"Mind Windows: The Art of Roberto Rios" Now on Display Throughout San Marcos

Mind Windows: The Art of Roberto Rios is on view now through early March via a six-gallery collaborative throughout San Marcos. The exhibit is the second of its kind in as many years in which local art galleries have collaborated to recognize an important local artist. Mind Windows celebrates more than 50 years of work by San Antonio native Roberto Rios. Participating sites are: the Price Center, the Texas State Galleries at Texas State University, the San Marcos Art Center, the Walkers’ Gallery, El Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos, and the San Marcos Public Library.

Born in 1941, Rios grew up in San Antonio where his love for art developed at his local public library. Reading about art history, Rios taught himself to paint by example. In his paintings, one finds references to the art seen in books, but in a fantastical style all his own.

“I imagine the brain as having rooms, where images and dreams come to stay,” said Roberto Rios. “There are doors to each room and in them there are windows. Opened windows invite imagination in, allowing us to dream. Through windows of the mind life can change,” he added.

The first retrospective dedicated to this important artist, Mind Windows features work from his time as a founding member of Con Safo, a San Antonio-based group that helped to define the Chicano Art movement; through to his work as a well-known muralist and as a Medical Scientific Illustrator for publications produced by Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Rios retired to pursue his faith—eventually becoming a Catholic Deacon in 2008—and continues to paint to this day.

On January 21 from 4–6 p.m., the Price Center will host an opening reception for Mind Windows: The Art of Roberto Rios. The program will begin at 4:15 p.m. with a conversation between art writer Lauren Moya Ford and Roberto Rios about his work, followed by conversation and refreshment. Open to the public.