José Antonio Torres Martino
"A population of irascible clubs" (1979-1980)
"A population of irascible clubs" (1979-1980)
Painter, graphic artist, broadcaster, art theorist and professor. He travelled to New York in 1935 to study at the Pratt Institute. In 1946, he learned mural painting alongside Camilo Egas and Rufino Tamayo at the Art School of the Brooklyn Museum and in 1948 attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence (Accademia di belle arti di Firenze), Italy. Upon his return to Puerto Rico, he created the Studio 17 Workshop‑School and was a founding member of the Puerto Rican Art Center. He was a professor at the Graphics Workshop of the School of Architecture of the University of Puerto Rico from the late sixties to 1984. In addition to his extensive work in the plastic arts and pedagogy, he devoted himself to the design of book covers and the study of the arts in Puerto Rico, and authored books including “Puerto Rico: Art and Identity”, published by the Brotherhood of Graphic Artists of Puerto Rico, an organization he cofounded 1981. He also produced cultural programs for television and radio and wrote numerous newspaper articles. The Sacred Heart University conferred an honorary doctorate degree to him in 2003, and in 2005 presented a retrospective exhibition of his work entitled “Voice of Various Ranges” at the Ponce Art Museum. His work, and particularly his schematic representations of the landscape, reflect his affirmation and defense of the Puerto Rican identity.