Smacking Those Lips on Stamford: FLA Gallery and Operation Smile

This weekend, Fernando will be painting his full, pouting lips on one of Stamford’s signal boxes.  The beautification project, spearheaded by Stamford Downtown Special Services District, pays artists to paint one of the hulking, gray boxes marring the aesthetic of downtown Stamford.  However, instead of keeping the money, Fernando is donating all proceeds to Operation Smile.

Fernando grew up fascinated by a person’s mouth more than any other physical characteristic.  He would study someone’s lips the way in which most people study someone’s eyes.  As an artist, he turned this fascination into an aesthetic, painting gorgeous, pouting, red lips on his canvases.  The lips are full and Cupid’s-bowed, conveying an ideal of feminine beauty and strength.  When Fernando first heard of Operation Smile, an international charity that funds and performs corrective surgery on children with cleft conditions, he knew that this was something he needed to support in his art.

And so, on Sunday, he will paint his full-red lips on the town of Stamford, in support of Operation Smile and all the good it does for the mouths of the world.

Fernando’s signal box is located in front of RBS Worldpay, at 600 Washington Blvd, Stamford, CT.  Please come into the Gallery to learn more about Alvarez’s project and Operation Smile.  We are accepting check-only donations that may be made payable to Operation Smile.