What Does a Portrait Mean — Going Beyond the Surface In a New Art Exhibition In The Woodlands That Examines Modern Mirrors

Ardest Gallery in The Woodlands is turning the spotlight on a Latin American art champion and portraits themselves. Its latest exhibit, Modern Mirrors, invites viewers to look beyond the surface of the human face. Guest juror Gabriella Monterroso, the owner of Monterroso Gallery in Houston and an artist herself, curated the show.

Monterroso Gallery highlights contemporary Latin American art, with a focus on artists from Guatemala. Her work has appeared widely in Houston, including at the Holocaust Museum, Lawndale Art Center and the Kinder Morgan Building.

For this exhibit, portraits could be literal, interpretive, symbolic or realistic. Modern Mirrors explores how portraiture shifts when it’s no longer tied only to a person’s likeness.

“I took many years of portraiture classes. The thing I’m looking for in a portrait is more than what we can see in a camera,” Monterroso says. “It’s the story behind the narrative and behind the mood.”

While curating the show, she turned to a sonnet by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, a 17th-century Mexican poet who reflected on her own portrait.

Monterroso interprets the passage in her own words. “This what you see painted with skillful art,” she says. “It’s only an illusion, a fragile flower, a vain defense against time, which will destroy both beauty and the portrait itself.”

Those 17th century words struck Monterroso deeply. “She was a little pessimistic and did not flatter herself,” she says. “Even the most carefully painted likeness cannot hold back time. Surface beauty will vanish, and the image will eventually disappear.”

Yet out of that stark view comes a reminder of why portraits matter at all.

“That is what makes portraiture powerful,” Monterroso notes. “It reminds us that a portrait is never just about appearances. If we stop at the surface, it is vanity. But if we look deeper, it becomes a mirror of mood, story and essence that survives long after beauty fades.”

Monterroso selected works that reached beyond likeness into presence. U.S. Army veteran Jason Turner took first place for his piece Why!? Second place went to Karla Burgos’ Red Nails. Third place was given to Phyllis Love’s Just for Fun. Spencer Welch received honorable mention for Let’s Play Mama.

For Monterroso, the winning pieces capture portraiture at its strongest. It doesn’t stop at resemblance. Instead, it invites viewers into a dialogue with memory and meaning — the layers that endure when beauty fades.

“Modern Mirrors” is on view at Ardest Gallery through Saturday, September 27. The gallery is located at 25200 Grogan’s Park Drive in The Woodlands and is open Wednesdays through Fridays from 10 am to 2 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm. For more information, go here.