RIYADH: The Uruguayan painter, Marcelo de Leon, will hold a weeklong one-man show featuring 50 of his works in acrylic and watercolor at the Naila Gallery starting at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.

“The show aims to promote Uruguayan-Saudi bilateral ties through culture and the paintings of the artist who travelled 36 hours with his better half Odette in coming here,” Ambassador Carlos Mora said.

The Uruguayan envoy added that this is the first time the Uruguayan Embassy has brought a painter to hold a one-man show in the Kingdom to bolster bilateral ties through culture.

He added that the embassy has chosen De Leon to hold an exhibit in the Kingdom because his works reflect life in Uruguay, particularly Montevideo where he comes from.

“The paintings show a marketplace, a tower, old cities, people walking in the streets, among others, in a manner and style which has been associated with Marcelo De Leon,” he said.

The paintings will be available for art enthusiasts and collectors at prices ranging from as low as SR900 to SR3,500.

“With the artworks’ quality and the 46-year-old artist’s reputation, the prices are rather cheap,” local art patrons claim.

This is not the first time that De Leon holds an exhibition outside his native Montevideo. He has exhibited in Canada, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and now in Saudi Arabia.

Visiting the Kingdom for the first time, De Leon expressed happiness and optimism regarding the prospects for local and foreign artists.

Born in 1969, he attended the Ateneo of Montevideo for his first lessons in painting and ceramics and in 1980 he began his studies with the painter Plinio Rinaldi. In 1986, he entered the National School of Fine Arts in Uruguay.