Arnaldo Roche-Rabell
San Juan, P.R., 1955-2018
San Juan, P.R., 1955-2018
Painter. He began his education at the Lucchetti Art School in Santurce, where he had Lope Max Díaz as a teacher. Later he obtained a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Puerto Rico (1978) and then studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he earned a master’s degree in fine arts in 1984. Since then, he devoted himself entirely to painting. He participated in numerous international events and was awarded many awards and distinctions. He was able to show his work in numerous solo exhibitions in museums and galleries since 1984, and his paintings have been exhibited in Puerto Rico, the United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Germany and Venezuela, among others. His work is part of important collections in several countries of the world, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Fine Arts Museum in Caracas, Venezuela, and the Cultural Foundation in México. He developed a unique stylistic vocabulary, based on the application of brightly colored layers that he then covered with black and rubbed in with the spatula to produce dramatic and revealing images. His work is characterized as neo‑Expressionist, and he addressed themes such as identity associated with the Afro‑Caribbean culture, the sense of belonging, memory and trauma.
Roche Rabell’s work is one of strong psychological content, in which he undertakes topics related to man and his nature. The artist mostly works portraits, self-portraits and landscape compositions in heroic sizes. The color and multiple textures achieved through the use of techniques such as frottage and impastos, as well as the use of other resources such as writing, result in a proposition strongly expressive and of great intensity.
1984
1982
1974-78
2010-2011
2009
2008-2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1986
1984
2013
2012-2013
2012
2009-2010
2008
2007
2005-2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995-98
1995
1993
1992-93
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
2006
1998
1991
1990
1989
1982
García, Gutiérrez, Enrique. Arnaldo Roche Agonista: La Lucha por La Identidad I, Revista Cultural de la Liga de Arte de San Juan, Puerto Rico, Año 9, Vol. 2, Número 17, Septiembre, 1977.