Naúl Ojeda (1939-2002) was a native of Uruguay where he trained at the University of Uruguay, School of Fine Arts. He lived in France, Chile, Mexico, and was a resident of Washington, DC for nearly 30 years. Ojeda is known for his strong graphic work in woodblock and linoleum prints, which he pulled by hand in small editions.

In this exhibition Familiar places… old faces, a number of prints that Ojeda created in Mexico in the mid-70’s will be seen for the first time. Ojeda’s prints are characterized by bold images incorporating the natural grain of the wood, often printed in tones of black and white with a focal point of red or another primary color. The show also includes paintings the artist made later in his life. These present a colorful and whimsical contrast to the starker imagery of the prints.

Ojeda’s work is held in private and museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American Art and the Organization of American States’ Art Museum of the Americas, both in Washington, DC, as well as the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Over the years, Ojeda was invited to participate in numerous prestigious print biennials, including the Latin American Biennial of Graphics in Santiago, Chile, The Biennial of Graphic Arts in Cali, Colombia, and the Biennial of Latin American Graphic Art in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In addition, his work was selected for various traveling exhibitions, among them, a Smithsonian organized exhibit that toured the Bass Museum of Art in Miami, Florida, the Balch Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Lakeview Museum of Art and Sciences in Peoria, Illinois.

His prints have been commissioned by Americas Magazine, Curbstone Press, the Institute for Policy Studies, the University of Chicago Press, The Washington Post, and others. The artist has received numerous awards, including fellowships from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Distinguished Immigrant Award 2001 from the American Immigration Law Foundation.