Stanley Coll
Cayey, PR, 1954
Biography Details
Painter, illustrator, printmaker and sculptor. Studied at Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico under the tutelage of Professor Frank Cervoni graduating Suma Cum Laude with a concentration in painting in 1984. Since then he worked as an illustrator for special reports on channel 11 News and other media. In 1986 he joined the newspaper El Nuevo Día as one of its most prominent illustrators, being granted several international awards in illustration by way of this newspaper pages. Culminating his career as an Illustrator in 1995, Coll dedicates with passion to painting, medium that has brought him recognition from critics and art collectors, becoming his work part of important collections and conducting exhibitions in art galleries locally and abroad. In constant search of his visual language, Coll has steered his work towards the creation of a unique style which thrives on images and real-life situations that the artist has managed to perceive in the streets and transformed them into their own urban world with a clear satirical-social intention.
Artist Statement
“Even though I’ve had many years of studies and experience in painting, I recognize that I’m not a naif artist, but I’ve been greatly captivated by this style of painting. As a visual artist, I look for, my way of expressing the most intimate, the most pure, the most simple; I look for the lost child that’s inside my being (self). Maybe that’s why I’ve identified so much with this type of art. In my paintings I manage to capture reality as I see it putting a little bit of humor in it. My subjects mainly represent people from the streets, predominantly poor people who, without any complex, appear as they are. Characters with their exposed bellies, women with their curlers and flip-flops, the rum and beer drinkers, the signs put up on businesses, the street fights, etc. are part of a social realism that to our eyes can’t pass unnoticed. The mutt plays a very important part in my paintings, since he is like a signature or a catch that identifies me, represents the loyalty, the faithful love for the homeland and my people. To be able to understand more about this art, here I summarize in a few words what naïf art or naive art is.
Naif Art
“Naif Art is the written word, which tries to describe and comprehend the image and the intention of the artist: The naive, the naive painting presents us a serene, peaceful, magical world, conflicting with a reality that generally is not. For this reason, this style of painting cannot be feigned, it is not learned, it is born from each one of the individuals who execute it. There are as much styles of naive painting as there are naive painters. It is an art that brings us in contact with the best of ourselves and reflect it. It connects us very closely with our inner child and so it reveals, in the most spontaneous way, with the most delirious fantasy, with the clumsiest grotesque or with the most caricatured hyperrealism. It is a non-academic painting since it is not studied, it is felt”.
Stanley Coll, 2006
Formation
Education
1984
- Bachelor’s Degree. Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Professional Experience
1998
- Set Designer. “Phantom of the Opera” theater production, Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1988
- Illustrations Special Report. Tele 11 News Channel, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1987
- Illustrations for Special Report of Guillermo Morales. Tele 11 News Channel, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Illustrations Aids Trial. Tele 11 News Channel, Federal Court, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2010
- Que es lo que pasa aquí 2, Galería Tous Soto, Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico, El Capitolio, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2007
- Que es lo que Pasa Aquí, Galería URI, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2001
- Aquí Me Quedo, Galería Colores, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1995
- 8 años de Trayectoria, Centro Europa, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1986
- Mirando hacia Arriba, Galería San Juan Bautista, Casa Alcaldía, Municipio de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Group Shows
2011
- Chiquito pero juguetón, Galería 778, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
- Pequeño vivencial de Escape, Dorado, Puerto Rico
2010
- Muestra Nacional de Arte, Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2009
- Facing Locality, St. Croix Caribbean Museum Center, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands
2008
- Pequeño vivencial de Escape, Hotel Normandie, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Sexta gran subasta de arte, Cruz Roja Americana, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
2007
- La Mona Lisa, Galería URI, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Actividad Escape, Convento de los Dominicos, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2006
- Subasta de Arte Puertorriqueño, Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel & Casino, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Muestra Nacional, Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2005
- Subasta de Arte Puertorriqueño, Wyndham Condado
- Plaza Hotel & Casino, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Subasta de Arte Puertorriqueño, Wyndham Condado Plaza Hotel & Casino, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2004
- Galería Gómez, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- VII Gran Subasta, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2002
- Recurrencias y Recreaciones del Arte, Galería La Pintadera, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Seis Veces Arte, Galería La Pintadera, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- V Gran Subasta, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1999
- Diluvio, Mon Petit Art Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1997
- Facetas del Arte, Universidad Central de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico
- Noche Inaugural, Galería Las Américas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1989
- Exposición de Medios de Comunicaciones, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1988
- Una Hora en la Vida de Ambos, Museo de Arte e Historia, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1984
- Exposición de Graduandos, Escuela de Artes Plásticas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Awards, Distinctions and Achievements
1987-1988
- Award for Excellence. 9th Edition of Society of Newspaper Design, Periódico El Nuevo Día, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1990
- Honorable Mention Award of Illustration. Concilio de Diseño y Tecnología, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Award for Excellence. 12th Edition of Society of Newspaper Design, Periódico El Nuevo Día, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1993
- Bronze Medal of Illustration. 15th Edition of Society of Newspaper Design, El Nuevo Día San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Acknowledgment for conveying a message of conservation of our natural resources. Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1995
- Two Awards for Excellence in Illustration. 17th Edition of Society of Newspaper Design, Periódico El Nuevo Día, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1987
- Cúspide Award. Asociación de Agencias Publicitarias de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Collections
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bibliography
Newspapers
“Artist display talent in ‘Illustration Today’”, The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 15 de julio de 1988.
“Surrealismo y eclecticismo en “ambos”, El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 27 de julio de 1988.
“La ilustración en Puerto Rico”, El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 3 de julio de 1988.
“Stanley Coll y su mundo tejido con metáforas”, El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 25 de enero de 1996.
“En grande los de En Grande”, El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 5 de noviembre de 1991.
“Ocho premios para nuestros artistas gráficos”, El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 29 de marzo de 1994.
“Imágenes callejeras de Stanley Coll”, El Vocero (San Juan, PR), 3 de noviembre de 2001.
“Seis expresiones del arte”, El Vocero (San Juan, PR), 11 de julio de 2002.
“De gala la V subasta del MAPR”, El Vocero (San Juan, PR), 1 de julio de 2002.
“Pinceladas”, El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 9 de junio de 2002.
“El pincel Naif de Stanley Coll”, El Vocero (San Juan, PR), 9 de abril de 2005.
“Una hora en la vida de ambos”, 29 de junio de 1988.
“8 años de trayectoria”, 25 de enero de 1995.
“Aquí me quedo”, 1 de noviembre de 2001.
Interviews
“Entrevista”, Frente Sónico, Programa TV, San Juan, Puerto Rico, DVD Player, 2002.
“8 años de Trayectoria”, Entrevista sobre artista, Tele 11, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1995.
“Aquí Me Quedo”, Entrevista sobre artista, Tele 11, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2001.
Vera Irizarry, Jesús. “Aquí Me Quedo”, Entrevista radial, Radio Universidad, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2001.
“Residencia del Artista”, Entrevista sobre artista, Tele 11, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1987.