March 13, 2005

Camilo Alvarez

Love it or hate it - that's Camilo Alvarez's hope for all who enter his South End gallery, Samson Projects, which opened in 2004. New York-born, Dominican-raised, Alvarez has drawn strong reaction with his exhibits, including one devoted entirely to bad behavior and offensiveness. Having videos in that show prompted questions of whether videos are art and whether they can sell. His goal is to show art that is culturally significant, not necessarily saleable or even to his own taste: "When Picasso came out, people were dumbfounded. Same thing with the Impressionists; they were completely pariahed."