Luis Hernández Cruz
"Centro de ceremonia esotérica" (2005)
"Centro de ceremonia esotérica" (2005)
Painter, sculptor, printmaker and professor. He completed a bachelor’s degree in arts from the University of Puerto Rico under the tutelage of Cristóbal Ruiz and a master’s degree in arts from American University in Washington, D.C. Upon his return to Puerto Rico, he collaborated in the creation of the Sol 13 Gallery in Old San Juan and later directed the visual arts section of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño. In 1977, he founded the Frente Group with Paul Camacho, Antonio Navia and Lope Max Díaz, and in 1984 he chaired the First Congress of Abstract Artists in Puerto Rico. He was a professor at the School of Visual Arts of San Juan and the University of Puerto Rico, and became director of the university’s museum from 1995 a 1999. In 2009 the School of Visual Arts conferred to him an honorary doctorate degree. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions since 1958 and in 2003 the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico presented a retrospective exhibition of his work. He has been recognized as one of the contributors to the birth of abstract art in Puerto Rico by developing a style of organic abstraction though his work -although at times more geometric elements stand out- but that always are characterized by his masterful command of color.