CITY ARTS : Loving Look at ‘El Arte del Amor’

Self-Help Graphics will sponsor an artists’ reception today for its premiere exhibit of the year, “El Arte del Amor/The Art of Love” at Galeria Otra Vez.

The exhibit will feature works from Richard James Beltran, Elizabeth Perez and Maria Rendon, and will highlight a suite of paintings by Peter Tovar.

Tovar, 45, who helped found the gallery’s folk craft store, is presenting his work after a 20-year absence from painting.

The show’s theme, he said, fits right in with the rediscovery of his love for painting.

“Each of us is trying to represent our feelings of love, and mine are aimed at a lot of old memories,” he said.

In search of ideas, Tovar said he continued to uncover the lessons of his grandmother while he was growing up near San Jose, working with his family in the orchards.

His grandmother would pull up a crate and tell the children the stories of her life in Mexico.

“My paintings try to keep my grandmother’s memories alive. I’m trying to keep that warmth and love of my grandmother,” he said.

“I was always trying to think of my own ideas and found that I didn’t have any. I was searching until I found them in my childhood, my past.”

“El Arte del Amor/The Art of Love,” Galeria Otra Vez, 3802 Avenida Cesar Chavez; through Jan. 29; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; free opening reception 4 to 8 p.m. today; (213) 264-1259.