wildbrush's art.to.day - raphael collazo

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wildbrush's art.to.day

• Raphael Collazo

	COLLAZO Raphael, born San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1943 - died 1990. Puerto Rican/American Painter.
	1944	Moved with mother and maternal grandmother to New York's Lower East Side.
	1955-58	First studied art at Pratt Children's Art School when he was twelve. Also studied at Hudson Guild. Attended Junior High School 65, where he was spotted by art teacher Gitta Grail, who steered him to High School of Music and Art. Granted junior high school diploma, June 1958.
	1958-60	Attended High School of Music and Art, New York.
	1960-61	Final year at High School of Music and Art. Awarded three-year scholarship to School of Visual Arts, New York. Elected member of high school's The Honor Art League. Won first prize for painting 'Girl in a Landscape' in City-Wide High School Art Students' Painting Competition, New York. Americanized his given name from "Rafael" to "Raphael". Granted high school diploma, June 1961.
	1961-64	Attended School of Visual Arts. Studied Fine Arts. Granted certificate, June 1964.
	1965	Met life-long friend, Ernest Acker-Gherardino. Moved to Upper West Side of Manhattan to share apartment with him. For most part, lived with Acker-Gherardino at 255 West 88th Street in small penthouse overlooking city and painted there and, later, in 9th floor studio for rest of life.
	1967-76	Attended Art Students' League, New York and worked for a living; studied painting under Morris Kantor. This beloved master had a decisive influence on him, although he also acquired considerable skills and techniques of painting from Frank Mason, another famous League teacher. Granted Merit Scholarships for two years and another year was first recipient of Morris Kantor Memorial Scholarship. Last two years of academic period marked by paintings now called Prophecies, heralding mature style.
	1969	Figurative drawings.
	1969-70	Early 'Rococo' series.
	1970	He tries works in collage technique. Visited England and Europe. Exhibited work in Italy at the ruins of Busanna Vecchia and in Windsor, England.
	1971	First one-person exhibition, at the Galería Santiago in San Juan, Puerto Rico, curated by Helene Santiago.
	1972	One-person exhibition of hard-edge geometric paintings: 'On Air Facilities: Paintings by Raphael Collazo', Visual Arts Gallery, New York; curator unknown.
	1972-73	Created early 'Boxes' series - works in mixed media assemblage.
	1974	Probably visited England and Europe.
	1975	One-person exhibition: Raphael Collazo Paintings, 125 Prince Street, Inc., New York; curated by Marilyn Boteler.
	1975-76	Prophecies series (reflect the influences of Abstract Expressionism, the Italian masters and the eighteenth century French painters).
	1975-80	Middle 'Rococo' series.
	1980	One-person exhibition: 'Ralph Collazo Paintings and Drawings', Victor Parker Gallery, New York, curated by Acker-Gherardino.
	1980-82	Returns to a second series of 'Boxes' in mixed media assemblage.
	1981	One-person exhibition: Raphael A. Collazo Collages & Boxes, Steve Bush Exhibit Room, New York, curated by Acker-Gherardino.
	1983	Late 'Rococo' series. One-person exhibition: 'Raphael Collazo Paintings', Steve Bush Exhibit Room, New York; curated by Acker-Gherardino.
	1984	Early 'Tapestries' series (often have maze patterns or girder structures). Acker-Gherardino became patron. Collazo stopped working for a living and devoted all of his energy to painting. In one year, created 56 paintings. Toured Italy visiting Rome and Venice.
	1984-85	Middle 'Tapestries' series (large-scale, collaged paintings, typified by historical or philosophical themes). One-person exhibition of 34 paintings: 'Recuerdo (I Remember): The Paintings of Raphael Collazo', Art Lobby, New York, curated by Acker-Gherardino.
	1985	Late 'Tapestries' series (bold, usually freeform, constructions). Exhibited in group exhibition 'Neomodern', curated by Rosemary C. Erpf, that inaugurated association with R. C. Erpf Gallery, New York.
	1985-86	'Epic Tapestries' series (dense swamp or forest landscapes).
	1986	'Nymphal Instars' (inspired by the metamorphosis of insects). One-person exhibition, 'Raphael Collazo: New Work', R. C. Erpf Gallery, New York; curated by Rosemary C. Erpf. One-person exhibition, 'Raphael Collazo: Recent Paintings and Drawings', R. C. Erpf Gallery, New York; curated by Rosemary C. Erpf.
	1987	Won 'New York National Bank Exposition' of 77 Latin artists. Stayed month of March 1987 at Vermont Studio Colony, Johnson, Vermont. Painted series now called 'Healing Gardens'.
	1987-88	'Healing Gardens' series (composed predominantly of human and biomorphic shapes rather than lines). The 'Healing Gardens' series is also divided into early, middle and late series. One-person exhibition of that series at R. C. Erpf Gallery, New York, Winter 1988, curated by Rosemary C. Erpf.
	1989	Painted works now called 'Black Figures'. Lived in studio in woods at Yaddo Art Colony, June 30 - August 4, where he painted works now known as Yaddo paintings. Fell ill shortly after returning from Yaddo and entered Roosevelt Hospital, New York. Transcendent series (inspired by the woods of the Yaddo Art Colony, the artist used forest colors and thick, textured impasto in the form of stones, earth, leaves, cones and bark). Black Figures series (transcended to an ethereal and mythic realm, virtually devoid of color and characterized by a single black figure in a cream and neutral space)
	1990	Died on January 4 of AIDS complications after months of hospitalization. Memorial exhibition: 'Healing Garden', Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, New York; curated by Nilda M. Peraza.
	1992	Memorial retrospective: 'Raphael Collazo (1943 - 1990) Memorial Retrospective', The University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona; curated by Peter Bermingham.
	1994-95	Memorial retrospective exhibition at the Museo de Arte e Historia de San Juan, Puerto Rico.
	1995	'Raphael Collazo (1943 - 1990)', State University of New York Albany Museum of Art, Albany, New York.
	While Abstract Expressionism had the greatest influence on Collazo, his painting is firmly rooted in the Italian tradition of figure and landscape painting: "I am well versed in the Italian Masters from Cimabue to de Chirico and they have been a constant inspiration in my work." Again: "The things I think a painting should achieve, in my era, or in any era, are in the Italian masters, from Cimabue to de Chirco, in Giotto, in Giorgione, Bellini..." A lesser, but still important, influence were the eighteenth century French painters, especially Watteau. Prophetic, his abstract expressionist paintings of 1975 and 1976, such as 'Emergence' and 'The Annunciation' preceded the artist's mature work by nearly a decade. Collazo had always been burdened by the necessity of working for a living until 1984, when his patron gave him the freedom to devote all of his time to painting. The result was a remarkable acceleration in his artistic development and the production of the body of his mature work in the six-year period before his untimely death, at the beginning of 1990. The known, mature work consists of 119 paintings on canvas or wood panel and 184 works on paper, notably the 30 painting-like works on paper of the 'Healing Gardens' series. text and data is taken from: © Raphael Collazo Foundation 1997 - 2000. All rights reserved. For further information please visit the massive and extended website of this artist @: http://www.rcollazo.org/

'You pushed me', 1989, mixed media on panel, ca. 203 x 208 cm (80 x 82 ") [ back to artists listing ]