Artistic affinity

Ruben Monsalve met former Cape Girardeau artist Kristopher last December when both were showing work at a festival in Costa Rica. Though neither speaks the other's language and Kristopher is a generation younger, the similarities in their abstract paintings ignited a kind of conversation and eventually a friendship. "We did it with our hands, and we drew it out," Kristopher said.

They have "an affinity" for each other's work, said Monsalve's wife Jenny Ortuno, who translates for her husband.

Monsalve's murals are in the Zephyr Palace, one of Costa Rica's most luxurious resorts, and in a children's library, where the Van Gogh-like sky he painted on a ceiling in a single night tempts people to lie on the floor. He has been teaching in art academies since he was 18. In Kristopher he recognized another artist who works in vibrant colors and an artist who allows nothing to interfere with his freedom.

"He works from his inner being, his inner child, which is completely free with no structure," Monsalve said.

Gallery 125's show of 41 works by Monsalve and Kristopher opens Friday. A reception for the artists will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at the gallery, 125 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau.

@SL_cutline_body:Artists Kristopher, left, and Ruben Monsalve held individual pieces while standing in front of their large 10-by-12-foot collaborative effort. The two will be featured at Gallery 125 this Friday. (Kit Doyle)

Monsalve and Kristopher spent the past week in a vacant storefront on Broadway readying their work for the show. They are accustomed to working together in a way that does not require language. Earlier this year at an arts festival in Escazu they painted a 12-by-10-foot work together while people watched and a chorus sang. They had no concept before starting but afterward had difficulty telling which marks each one had made. Photographs of this unusual collaboration can be seen at the gallery and at www.semissourian.com.

Monsalve's art on display at Gallery 125 reveals the fascination he has had with horses since his childhood growing up on a farm. His paintings explore the animals' movement and essence. On this his first trip to the U.S., Kristopher took him to see an American icon in St. Louis -- the Budwieser Clydesdales.

Kristopher moved from Cape Girardeau to New Orleans three years ago. His abstracts reflect some of the dislocation he has experienced since Hurricane Katrina. He lived in six different places before he could return to his New Orleans home. He spent a year trying to retrieve his artistic life. "It took some time to get my hands moving again," he said.