Abismael “Aby” Ruiz
Arecibo, PR, 1971
Biography Details
Painter, illustrator, graphic artist and creator of site specific installations. Self-taught, he ventured from drawing up to projects in the advertising field. Afterwards, he took painting classes with Spaniard Pablo San Segundo. Subsequently, from 2001 to 2003, he carried out formal studies in painting, drawing and printmaking at the Specialized School of Fine Arts in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, under the tutelage of Professor and Artist Roland Borges Soto. His work has been exhibited internationally, including Santo Domingo, Brazil, United States and Canada, while at the same time maintaining himself consistently active in the Puerto Rican art scene. Human figures of raw facial expressions are a constant feature of his prolific work, most often in disorganized and chaotic surroundings. His work reflects an expressionist character of social themes.
Artist Statement
“If we plot the human course since birth, adolescence and adulthood, we will run into scenes that we’ll brand as repulsive, in view of the conduct expected by society or by the daily social interaction, behaviors that we learn to redeem or condemn.
When we see the same phases represented pictorially capturing a fugitive of justice, as well as a child with his gaze lost in the discovery of life, the work becomes a mirror that joins us in complicity. This way, the trajectory of artist Aby Ruiz manages to seduce us to turn us into believers of a stark daily reality.
The human figure is the frequent protagonist in his works, but in addition to seeking from us to focus at the clothing or their ephemeral accessories; he makes us see the frozen movement of our decisions like a caricature that silently reveals its leading thoughts as a floating cloud over its head. The artist achieves his apex when he interprets our human existence without Florentine decorations, covering our thirst of belonging as much as the strange solitude in the middle of great company.
Stopping in front of his works is not an act of scientific dissection, but of putting together meanings that vanish and materialize, trying to validate the human experience to the fullest.”
Ramsés Luquis, 2008
Formation
Education
2001-2003
- Studies in painting, drawing and engraving. Escuela Especializada de Bellas Artes, Arecibo, Puerto Rico
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2013
- Tanta agua, Pamil Fine Art Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2011
- Sector rosa, Galería Yemayá, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2010
- Sea un payaso, Museo de Arte e Historia de Arecibo, Arecibo, Puerto Rico
2009
- Ofrendas, Galería Yemayá, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2008
- Iré con gente, Galería 356, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2007
- MVVVVECAS, Delirium Art Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2006
- El comején y la Pangola, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
2005
- Ruido sugestivo, Galería La Casa del Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2004
- Corpóreas, Galería Coatí, Bayamón, Puerto Rico
2003
- Destiempo, Galería Don Juan, Arecibo, Puerto Rico
Group Shows
2013
- Retro, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
- Pocket, 448 Contempo Gallery, New York, United States
2012
- Afrolatinos, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
2011
- Carry-on Puerto Rico inspected, The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Education Center, New York; Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, Boston, United States
- Signos vitales, nuevas adquisiciones, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2010
- Exposición tributo a Frade, Museo de Arte Dr. Pio López Martínez, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus, Cayey, Puerto Rico
- Circa 2010, Centro de Convenciones de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2008
- Trazos, Exposición Colectiva de Dibujo, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Arecibo Campus, Arecibo, Puerto Rico
- Circa 2008, Centro de Convenciones de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- La incoherencia de lo coherente, Galerías Prinardi, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2007
- Pequeño Formato, Galería Foro, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- International Expo Art Montreal, Montreal, Canada
- Terruño y paraíso perdido, Museo de las Américas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Cortés Art Collection, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
- Sin envoltura, Galería 356, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Homenaje a René Marqués, Museo de Arte e Historia de Arecibo, Arecibo, Puerto Rico
2006
- Desnudos, Galería Tamara, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Sin culpas y adrede, Galería Arrecife, Barceloneta, Puerto Rico
- Ladies Night, Zahir Gallery, San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
- Tráfico pesado, Galería 356, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Emergencias, convivencias y divergencias, Galería 356, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2005
- VI Certamen de Artes Plásticas, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2004
- Pequeño Formato, Galería La Pintadera, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Proyecto Paraguas, Museo de Tecnología y Ciencia, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- El desnudo contemporáneo puertorriqueño, Centro de Bellas Artes de Aguada, Aguada, Puerto Rico
- Proyecto Paraguas, Museo del Hombre Dominicano, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
2003
- Colectiva Internacional, Latin American Art Museum of Miami, Florida, United States
- Reflexiones Cotidianas, West Gallery, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Awards, Distinctions and Achievements
2006
- First Prize. Art and Literature Competition, Ateneo Puertorriqueño, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2005
- Nomination. IV Plastic Arts Competition, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2002
- First Prize in Painting. Commemoration of the 90th Anniversary of the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Collections
- Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bibliography
Newspapers
Alegre Barrios, Mario. “Nuestra savia creativa”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 10 de junio de 2005.
Alegre Barrios, Mario. “Viva la plástica en Arecibo”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 18 de julio de 2002.
Álvarez Lezama, Manuel. “Examples of Neo-Figuration in PR”. The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 28 de mayo de 2007.
“Arte Boricua con proa a Montreal”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 7 de agosto de 2007.
“Boricua exhibe en Miami, Latin American Art Museum of Miami”. El Vocero (San Juan, PR), 23 de junio de 2003.
“Cornucopia pictórica y tremendista”. El Vocero (San Juan, PR), 12 de julio de 2005
“El Ateneo anuncia sus premios artísticos”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 12 de diciembre de 2006.
“Expo Montreal de Canadá”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 28 de julio de 2008.
“Exposición de pinturas en Inter de Arecibo”. El Vocero (San Juan, PR), 20 de mayo de 2002.
González, Leyra E. “Las inquietudes de Aby Ruiz”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 3 de junio de 2008.
“Monumentos, arte cautivo y una trienal”. El Vocero (San Juan, PR), 18 de octubre de 2007.
“Muestra Colectiva en Arecibo”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 28 de agosto de 2002.
“Mujeres santas y pecadoras en San Sebastián”. El Vocero (San Juan, PR), 17 de febrero de 2006.
“Newshow by neofiguration a must-see”. The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 3 de septiembre de 2007.
Pérez, Tatiana. “Arte nuevo y accesible”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 9 de agosto de 2006.
Pérez, Tatiana. “Resonancias estéticas de Aby Ruíz”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 12 de julio de 2005.
Rodríguez, Jorge. “Aby Ruíz, de lo figurativo a lo abstracto”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 1 de noviembre de 2004.
Rodríguez, Jorge. “El comején y la Pangola”. El Vocero (San Juan, PR), 20 de octubre de 2006.
Rodríguez, Jorge. “Obras Emergentes”. El Vocero (San Juan, PR), 10 de agosto de 2006.
Toro, Ana Teresa. “Accesible comunión creadora”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 23 de junio de 2005.