José Rosa Castellanos
San Juan, P.R., 1939
Biography Details
Printmaker and painter. He studied mechanical drawing and commercial drawing at Central High School in Santurce. His beginnings in the art world started with painter Rafael Tufiño, who offered free guitar lessons to children and young people at the San José public housing project. He developed his learning in graphic arts with master Tufiño at the Community Education Division, at the Campeche Workshop‑Gallery led by Domingo García in San Juan, and with Lorenzo Homar at the Printmaking Workshop of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. Since 1973, when Homar retired, and until 1986 he became director of that printmaking workshop where he perfected his mastery of the silkscreen media. His work captures humorous images and themes of typical Puerto Rican popular culture, such as life in the bar, dancing, politics and the religiousness of our people. In the seventies he developed a novel approach to his work, characterized by the integration of texts to a composition as a graphic element, especially around the edges of the work. His paintings depict visual parallels with his graphic work in which he highlights the drawings, the cleanliness of the lines and the delineation of the forms.
Artist Statement
The work of José Rosa is that place where Puerto Ricans observe themselves, where classes and social groups relate, where they identify as equals. Consequently, José Rosa has been able to work from his isolation, because confidence in his national identity has allowed him to search inwards for the roots of his people. The style engendered by his endless search, not outward, but from himself, is individualism.
Source: Traba, Marta. "Art of Latin America 1900-1980", Estados Unidos, John Hopkins University Press,1994.
Formation
Education
1956
- División de Educación de la Comunidad, Departamento de Instrucción Pública, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Workshop Galería Campeche, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1960
- Graphic Artists Workshop, with Lorenzo Homar, Instituto
Professional Experience
1973-1986
- Director. Graphic Artists Workshop, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1960-1973
- Graphics Workshop, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2005
- De las botellas y otros bocaditos, Museo de las Américas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2004
- Figuraciones, Kroma, San Juan Puerto Rico
2003
- Museo Casa Roig, Humacao, Puerto Rico
2002
- José Rosa: El Amor, la Risa y el Pecado, Galería la Pintadera, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1998
- Exposición Homenaje de la XII Bienal de San Juan del Latinoamericano y del Caribe, Museo de las Américas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1997
- José Rosa- Al encuentro del Númen Isleño, Museo Casa Roig, Humacao, Puerto Rico
1995
- 35 años de pintura, Galería de Arte, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1991
- Río Hondo Gallery, Bayamón, Puerto Rico
1980
- Galeria Guatibirí, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1979
- Galería Guatibirrí, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1977
- Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1973
- Galería Callejón de la Capilla, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1975
- La Galería, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1972
- Colegio de Ingenieros, Arquitectos y Agrimensores, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Group Shows
2006
- Juntos y Revueltos, Universidad del Turabo, Gurabo, Puerto Rico
2001
- Muestra Nacional de Arte Puertorriqueño, Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1992
- 45 años de expresión gráfica puertorriqueña, Pabellón de Puerto Rico, Sevilla, Spain
1987
- La estampa serigráfica, Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1985
- El Cartel en Puerto Rico, Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1977
- 25 Años de Gráfica, Chase Manhattan Bank, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1975
- Gráfica de Puerto Rico, Havana, Cuba
1970
- I Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1963
- Gráfica puertorriqueña, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Awards, Distinctions and Achievements
1975-1976
- José Campeche Drawing Award. Sin Nombre Magazine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1972 and 1974
- Drawing Award. Ateneo Puertorriqueño Competition, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1960
- Scholarship. Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Collections
- Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Compañía de Turismo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Cooperativa de Seguros Múltiples de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo del Barrio, New York, United States
Bibliography
Books
González, José Luis. "País de cuatro pisos", San Juan, Puerto Rico: Ediciones Huracán, 1980. (Ilustración en portada).
"The Latin American Spirit, Art and Artists in the United States 1920-1970", Nueva York, Estados Unidos:Abrahams Publishing con el Bronx Museum, 1988.
Traba, Marta. "Art of Latin America 1900-1980", Estados Unidos, John Hopkins University Press,1994.
Hermandad de la Artistas Gráficos de Puerto Rico,"Puerto Rico Arte e Identidad", San Juan, Puerto Rico: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1998.
Delgado, Osiris. "Cuatro siglos de Pintura Puertorriqueña", San Juan, Puerto Rico: Banco Santander de Puerto Rico, 1998.
Tió, Teresa. "El Cartel en Puerto Rico" , Estados Unidos:Prentice Hall.