery of Palm Beach Community College in Palm Beach Gardens.
Mr. Leon will be at the opening night reception on Tuesday, May 15, from 5-8 p.m. The exhibition and reception are both free and open to the public. For more information visit www.DarwinLeon.com.
While you are at the college, see another art exhibit taking place.
The Eissey Campus Theatre Lobby Gallery is presenting paintings by Marilyn Muller through May 30. Ms. Muller is a teacher at the Lighthouse Center for the Arts School of Art in Tequesta and paints primarily landscapes and seascapes in oils.
Hours for the Darwin Leon exhibition are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays. The Gallery at Palm Beach Community College Eissey campus is in the BB Building, Room 113, 3160 PGA Blvd. Call (561) 207-5015.
The Marilyn Muller exhibition at the lobby gallery is open at all performances and Monday- Friday 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Call (561) 207-5905.
The Eissey Campus Theatre is located at 11051 Campus Drive off PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens.