Stalemate

Alfredo Arreguín

1974

Oil on canvas

Seattle Art Museum

A vibrant, densely packed oil painting depicts a surreal garden scene with numerous figures, animals, and floral motifs. The composition is filled with intricate patterns and a flattened perspective. A vibrant, densely packed oil painting depicts a surreal garden scene with numerous figures, animals, and floral motifs. The composition is filled with intricate patterns and a flattened perspective. Born in Michoacán, Mexico, Alfredo Arreguín immigrated in 1956 to Seattle, where he would spend the rest of his life. A prominent member of Seattle’s countercultural and bohemian scene, Arreguín developed a distinctive painting style in the 1970s that evoked both the tropical flora and fauna of his home country and the topography of his adopted city. In Stalemate, surreal natural and geometric patterns morph within and between amorphous