Art & Soul gallery in Santa Barbara will present Cosas de la Vida, a two-person exhibit featuring new works by Santa Barbara artists Pedro De La Cruz and Olivia Joffrey. The display is on view July 24-Aug. 30 at 1323 State St.

Though their visual languages are distinctly their own, both explore what it means to move through contemporary life while carrying the weight and wonder of culture, memory, responsibility, identity, and human connection, organizers said

For De La Cruz, everyday life becomes a celebration. His colorful paintings draw inspiration from heritage, family, labor, landscape, and community, transforming familiar scenes into joyful expressions of resilience and belonging.

“De La Cruz, recently selected as the artist behind the official 2026 Old Spanish Days Fiesta poster, has become one of Santa Barbara’s most recognizable artistic voices, creating imagery that celebrates the city’s cultural traditions and enduring spirit,” the gallery said.

“Olivia Joffrey approaches similar themes from a more introspective perspective. Her series of burros — each carrying oversized forms accompanied by handwritten observations — serves as a metaphor for the emotional and psychological loads we bear,” organizers said.

“Blending humor, vulnerability, social commentary, and quiet reflection, her work captures the tension between personal responsibility and the collective anxieties of modern life,” organizers said.

“Joffrey’s thoughtful visual storytelling recently earned her the commission for the cover of Santa Barbara Magazine’s landmark 50th Anniversary Homes & Gardens issue, further establishing her as one of the region’s distinctive contemporary illustrators,” they said.

Together, the gallery said, paintings create a compelling dialogue between the external landscape and the internal one.

De La Cruz offers scenes filled with color, movement, and cultural memory, while Joffrey invites viewers inward, examining the invisible burdens and questions that accompany contemporary existence.

Presented during Santa Barbara’s Fiesta season, Cosas de la Vida offers a reflection on the stories we inherit, the burdens we carry, and the traditions and experiences that connect us. Through celebration, humor, reflection, and resilience, the exhibition explores the many “things of life” that shape our shared human experience, the gallery said.

Art & Soul is open noon-5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays with private viewings on request.