One Day at Callao and Santa Fe 24" x 30" oil on wood panel 2015, Original available | Print Available

On January 21st, 2016, this painting was exhibited by the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A  lyric in a popular song composed by Horacio Ferrer and Astor Piazzolla asks the listener: “Can not you see the moon rolling through Callao?” Though it is part of  a ballad for a crazy man, it is somehow appropriate for the boulevard, Callao. The street churns with an insane intensity, and at the close of the 20th century when I first encountered it, I was absorbed by it. Since then,  I have returned to stroll down its walkways many times.  A major thoroughfare in the city of Buenos Aires, it was actually named for a port in Lima, Peru and was considered, during the 1800’s, the perimeter of the city. Now it’s in the heart of the metropolis. Walking down its narrow corridor is an adventure. A mixture of architecture spanning centuries flanks the crowded street. Lavish high rises, imposing banks and colleges turn the street into a canyon. Throngs of humanity make their way down the boulevard. The Porteños stand out. Typically smart in dress, they are fit and attractive, with an urbane demeanor, and are part of the cacophony of a megacity. From somewhere, the sound of music mixes with the faint smell of smoke. As I walked down Callao in 2014, I paused as an array of brightly colored taxis rushed by. They seemed to glow with Callao’s light, and I thought of Ferrer’s lyric. Nope, I never saw the moon on Callao, but I think I just saw a piece of the sun.