Consuelo Gotay
Bayamón, P.R., 1949
Biography Details
Printmaker, designer and professor. She graduated in 1970 from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and earned her master’s degree from Columbia University in New York in 1971. She started as a printmaking apprentice in the Printmaking Workshop of the UPR School of Architecture with José Antonio Torres Martino as professor, and in Lorenzo Homar’s workshop. She also studied printing at the Bernardino Cordero Vocational School in Ponce, at the Center for Book Arts in New York and in Canada she studied non‑toxic printmaking with Keith Howard. Her teaching profession has been lasting and significant in Puerto Rico (at the UPR School of Architecture) and in the Dominican Republic (at the Institute of Advanced Studies). Her work has earned awards and honorable mentions throughout her remarkable career, and is part of multiple collections in Puerto Rico, the United States and Venezuela. Her works portray her mastery of silkscreen printing, letter design, linocuts and woodcuts, and she has created portfolios and artist’s books that combine images, designs and words harmoniously. Her prints, through textures achieved with elegant strokes, evoke poetic depictions of the native landscape.
Artist Statement
“Her iconography is a kind of magic made up by flora, landscapes, architecture, the human figure and indescribable elements that appear as eyes watching us while we, spellbound, observe cryptic symbols instead. All integrated, all new and fresh, all part of the Greater Antilles. If I wasn’t familiar with her work, I would feel a great emptiness. … We need for the work of art to return us hope, love of life as well as to our work. Also, perhaps, some much needed tears, be them of sadness or joy. Consuelo’s work brings back to us those feelings, something that is lacking everywhere; let us take a look”.
Lorenzo Homar
Letter to the artist
1984
Formation
Education
1999
- Non-toxic printmaking with Professor Keith Howard. Canadian School for Non–Toxic Printmaking, Alberta, Canada
1992
- Letterpress, binding. Center for Book Arts, New York, United States
1990
- Bernardino Cordero Bernat Vocational School, Ponce, Puerto Rico
1984
- Classes in silkscreen and typography. Lorenzo Homar’s workshop, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1972-76
- Classes in printmaking with José Antonio Torres Martinó. Graphic Arts Workshop, School of Architecture, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1971
- Master of Arts. Teachers College, Columbia University, Massachusetts, United States
1969
- Bachelor of Arts. Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Profesional Experience
1990-2006
- Professor of printmaking and book arts. Escuela de Artes Plásticas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Associate Professor. Escuela de Artes Plásticas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1994-2000
- Director. Department of Printmaking, Escuela de Artes Plásticas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1984-1989
- Print Professor. Printmaking Workshop, Architecture School, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1982-1984
- Print Professor. Universidad APEC, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1981-1984
- Print private courses. Nouveau Gallery, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- Artist Residence. Nouveau Gallery, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2001
- Poetas del Caribe, Casa Rectoría, Universidad del Turabo, Gurabo, Puerto Rico
1998
- Puerta al tiempo en tres voces, Escuela de Artes Plásticas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1997
- Hay un país en el mundo, Biblioteca Nacional, Dominican Republic
1996
- Hay un país en el mundo, La Casa del Libro, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1994
- Grabados, Joseph Henry House, Princeton University,New Jersey, United States
1993
- Exposición del Cuaderno de un Retorno al País Natal, Le Colisee, Fort de France, Martinique
- Exposición del Cuaderno de un Retorno al País Natal, La Casa del Libro, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1984
- Grabados y Dibujos, Exposición conjunta con el ceramista Thimo Pimentel, Galería Nouveau, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1983
- Grabados, Casa Candina, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1982
- Grabados, Casa de Teatro, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1977
- Grabados, Galería Oller, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1976
- Grabados, La Galería, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1973
- Grabados, Dibujos y Acuarelas,Colegio de Ingenieros, Arquitectos y Agrimensores de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Colectivas
2012
- Interconexiones: Lecturas curatoriales de la Colección del MAPR, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2007
- Contexto puertorriqueño: del rococó colonial al arte global, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2005
- Figuraciones, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Awards, Distinctions and Achievements
2001
- Honorable Mention. XIII Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y el Caribe, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1998
- Bronze Medal. Segunda Bienal del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia
1992
- Scholarship granted by Fondo para el Financiamiento del Quehacer Cultural en Puerto Rico to study printing at the Center for Book Arts, New York, United States
1982
- Honorable Mention Engraving. Visual Arts Competition “Sin nombre” Magazine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1980
- First Prize for Poster. 1st Day of May Competition, Brotherhood of Exempted Employees, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1977
- Honorable Mention Engraving. Visual Arts Competition “Sin nombre” Magazine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Collections
- Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña,San Juan, Puerto Rico
- La Casa del Libro, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Biblioteca General de Puerto Rico, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Compañía de Turismo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Colección Esso Standard Oil, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Chase Manhattan Bank, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Cartón y Papel de Venezuela, CEPAL (Centro Regional para el Fomento del Libro en América), Venezuela
- Princeton University, Graphic Arts Collection, New Jersey, United States
- British Library, Boston, University Library, Special Collections, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- New York Public Library, Nueva York, United States
- Yale University, Library of Congress, New Haven, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
- Hunter College, New York, United States
- Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, City College of New York, New York, United States
- Dominican Studies Department, Smith College, Rare Book Room, Northampton, Massachusetts, United States
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, Estados Unidos
- University of Notre Dame, Hesburgh Library, Notre Dame, Indiana, United States
Bibliography
Books
Torres Martinó, “José Antonio. “Las Artes Gráficas en Puerto Rico”, Puerto Rico: Arte e Identidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1998.
Torres Martinó, José Antonio. “Los Animales Interiores de Consuelo Gotay”, 1976.
Newspapers
“En enero: Elsa de Vana, Rafael Amable y la puertorriqueña Consuelo Gotay”. El Caribe (Santo Domingo, RD), 6 de febrero de 1982.
“Mixing Romance and Magic Federico Barredas”. The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 10 de junio de 1984.
Bonilla Norat, Félix. “Portfolio of Graphics”, The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 9 de julio de 1978.
Díaz Quiñónez, Arcadio. “Orfeo en Guayama”. Periódico El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 31 de enero de 1999.
Noya, Olga. ”Los Animales Interiores de Consuelo Gotay”. Prensa Libre (San Juan, PR), 29 de abril de 1977.
Núñez, Diómedes. “En ocasión de su tercera exposición individual: entrevista con Consuelo Gotay”. El Nacional (Santo Domingo, RD), 21 de enero de 1982.
Routte, Eneid. “Palés Matos Still Casts his Spell”. The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 5 de mayo de 1977.
Tolentino, Marianne de. “Consuelo Gotay expone grabados en Puerto Rico”. Listín Diario (Santo Domingo, RD), 2 de junio de 1983.
Tolentino, Marianne de. “Gráfica y Poesía de Puerto Rico en Casa de Teatro”. Listín Diario (Santo Domingo, RD), 19 de julio de 1977.
Tolentino. Marianne de. “En Casa de Teatro, Grabadista de Experiencia, Consuelo Gotay”. Listín Diario Santo Domingo, RD), 3 de febrero de 1982.
Magazines
Fernández Zabala, Margarita. “La obra de Consuelo Gotay”, Plástica, Revista cultural de la Liga de Estudiantes de Arte de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico, septiembre de 1982.
Fernández Zabala, Margarita. “La Sala de Gráfica Puertorriqueña y su Contenido”, Plástica, Revista cultural de la Liga de Estudiantes de Arte de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 7 de julio de 1981.
Díaz Quiñónez, Arcadio. Los Animales Interiores de Consuelo Gotay”. Revista Literaria Sin Nombre, San Juan, Puerto Rico, abril-junio de 1976.