José Luis Vargas
San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1965
San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1965
Painter, performance artist, teacher, community coordinator, radio producer. Vargas began his art studies at the Art Students League in Old San Juan (1982–84). He earned a BFA at the Pratt Institute in New York in 1988 and went on to study at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine (1991). He obtained his master’s degree in painting from the Royal College of Art in London in 1994. He also studied art education at Kensington and Chelsea College in London. He has given courses and workshops in art in Puerto Rico, New York, and England since 1988 and coordinated countless educational and cultural events that combine the visual arts with other modes of expression. Since 2000 he has become interested in radio production, which he has integrated into his community-action work. He works with other artists in a studio for artistic experimentation in Santurce, where he creates his character “The Saint of Santurce,” who takes part in a variety of public art events. His painting is distinguished by its heroic urban figures, its supernatural beings, and its sense of humor, as Vargas makes use of the language of comic strips a great deal in his work.
"The choice of the supernatural in my work is a result of two things - first, I grew up and live in a country that has created many myths and collective symbols, and I rescue some of them as they are part of a personal and collective memory. The second, it creates a platform for people to project their belief system."
José Luis Vargas, 2006
2000
1994
1992-1994
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1984-1988
1982-1984
2014
2010-presente
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1997-2003
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2014
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“En Algún lugar de tu memoria”, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico, 2009.
“Jose Luis Vargas”, Liga de Estudiantes de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1992.
“Jose Luis Vargas”, Liga de Estudiantes de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1988.
“Jose Luis Vargas”, Luigi Marrozzini Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1989.
“Visitantes”, Galería Botello, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1998.
“Jose Luis Vargas”, Luigi Marrozzini Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1990.
Pérez Lizano, Manuel. “Pintura Actual de Puerto Rico: 1948-1989”. Universidad Central de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, Vol. 13, 1990.
Rodríguez, Myrna. “A Promising Young Artist Exhibits”. The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 27 de julio de 1986, p. 8.
Rodríguez, Myrna. “Vargas Exhibit”. The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 13 de agosto de 1987, p. 13.
Rodríguez, Myrna. “Vargas’ Works Deserve Praise”. The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), 21 de julio de 1988, p.13.
Rodríguez, Myrna. “Trasatlántica sheds light on a new generation of artists”. The San Juan Star (San Juan, PR), marzo 1990.
Pérez Lizano, Manuel. “Jose Luis Vargas: A Chosen One Facing the Future”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 8 de Julio de 1988, p. 59.
Pérez Lizano, Manuel. “Jose Luis Vargas, Devorador de Imágenes”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 8 de julio de 1988, p. 59.
Cherson, Samuel. “La Nueva y dinámica vanguardia en la plástica”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 7 de abril de 1990, p. 78.