Mario Petrirena is a Cuban born American artist living and working in Atlanta. He was born in Cuba in 1953 and came to the United States in 1962. Petrirena attended the University of Florida receiving his BA in Fine Art in 1977. He attended graduate school at Rochester Institute of Technology, School for American Craftsman. He has been a visual artist for over 20 years, working in a variety of mediums including collage and clay. Petrirena is the recipient of several awards including the 2006 Pollock Krasner Grant. He has exhibited widely, nationally and internationally. His work is included in several museum collections including The High Museum of Art, Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, The Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Museum of Contemporary art of Georgia and in numerous corporate and private collections. He is represented Sandler Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, GA.

Artist Statement

Duality, division, conflict, otherness are themes that run through my work. The push and pull of life, the complexities, it is what makes us human, it is our shared humanity. There is darkness in the work which I hope is tempered by their physical beauty.

“Being human is a given. But keeping our humanity is a choice.”
-Anonymous