Josignacio

Josignacio

Jose Ignacio Sanchez Rius
Born (1963-10-24) 24 October 1963
Havana, Cuba
Nationality Cuban
Known for Abstract Expressionism, Abstract art, Painting
Notable work The 3 O'clock, Red Fish, The Virtual Key, Rhapsody Blue, Plastic Paint Medium
Movement Contemporary art "Cuban Generation of the 80's"
Awards Hortt38 Best In Show, 1st Place in EVMCC '79 and '80

Jose Ignacio Sanchez Rius, better known as Josignacio, is a contemporary Cuban artist who is associated with neo-figurative and abstract painting.

Born in Havana, Cuba, on October 24, 1963, he has resided in the USA since 1989. Josignacio is one of the artists of the controversial "La Generacion de los 80" (The 80's Generation), which includes José Bedia Valdés, Humberto Castro, Rubén Torres Llorca, and Tomás Sánchez, among others. Some of his artwork is available on display at the Laura Brunetti Art Gallery located in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida and online at artnet.

In 1984, he created the Plastic Paint Medium, a technique consisting of the use of epoxy resins as an "agglutinating medium" and "pigments" as colorants, obtaining a real plastic finish with a new visual effect.

Josignacio resides in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.

Early life

Josignacio came from a family of intellectuals and was surrounded by a vast collection of paintings. During his youth his home looked more like a museum than a place to dwell. There had been many family friends who visited regularly. Among them were painters such as Roberto Fabelo, René Portocarrero, Amelia Peláez, Felipe López, Mariano Rodriguez "El Gallego Posada" and Gilberto Marino.

During these visits these painters taught Josignacio new methods and painting techniques. Notably, in one of Josignacio's interviews, he had been asked "when did you begin to paint?" His reply was: "I do not recall when; it had been a part of my daily life like everything else." Among his teachers his talent as a future painter was obvious, and in 1983 he went presented himself to the admissions test at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA). Out of the many who tested, he was one of the few to pass. Overjoyed with the news, Josignacio shaved his head, stating "new life, new hair." When he came to school to attend the Dean banned him from the premises and from attending because they interpreted his head shaving as protest against the government. One of Josignacio's teachers, Consuelo Castaneda, also had been banned from the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) because of having a punk hairstyle.

This turn of destiny gave Josignacio an obsession to learning all related with art, art history and to be the best in his field. After being banned, his challenge and goal was to beat ISA graduates in every sense possible.

In 1984 working as a helping hand for Martinez Anay and Andres Ugalde in the making of a big mural painting for the Military Patriotic Educational Society known as Sociedad de Educación Patriótico-Militar (SEPMI) (the Cuban version of the Boy Scouts). This agency had been directed by Cuban Cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez. It was during this time Josignacio accidentally discovered that mixing epoxy resin with oil paintings was an excellent medium to paint with.

This new medium took him two years to develop and master. When he was ready his Uncle Gerardo got him his first personal exhibition at the Artistic and Literary Lyceum of the city of Regla on March 2, 1987. This was the first time that a complete paintings exhibition was made with only the plastic paint medium and had been displayed worldwide. Since then his artwork had been on display at more than 20 exhibitions before finally being invited to exhibit his art in Mexico City on May 10, 1989.

With no explanation being given to him, all his planned shows at The Gallery of the National Auditorium and Los Talleres de Coyoacán were cancelled by orders of the Cuban embassy in Mexico City. After this turning point, he made the decision to come to the USA on September 14, 1989 and has resided there since then. Josignacio is an American Citizen.

Influences

Since his youth Josignacio has been influenced by the abstract expressionists of the New York School; however, Karel Appel and Wassily Kandinsky have had a special focus. In his childhood Josignacio had been more motivated by color than by forms, a distinguishing factor in his artwork that was often noted among his peers and family. The only exception to his art was his self-portrait, which he did according to academic style. In his first exhibition, his entire collection of paintings were all abstracts. It was from this point of time that his future as an abstract/neo-figurative painter had been decided.

Social causes and charity work

Josignacio has contributed to social causes. Most recently Josignacio is known for raising funds for the 2010 Haiti earthquake victims. For both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Andrew, Josignacio helped raise funds for the victims. In 1992 after Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida he organized an auction with more than 100 Cuban painters for victims of the tragedy. In the early 90's Josignacio helped raise funds for AIDS organizations such as "The Project Genesis." Since 1996 Josignacio has helped raise funds for the Miami Children's Hospital. His most recent donation was to Hedge Funds Care, an international charity, whose sole mission is preventing and treating child abuse and supported largely by the hedge fund industry.

Art in public places

On November 25, 2011, Josignacio unveiled an 8 foot x 12 foot mural titled 'Tree of Life' in Asbury Park, New Jersey at the Asbury Park Transportation on Main Street. The 'Tree of Life' was an original triptych art that consisted of three consecutive paintings that represented a convergence of the past, present and future to create an image of humanity. The 'Tree of Life', then valued at $180,000, was dedicated to the children of Asbury Park, NJ and was commissioned by The Caring Canvas, a premier traveling art gallery. The triptych mural artwork is permanently located at the Asbury Park Transportation Center on Main Street in Asbury Park, NJ.[1]

Awards

Auction records & trends

On December 17, 2014, President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. would normalize relations between the U.S. and Cuba. Cuban art sales are believed to be booming as a consequence of thawing political relations between the United States and Cuba.

On December 23, 2014, a painting by Josignacio titled “The Three Wisest Monkeys”, dated 1991, was sold for a hammer price of $720,000 USD at Pangeaea Auction House in Las Vegas. Notably, this painting set Josignacio as the most expensive living Cuban artist in the world by surpassing Tomas Sanchez, who previously held the record at $540,000. (Source: Artprice.com™ database)

On April 11, 2015, President Obama met with his Cuban counterpart, Raúl Castro, for substantive talks in Panama City, Panama. According to CNN, this was the first time "the two nations' top leaders have sat down for substantive talks in more than 50 years."

On July 20, 2015, the United States and Cuba both reopened their embassies with one another in their respective capital cities.

On December 15, 2015, a painting by Josignacio titled “The key of Success”, dated 2011, was sold for a hammer price of $475,000 USD at Miami Auction Gallery in Miami, FL.

On February 16, 2016, the United States and Cuba signed an airline transportation agreement allowing commercial flights between the two countries. (Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article60623741.html)

On March 10, 2016, a painting by Josignacio titled “Music is Timeless”, dated 1989, was sold for a hammer price of $3,481,205 USD at McCarthy-Williams Auctions in London. This painting is now the most expensive painting in the world by a living Latin artist (as well as a living Cuban artist).

On July 7, 2016, a painting by Josignacio titled “Rostro”, dated 1989, was sold for a hammer price of $2,329,200 at McCarthy-Williams Auctions in London.

Year over year auction sales data for Josignacio reveals a sharply upward sales trend of artwork for the artist. Furthermore, it is expected that as the economic ties between the United States and Cuba grow, that the contemporary Cuban art will appreciate as is reflected in the upward trending auction sales of Josignacio. Accordingly, due to increasing demand it is likely that new auction records will be set in the future.

Documentary

Major works

Exhibitions

Additional exhibitions

From 1987 to 1989 Josignacio had his artwork on display at the following Galleries for exhibition:

Writings and essays

References

  1. ↑ http://www.newjerseystage.com/articles/getarticle.php?ID=1541
  2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKi3dMSScYU
  3. ↑ http://www.uh.cu/sites/default/files/Programa_Festival_de_la_Cultura_China.pdf
  4. ↑ http://cu.chineseembassy.org/esp/sgxx/dsjl/t991515.htm
  5. ↑ http://www.radioreloj.cu/es/enfoques/cultura-a-tiempo/fascinacion-los-tules/
  6. ↑ http://www.balletcuba.cult.cu/4-artistas-con-su-obra-saludan-el-25-festival-internacional-de-ballet-de-la-habana-alicia-alonso/

External links

  1. ↑ http://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/into-the-night-6360742
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.