Introduction:
Jorge Luis Rodriguez: Sculptures, Installations, and Collaborations
The Long Road
The work of Jorge Luis Rodriiguez (b. 1944, San Juan, Puerto Rico) belongs to a vast, and ever- evolving genealogy. He arrived in New York from Puerto Rico in 1963 and almost immediately began to incorporate elements of Minimalism and Optical Art, two of the burgeoning art movements in the city, into his early drawings and paintings. Back then, he was a two-dimensional artist. It would be another decade before he would “abandon the canvas” in favor of sculpture. By the 1970s, he began a successful stint at J. Walter Thompson, a world renowned New York City-based advertising agency. The influence of graphic art can be traced back to this experience. In 1972, however, he decided to pursue formal training and enrolled in the School of Visual Arts. His mentors there included artists such as George Trakas, Brice Marden, and Louise Bourgeois. The style and influence of each artist can be seen in early works such as The Wait. In 1976, several months prior to his graduation, Jorge Luis would participate in his first professional show as an artist. The following year he obtained his Master’s Degree in Sculpture from New York University, traveling to Venice, Italy to complete his thesis. This marked the beginning of future travels that would continue to expand an already extensive artistic vocabulary and knowledge of art history. Afterwards, Jorge Luis began to work as an arts educator, which included teaching posts at Kingsborough College and his alma mater, School of Visual Arts. Another formative experience came in 1980 when he was selected to an artist residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem. There, he met fellow artist residents Charles Abramson and David Hammons. The three would continue to work together on various projects throughout the first half of the decade. Much of Jorge Luis’s early career is tied to his experiences in Harlem and SoHo. Each neighborhood played a key role in the development of a multicultural, alternative arts movement, which sought more inclusion and diversity in the mainstream world of contemporary art. Site-specific, or environmental art was also relevant to Jorge Luis’s early career. It was a movement that transcended the confines of the gallery space. Moreover, public installations, much like the public mural, brought artists and communities together. Growth, which was completed in 1985, is an example of this relationship. It was the first work to be completed as part of the New York City Percent for Art Program. Thirty-two years later, the sculpture installation still stands as a historic and enduring imprint on the landscape of Harlem. That same year, Jorge Luis produced ORISHA/ SANTOS: An Artistic Interpretation of the Seven African Powers, an ambitious and groundbreaking exhibition that explored the religious iconography of the Santeria religion well before its adoption into a more mainstream context. The work is also emblematic of the scope of his artistic process in subsequent years, which included a conscious decision to develop projects with a more prolonged gestation. A Monument to 500 Years of the Cultural Reversal of America is one such example. The project required three years in total to develop and incorporated findings from his travel to parts of Mexico, Guatemala, South America, Spain, and northern Africa, where he conducted research. The design of this massive installation, which is reminiscent of a Spanish galleon, also presented the challenge of honing all of the different techniques and materials Jorge Luis wanted to incorporate. In 2003, he retired from teaching in college and has concentrated on his art and tending to his studio. Much of the work that can be found in this book is there, alongside work-in-progress. Other work is strewn about his home. For him, they are remnants of an artistic process that is as demanding as it is inspiring. Yet much of it has never been on public view. So rather than a retrospective, they are part of a private collection, thoughtful works of art that often reflect an impressive, multidisciplinary body of work.
El largo camino
La obra de Jorge Luis Rodriguez (nacido en 1944, San Juan, Puerto Rico) pertenece a una vasta genealogia en constante evolucion. Llego a Nueva York desde Puerto Rico en 1963 y casi inmediatamente comenzo a incorporar elementos de Minimalismo y Arte Optico, dos de los florecientes movimientos artisticos en la ciudad, en sus primeros dibujos y pinturas. En aquel entonces, era un artista bidimensional. Pasaria otra decada antes de que „abandonara el lienzo“ a favor de la escultura. Para el comienzo de la proxima decada, comenzo una exitosa temporada en J. Walter Thompson, una agencia de publicidad de renombre mundial en Nueva York. La influencia del arte grafico se remonta a esta experiencia. En 1972, sin embargo, decidio seguir una formacion formal y se matriculo en School of Visual Arts. Sus mentores incluyeron artistas como George Trakas, Brice Marden y Louise Bourgeois. El estilo y la influencia de cada artista se puede ver en las primeras obras como The Wait. En 1976, varios meses antes de su graduacion, Jorge Luis presento en su primera exposicion profesional como artista. Al ano siguiente obtuvo su Maestria en Escultura de New York University, viajando a Venecia, Italia para completar su tesis. Esto marco el comienzo de viajes futuros que continuaria expandiendo un extenso vocabulario artistico y caudal de la historia del arte. Posteriormente, Jorge Luis comenzo a trabajar como educador de arte, que incluia puestos en la facultad de Kingsborough Community College y su alma mater, School of Visual Arts. Otra experiencia formativa vino en 1980 cuando fue seleccionado para una residencia de artista en el Studio Museum in Harlem. Alli, el se encontro con los artistas residentes Charles Abramson y David Hammons. Los tres seguirian trabajando juntos en varios proyectos a lo largo de la primera mitad de la decada. Gran parte de la carrera temprana de Jorge Luis esta ligada a su experiencias en Harlem y SoHo. Cada vecindario jugo un papel clave en el desarrollo de un movimiento de arte alternativo, multicultural, que buscaba mas inclusion y diversidad en el mundo de la corriente principal del arte contemporaneo. El arte asignado a lugar especifico, o como parte integral del medio ambiente, tambien era relevante a la carrera temprana de Jorge Luis. Fue un movimiento que trascendio los confines del espacio fisico de la galeria. Ademas, las instalaciones publicas, al igual que el mural publico, unieron artistas y comunidades. Growth, instalado en 1985, es un ejemplo de esta relacion. Fue el primer trabajo que se completara como parte del New York City Percent for Art Program. Treinta y dos anos mas tarde, esta instalacion de escultura sigue siendo una huella historica y duradera en el paisaje de Harlem. Ese mismo ano, Jorge Luis produjo ORISHA/SANTOS: An Artistic Interpretation of the Seven African Powers, una exposicion ambiciosa y revolucionaria que exploro la iconografia religiosa de la religion de la Santeria mucho antes de su adopcion en un contexto mas corriente. El trabajo es tambien emblematico del alcance de su proceso artistico en anos posteriores, que incluyo una decision consciente de desarrollar proyectos con una gestacion mas prolongada. Un ejemplo de ello es A Monument to 500 Years of the Cultural Reversal of America. El proyecto demoro tres anos en total para fabricarlo e incorporo conocimiento adquirido en sus viajes a partes de Mexico, Guatemala, America del Sur, Espana y el norte de Africa, para realizar investigaciones. El diseno de esta instalacion enorme, que se asemeja a un galeon espanol, tambien presento el reto de coordinar todas las diferentes tecnicas y materiales que Jorge Luis queria coordinar para realizarla. En 2003, se jubilo de profesor de universidad y se entrego de lleno al arte y atender su taller. Gran parte de las obras que se incluye en este libro, se encuentra ahi, junto con otras en progreso. Otras estan esparcidos por su hogar. Para el, son restos de un proceso artistico tan exigente como inspirador. Sin embargo, gran parte de ellas nunca han sido presentadas al publico. Asi es que, en vez de una retrospectiva, forman parte de una coleccion privada, obras de arte de caracter reflexivo que a menudo reflejan un cuerpo de trabajo impresionante y multidisciplinario.
Jorge Luis Rodriguez: Grounded Modernism
The work of Jorge Luis Rodriguez, Puerto Rican sculptor, traverses worlds and captures their essence: the quiet dignity of ancient Egypt and classical Greece; the complexity of Africa; the hybrid energy of his native Puerto Rico and the wider Caribbean. Abstraction is grounded through a deeply felt humanism, personal ties to his cultural and ethnic roots, and a love of ancient cultures. Rodriguez’s finest works convey elegant grandeur, enclose mystery, or release immense power. They lead one to a personal threshold, to be experienced alone, where one can imagine limitlessness. Early on, Rodriguez fell in love with the elegant swoops and angles of modernist abstraction, which show up in his early graphic work at a renowned publicity agency. The following years brought rich variations of the circle form in sculpture. Sometimes the experimentation took conceptual turns, like placement in corners to complicate form; others, it showed off Rodriguez’s easy command of different media, like juxtaposing steel sculptures with beautiful prints and drawings. A notable work from 1973, Cheops, created during Rodriguez’s student years at the School of Visual Arts in New York, signaled future directions: balanced beauty and elegance of form; sophisticated surface treatment of steel, diminishing its weight through striking light effects; an iconography that honors and is inspired by ancient cultures. Rodríguez’s insatiable curiosity about history and primary cultures led him to travel the world since the mid ‘70s. Rodríguez has created some of his best work in series. One extraordinary one comprises six music boxes in wall relief form, created between 1980-81 during an Artist Residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem. The reliefs, like metopes of a Greek frieze, present a modernist variation of ancient classical form. They offer visual variety–differing sound hole shapes, zinging lines, rich textures, geometries in tension – within a deliberately limited square format. Beyond that, their imaginative titles allude to another ancient culture with music at its core, Africa, from which Rodríguez’s Caribbean ancestors descend. Narcissus, a notable series from 1980-84, finds the classical hero in an surprising setting to admire himself: a woman’s rococo “vanity” table. The first vanity table is delicate and graceful, vulnerable as the protagonist of the story. The mirror is missing; there is no image. The second one, slightly gothic in shape, gains in three-dimensionality and surface decoration; a complex reflection emerges in the mirror. The third vanity is jagged and cubist in inspiration, as the image acquires a frenzied, fragmented character. The fourth table dissolves all reflection in a baroque tangle of vegetation. Narcissus’ transformation returns him to nature. Serial repetition here has engendered inventiveness and beauty. Rodriguez’s grandmother in Puerto Rico probably had a vanity table, called a “coqueta” in Spanish, meaning vain. Twenty years later, Rodríguez created another vanity table in honor of Leonardo Da Vinci. Its exquisite carved and shaped woodwork is a reminder of the amazing breadth of his sculptural skills. The Artist Residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem led to a particularly productive period for Rodriguez, as well as to a friendship with another highly creative artist and soulmate, Charles Abramson. In 1985, Rodriguez and Abramson collaborated in the exhibition ORISHA/SANTOS, presented at the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art amidst a flourishing Soho art scene. At a time when collaborative art making was rare, and installation was a nascent art, they crossed new boundaries in a pioneering exploration of the hybrid nature of Afro-Caribbean belief systems, a theme little explored then. The exhibition offered a layered, living installation, setting Rodriguez’s beautiful sculptures representing Catholic saints in the context of Abramson’s Yoruba altars, with their live offerings of fruit, flowers, and other organic substances pleasing to the Deities. Visitors crossed thresholds between the sacred and the secular, the spiritual and the sensuous, in a vital experience of beauty, wonder, and respect. Since 1985, Rodriguez has created three sculptural projects of monumental proportions. Their creative power amazes by virtue of their ambition, their immense scale, and the aspirational values they represent.
Growth was a commission from the Percent for Art Program of the City of New York, the first such honor awarded to an artist of Latino origin. The graceful rising form—sprouting seed, bird on the wing, indomitable spirit, persevering evolution—continues to be an inspiring symbol of hope in the community of El Barrio, heart of the Puerto Rican migration to New York City. To mark the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Columbus in the Americas, Rodriguez created an anti-monument entitled A Monument to 500 Years of the Cultural Reversal of America. The immense work reconstructed a Spanish galleon carrying slaves to the new world, reproduced with exactitude from extensive research into period drawings and documents. As the year 2000 approached, Rodriguez’s huge Atlas of the Third Millennium, proved an equally moving, conflicted piece, full of foreboding for the future of humanity. Just as the slave ship brought into relief the violence and injustice at the core of the European conquest of the Americas, the all-too-human figure of Atlas is not triumphant, but overwhelmed by its millennial burden. Jorge Luis Rodriguez returned to the Czech Republic of Prague for a residency during 1995, and three works from that sojourn, interacting with works and objects found on site, capture the abstract symbolism that gives his works universal meaning. Encounter suggests humans approaching each other cautiously, trying to overcome obstacles between them. A found sculptural fragment of an embracing couple in an abandoned fountain became the moving source of Healing. Angel’s Gateachieves the final redemption.
Susana Torruella Leval
Director Emerita, El Museo del Barrio
Jorge Luis Rodriguez: Modernismo fundamentado
La obra de Jorge Luis Rodriguez, escultor puertorriqueno, atraviesa mundos y captura su esencia: la dignidad tranquila del antiguo Egipto y la Grecia clasica; La complejidad de Africa; la energia hibrida de su Puerto Rico natal y del Caribe en general. La abstraccion se funda a traves de un humanismo profundamente sentido, lazos personales con sus raices culturales y etnicas, y el amor a las culturas antiguas. Las mejores obras de Rodriguez transmiten grandeza elegante, encierran misterio o liberan un inmenso poder. Llevan a uno a un umbral personal, a ser experimentado solo, donde uno puede imaginar la ilimitabilidad. Desde el principio, Rodriguez se enamoro de las elegantes pujas y angulos de la abstraccion modernista, que aparecen en sus primeros trabajos graficos en una reconocida agencia publicitaria. Los anos siguientes trajeron variaciones ricas de la forma del circulo en la escultura. A veces la experimentacion tomaba vueltas conceptuales, como la colocacion en esquinas para complicar la forma; otros, demostro el facil dominio de los medios de comunicacion de Rodriguez, como la yuxtaposicion de esculturas de acero con hermosas estampas y dibujos. Una obra notable de 1973, Cheops, creada durante los anos de estudiante de Rodriguez en School of Visual Arts en Nueva York, senalo direcciones futuras: belleza equilibrada y elegancia de la forma; Sofisticado tratamiento superficial del acero, disminuyendo su peso a traves de impactantes efectos de luz; una iconografia que honra y se inspira en culturas antiguas. La insaciable curiosidad de Rodriguez sobre la historia y las culturas primarias lo llevo a viajar por el mundo desde mediados de los anos 70. Rodriguez ha creado algunos de sus mejores trabajos en serie. Uno extraordinario consta de seis cajas de musica en forma de relieve de pared, creada entre 1980-81 durante una residencia de artista en el Studio Museum de Harlem. Los relieves, como las metopas de un friso griego, presentan una variacion modernista de la antigua forma clasica. Ofrecen formas visuales de diversidad de sonidos, lineas de zinging, texturas ricas, geometrias en tension – dentro de un formato cuadrado deliberadamente limitado.
Mas alla de eso, sus titulos imaginativos aluden a otra cultura antigua con musica en su nucleo, Africa, de la que descienden los antepasados caribenos de Rodriguez. Narciso, una serie notable de 1980-84, encuentra al heroe clasico en un escenario sorprendente para admirarse: una coqueta rococo de la „vanidad“. La primera coqueta es delicada y elegante, vulnerable como protagonista de la historia. Falta el espejo; no hay imagen. La segunda, ligeramente gotica en forma, se gana en tridimensionalidad y decoracion superficial; una reflexion compleja emerge en el espejo. La tercera coqueta es dentada y cubista en la inspiracion, pues la imagen adquiere un caracter frenetico, fragmentado. La cuarta coqueta disuelve toda reflexion en un enredo barroco de vegetacion. La transformacion de Narciso lo devuelve a la naturaleza. La repeticion en serie aqui ha engendrado inventiva y belleza. La abuela de Rodriguez en Puerto Rico probablemente tenia una mesa de tocador, conocida como „coqueta“ en espanol, lo que significa vano. Veinte anos mas tarde, Rodriguez creo otra coqueta en honor a Leonardo Da Vinci. Su exquisita madera esculpida y trabajada es un recordatorio de la increible amplitud de sus habilidades escultoricas. La residencia del artista en el Studio Museum in Harlem condujo a un periodo particularmente productivo para Rodriguez, asi como a una amistad con otro artista altamente creativo, un alma gemela, Charles Abramson. En 1985, Rodriguez y Abramson colaboraron en la exposicion ORISHA/SANTOS, presentada en el Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art en medio de una floreciente escena artistica de Soho. En un momento en que la creacion colaborativa de arte era rara, y la instalacion era un arte naciente, cruzaron nuevos limites en una exploracion pionera de la naturaleza hibrida de los sistemas de creencias afrocaribenos, un tema poco explorado entonces. La exposicion ofrecio una instalacion en capas, viva, fijando las esculturas hermosas de Rodriguez que representan santos catolicos en el contexto de los altares de Yoruba de Abramson, con sus ofrendas vivas de la fruta, de las flores, y de otras sustancias organicas agradables a las deidades. Los visitantes cruzaron los umbrales entre lo sagrado y lo secular, lo espiritual y lo sensual, en una experiencia vital de belleza, asombro y respeto. Desde 1985, Rodriguez ha creado tres proyectos escultoricos de proporciones monumentales. Su poder creador asombra en virtud de su ambicion, su inmensa escala y los valores de aspiracion que representan. Growth fue una comision del programa Percent for Art de New York City, el primer honor otorgado a un artista de origen latino. La elegante forma ascendente—semilla que brota, pajaro en el ala, espiritu indomable, evolucion perseverante—sigue siendo un simbolo de esperanza en la comunidad de El Barrio, corazon de la migracion puertorriquena a la ciudad de Nueva York. Para conmemorar el quinto centenario de la llegada de Colon a las Americas, Rodriguez creo un anti-monumento titulado A Monument to 500 Years of the Cultural Reversal of America. La inmensa obra reconstruyo un galeon espanol que llevaba esclavos al nuevo mundo, reproducido con la exactitud de una extensa investigacion en dibujos y documentos de epoca. A medida que se acercaba el ano 2000, el enorme Atlas of the Third Millennium de Rodriguez, resulto una pieza igualmente en movimiento, conflictiva, llena de presagios para el futuro de la humanidad. Asi como la nave esclava puso en relieve la violencia y la injusticia en el centro de la conquista europea de las Americas, la figura demasiado humana de Atlas no es triunfante, sino abrumada por su carga milenaria. Jorge Luis Rodriguez regreso a la Republica Checa para una residencia en 1995, y tres de las obras de esa estadia, interactuando con obras y objetos encontrados en el lugar, captan el simbolismo abstracto que da a su obra un significado universal. Encuentro sugiere que los seres humanos se acercan unos a otros con cautela, tratando de superar los obstaculos entre ellos. Un fragmento escultorico encontrado de una pareja que se abrazan en medio de una fuente abandonada y se convierten en una fuente de sanacion. Angel’s Gate logra la redencion final.
Susana Torruella Leval
Director Emerita, El Museo del Barrio
Featuring in the following books
Resume
JORGE LUIS RODRíGUEZ, Artist
P.O. Box 440, New York, NY 10159-0440
C/646.416.1969 E/jorgeluis.growth@gmail.com T/@growth85 I/@jorgeluis_sculptor
EDUCATION
1977 M.A., Sculpture, New York University, New York, NY and Venice, IT
1976 B.F.A., Sculpture, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
TEACHING AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES
July 2013 Sculptor, USDA Forest Service, National Boy Scout Jamboree, Bechtel Reserve, Mount Hope, WV
1977-2003 Adjunct Associate Professor, City University of NY, Kingsborough Community College,
Borough of Manhattan Community College
1984-2003 Instructor, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
Summer 1999 Visiting Professor, School of Fine Arts, San Juan, PR
July 1997 Sculptor, USDA Forest Service, National Boy Scout Jamboree, Fort A.P. Hill, VA
1992-1996 Art Consultant, Hospital Audiences, Inc., New York, NY
Summer 1993 American Cultural Specialist, United States Information Agency, National School of Fine Arts, Tegucigalpa, HN
1987-88 Artist-in-Residence, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
1986-87 Art Consultant, Association for Hispanic Arts, New York, NY
Spring
1986 Art Consultant, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Summer 1982 Art Consultant, Gulf & Western Co., La Romana, DR
1979-1985 Artist-in-Residence, NYC Department of Education, New York, NY
1977-1987 Art Consultant, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
1976-1982 Art Consultant, American Craft Museum, Children‘s Art Carnival, Jazzmobile,
Hospital Audiences, Inc., New York, NY
1970-72 Junior Art Director, J. Walter Thompson Co., New York, NY
ARTIST IN RESIDENCES, COMMISSIONS, FELLOWSHIPS AND PANELS
2016 Panelist New York City Percent for Art, Public Works
2001 Panelist New York City Percent for Art, Public Works
1995 Artist-in-Residence ArtsLink, Prague, CZ
1994 Artist-in-Residence Lila Wallace-Reader‘s Digest International Artists Program, Prague, CZ and El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
1992 Commission Department of Education, Sculpture, The Tree of Knowledge, P.S. 128M
1989 Commission New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, Sculpture
1988 Panelist New York State Council on the Arts, Visual Arts Program
1987 Artist-in-Residence New York Foundation for the Arts
1986 Panelist New York Foundation for the Arts
1985 Panelist New York City Percent for Art, Public Works
1984 Commission New York City Percent for Art, Sculpture, Growth, Harlem Art Park
1983 Artist-in-Residence New York State Council on the Arts
1982 Fellowship Creative Artists Public Service, Sculpture
1981 Panelist New York State Council on the Arts, Arts in Education Initiative
1980 Fellowship National Endowment for the Arts, Sculpture
Panelist Creative Artists Public Service, Sculpture
Artist-in-Residence Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
.
TRAVEL
1977-present: Documentation of Art and Architecture, art education, residencies and art installations include: AFRICA: Egypt, Morocco; EUROPE: Austria, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey; LATIN AMERICA: Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Puerto Rico.
ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2017 Universe, Atelier 212, New York, NY
2016 Sculptures, Drawings and Prints, Taller Boricua, New York NY; ARtCHIVES, Hunter College
Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Centro), New York, NY
2015 30th Anniversary Celebration of ‚Growth,‘ Harlem Art Park and Tompkins Square Park, New York, NY
2010 Encounters, Kingsborough Community College Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
1995 Kov a Peří (Steel and Feathers), Kozel Castle, Kozel, CZ
1994 Major Arcana of the Venetian Tarot, Galerie Behemot, Prague, CZ; 500 Years of the
Cultural Reversal of America, Kingsborough Community College Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
1993 500 Years of the Cultural Reversal of America, Mayfair, Allentown, PA
1989 Trascendencias, The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, San Juan, PR
1987 The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
1985 Orisha/Santos, Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Arts (MoCHA), New York, NY
1982 Recent Works, The Main Gallery at Altos de Chavón, La Romana, DR
1981 Recent Work, Kingsborough Community College Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
1980 Paintings/Sculptures, Caymán Gallery, New York NY
1978 Recent Sculptures, Just Above Midtown Gallery, New York, NY
1977 Recent Works, Washington Square East Galleries, New York, NY
1976 Círculos, Just Above Midtown Gallery, New York, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2001 Muestra Nacional de Arte Puertorriqueño, Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, San Juan, PR
1999 Faculty Show, Kingsborough Community College Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
1996 Legacy/Legado, The Old New State House, Hartford, CT
1995 Winged Arrow, International Sculptor‘s Symposium of Welded Metals, Skoda, CZ
Penetrating Matter- ArtsLink Collaborative Project with Pavel Opočenský, Mánes Gallery, Prague, CZ
1994 Reclaiming History, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
1993 In the Ring, Figural Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY
1991 Critical Mass, Maryland Art Institute, Baltimore, MD
1990 Remember Tianenman, P.S.1 Museum, Long Island City, NY
Installation in Memory of Charles Abramson, Capp St, Project, San Francisco , CA
1989 Noah‘s Art: Outdoor Animal Sculpture Exhibition, Central Park, New York, NY
1988 Contemporary Sculptures at Chesterwood ‚88, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA Projects and Proposals, New York City Percent for Art, New York, NY
1986 Spirits of the Forest, Art Awareness, Lexington, NY
Irons in the Fire, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY
Hispanic Heritage: Week of Cultural Arts, Oval Gallery @ World Trade Center, New York, NY
Cosmos, Jamaica Arts Center, Jamaica, NY
Caribbean Art: African Currents, Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Arts (MoCHA), New York, NY
New Art New York, Harlem School of the Arts, New York, NY
Angels and Wings, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY
1985 Carnival: Ritual of Reversal, Kenkeleba Gallery, New York, NY
1983 Hispanic Achievement in the Arts, Equitable Gallery, New York, NY
1983 CAPS Sculpture Recipients, City Gallery, New York, NY
1982 Hispanics USA, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Art Across the Park, Central Park, New York, NY
Intercambio, Museo de la Casa Real, La Romana, DR, Museo de Altos de Chavón, La Romana, DR
1981 Intercambio, Museo de Arte e Historia, San Juan, PR, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, PR Third World Artists: Making Choices, Yale University, New Haven CT
Artist-in-Residence,
1981, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
The People‘s Choice, Group Material, New York, NY
1980 Latin American Artists ‚80: Fellowship Recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts, Caymàn Gallery, New York NY
1979 Dialects, Franklin Furnace, New York, NY
1977 Il Maggior Arcano Taroccho Veneziano, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, IT
1976 Statements Known and Statements New, Just Above Midtown Gallery, New York, NY
PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS
Great Themes in Art, Dr. E John Walford. London: Calmann & King Ltd., 2001.
Muestra Nacional, El Nuevo Dia/Por Dentro, Jan 28, 2001
Beads, Body and Soul: Art and Light in the Yoruba Universe. Henry J. Drewal & John Mason. Los Angeles:
UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1998, p. 172.
First Exhibit, The Hartford Courant, Jane E. Dee, Apr. 28, 1996, P. G12
A World History of Art, Hugh Honour & John Fleming. London: Laurence King, 1995, p. 821-22, plate 22, 27
El Museo Reopening: Wide Show Wide Audience, The New York Times, Michael Kimmelman, May 6, 1984
Sculpture deplores cultural extinction with ‚ship‘ commissioned for Mayfair, The Morning Call, Geoff Gehman. May 23, 1993
Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America, Lucy R. Lippard. New York: Pantheon Books, 1990
Spiritual Synthesis. Artists explore the Integration of African and Western culture, The San Francisco Bay Guardian, Anne Hurley, Mar. 21, 1980, p. 35
Jorge Luis Rodriguez. Symbols, icons and rituals, The San Juan Star Sunday Magazine, Joaquin Mercado, Mar. 19, 1989
Projects and Proposals. New York City‘s Percent for Art Program, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, 1988, pp. 38-39
Taking to the Streets. Inside the Art Market, ARTnews, John Herzfeld, Nov. 1988, P. 20
Guide to Manhattan‘s Outdoor Sculpture (The Art Commission and The Municipal Art Society). New York: Prentice Hall, 1988, p. 319
Artist‘s Market. Where and How to Sell your Art, The Artist‘s Magazine, Susan Conner, Dec. 1987, pp. 22-23
1985 in Review: Public Art, Art in America, Annual Guide 1986, pp. 42-43
Port Authority marks Hispanic Week, New York Amsterdam News, Sept. 20, 1986.
Art Funds First Work, The Daily News, Joan Shepard, June 28, 1985
Trumball Plays Host to Five Third World Artists, Yale Daily News, Ellen Towell, Oct. 15, 1981
Harlem in Their Minds, Soho Weekly News, William Zimmer, Aug. 18, 1981, p. 42
The New York Times, John Russell, Aug. 7, 1981, pp. 67-68
Apple Minute, WNEW (Studio Museum in Harlem Artist-in-Residence)
Artforum, Thomas Lawson, Apr. 1981, pp.67-68
Arts Magazine, Barbara Cavaliere, Mar. 1978, pp 18-19; Jan. 1977
Soho Weekly News, April Kingsley, Mar. 25, 1976, p.35
INSTITUTIONAL COLLECTIONS (select)
Harlem State Office Building/Harlem Art Collection, Albany, NY), Department of Education of the City of NY, Percent for Art program, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Studio Museum in Harlem, USDA Forest Service
ON THE WEB
LMCC 2017 Creative Engagement grant
http://lmcc.net/person/jorge-luis-rodriguez/
Susana Torruella Leval Leads Panel at Taller Boricua
www.facebook.com/events/1088963074517733/?active_tab=discussion
Final week of Rodriguez Retrospective at Taller Boricua
https://www.facebook.com/events/1130601710352290/?active_tab=about
Jorge Luis Rodriguez: Sculptures, Drawings and Prints: http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Jorge-Luis-Rodrguez–
This-Friday-Taller-Borica-Gallery-6pm.html?soid=1102554981405&aid=x2TzyMypnQY
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-a-public-art-lover-s-walking-tour-of-new-york Posted Sep 2, 2016
A Walking Guide to Public Art in Manhattan and Queens (Harlem Art Park) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/11/nyregion/after-31-lonely-years-a-sculputre-in-east-harlem-will-havecompany.
html
After 31 Lonely Years, a Sculpture in East Harlem Will Have Company, By David Gonzalez,
The New York Times, July 10, 2016
Public Sculptures on the Streets of Harlem, by mgpalliance.org. Posted June 17, 2016
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nycstreets/sets/72157670113977435/?view=ju
DOT Art presents four, painted
steel sculptures, on four medians in Harlem by Puerto Rican artist Jorge Luis Rodriguez in partnership with the
Marcus Garvey Park Alliance
Jorge Luis Rodriguez: Mastering The Art of Perspective by Néstor David Pastor. Centro Voices. May 23, 2016
The Public Art Initiative | MGPAlliance. Posted on May 17, 2016 (Harlem Art Park)
https://vimeo.com/161240183 PR Voices: Jorge Luis Rodriguez, April 2016
On-Verge | Review of Jorge Luis Rodriguez at Hunter By Peter Malone. CUE. January 1, 2016
ARTchives Series Presents Artist Jorge Luis Rodriguez In Harlem Posted on 11/01/2015 By AFineLyne.
Harlem World Magazine. November 1, 2015
http://untappedcities.com/2016/02/23/13-art-shows-and-events-not-to-miss-during-armory-art-week-2016/?displayall=true
ARtCHIVES: Jorge Luis Rodriguez | Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños
http://untappedcities.com/…/20-outdoor-art…/2/ Posted July 6 2015 Percent for Art 30th Anniversary
(Public art to celebrate 30th Anniversary of Growth) http://hyperallergic.com/…/lessons-from-30-years-of…/ Lessons from 30 Years of NYC‘s Precent for Art
Program. By Peter Malone. Hyperallergic. Posted June 23, 2015
http://untappedcities.com/…/17-outdoor-art…/13/ Posted June 8, 2015 Jorge Luis Rodriguez in Tompkins Square
Park and East Harlem Art Park (Public art to celebrate 30th Anniversary of Growth)
http://itsartlaw.com/2015/02/09/public_art_percent_for_the arts
Funding Public Art with Brick and Mortar:
The Success and Failure of “Percent for Art” Laws. Center for Art Law. February 9, 2015
http://percentforartnyc.tumblr.com/post/110175476334/born-in-san-juan-puerto-rico-jorge-luis Percent for Art
Tumblr updated February 2015
http://pedestrianartcritic.blogspot.com/2013/02/ed-i-koch-mayor-1924-2013.html Ed Koch, the Man, the
Myth, the Artistic Legacy 1924-2013. February 3, 2013
http://old.theartnewspaper.com/fairs%5CFrieze-New-York%5C2012%5C1.pdf
Park Life, The Art
Newspaper, 3-4 May 2012, p. 8 {Growth)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1R7B9bdg20
It‘s My Park: Harlem Art Park. May 26, 2011. http://eastharlempreservation.org/parks-conservators-preserve-citys-first-public-art-commission-in-eastharlem-
park/
Parks Conservators Preserve City’s First Public Art Commission In East Harlem Park
August 9, 2010
http://culturenow.org/entry&permalink=02434&seo=The-Tree-of-Knowledge_Jorge-Luis-Rodriguez
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/27/arts/in-east-harlem-first-percent-art.html In East Harlem, First ‚Percent‘
Art, By Douglas C. McGill. The New York Times. June 27, 1985
http://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/07/arts/art-a-nice-quiet-time-for-old-master-prints.html Art: A Nice, Quiet
Tine for Old-Master Prints. By John Russell. The New York Times. August 7, 1981 www.nyc.gov/html/dcla/html/panyc/rodrigue.shtml
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcla/downloads/pdf/percent_timeline.pdf Percent for Art Timeline
Best Practice: Percent for Art Program