Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

This timeline tracks the life of Puerto Rican artist Rafael Tufiño, who lived in New York and in Mexico City. Puerto Rican intellectuals Manuel Cárdenas Ruiz and Eugenio Fernández Méndez review the graphic work produced by Tufiño between the [...]

[This document is] a confidential report, written by detective Enrique Torres for the Puerto Rican Intelligence Office, about an event at the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña [Puerto Rican Cultural Institute] (ICP) on January 29, 1972. The [...]

The Mexican printmaker, Alberto Beltrán, thanks Lorenzo Homar for the invitation to the Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic Art]. However, given the late date on which the news reached him, he [...]

Mexican artist Alberto Beltrán thanks Lorenzo Homar for his time and attention during his visit to Puerto Rico. He tells Homar that artists Ángel Bracho and Jesús Álvarez Amaya, from the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP), have sent works to Puerto [...]

Carlos Conde III, who at the time in question was president of the board of directors of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña [ICP, Puerto Rican Cultural Institute], answers several questions asked by the Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar about [...]

In this letter to Puerto Rican printmaker Lorenzo Homar, Uruguayan artist and academic Luis Camnitzer proposes that, on the occasion of the III Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [3rd San Juan Biennial of Latin American Prints], scheduled [...]

In this letter artist Lorenzo Homar replies to his colleague, Uruguayan professor Luis Camnitzer, who had suggested that some of the artists who planned to participate in the III Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [3rd San Juan Biennial [...]

In this letter sent to the Puerto Rican Socialist Party’s newspaper Claridad, printmaker Lorenzo Homar replies to an article by Puerto Rican writer Edwin Reyes. Homar attacks the position taken by Reyes—and by “Santitos,” a character who [...]

In this brief, cynical note, artist Lorenzo Homar informs the editor of the radical newspaper Claridad that he plans to suggest that the “Methadone Prize” at the III Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [3rd San Juan Biennial of Latin [...]

In this letter to Uruguayan artist Antonio Frasconi, Lorenzo Homar comments on a number of topics: his resignation from the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP); issues related to the Portafolio Casals and Luigi Marrozzini; and the request he [...]

In 1974, Ricardo Alegría was director of the Office of Cultural Affairs, as well as a member of the committee for the III Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [Third San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic Art]. [In this letter,] Alegr [...]

Puerto Rican printmaker Lorenzo Homar informs Ricardo Alegría, director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP), of his reasons for not being interested in participating in the selection committee for the Bienal de San Juan de Grabado [...]

The artist Lorenzo Homar writes to Ricardo Alegría, director of the Office of Cultural Affairs at the time, about the selection jury for the III Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano (1974) [Third San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic [...]

In response to an article that appeared in the art section of The San Juan Star newspaper, Lorenzo Homar explains that there will not be a “counter Biennial” at the Tercera Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [Third San Juan Biennial [...]

Puerto Rican printmaker Lorenzo Homar writes to Félix Rodriguez Báez, who at the time was the director of the Escuela de Artes Plásticas [School of Visual Arts] of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña [ICP, Puerto Rican Cultural Institute], to [...]

In this letter to Ricardo Alegría, the director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP) at the time, Lorenzo Homar discusses an array of topics, including the IV Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [Fourth Latin American Print [...]

In this letter to Luis Manuel Rodríguez Morales, executive director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP), Colombian artists María de la Paz Jaramillo, Pedro Alcántara, Phanor León, Gustavo Zalamea, and Augusto Rendón condition their [...]

Alberto Beltrán, a Mexican artist, writes to his friend, Puerto Rican printmaker Lorenzo Homar, to thank him for his earlier letter explaining the problems surrounding the IV Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [4th San Juan Biennial of [...]

Lorenzo Homar states that Puerto Rican artists were never informed that the IV Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [IV Latin American Print Biennial, San Juan] would be financed with funds from the American Revolution Bicentennial [...]

In this letter to Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar, Argentine artist Mauricio Lasansky states that he resents the fact that the Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe [Latin American and Caribbean Print Biennial, San Juan] is [...]

Luis E. Díaz Hernández, executive director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña [Puerto Rican Cultural Institute] (ICP), sent a letter to the artist Lorenzo Homar with a questionnaire consisting of five questions. The objective of the [...]

Colombian artist Pedro Alcántara informs his Puerto Rican colleague Lorenzo Homar that the individuals who signed the letter sent to Luis Manuel Rodríguez Morales, director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP), represent a majority of [...]

In this essay, Puerto Rican artist Nelson Rivera Rosario provides a critical analysis of Antonio Martorell’s graphic work, discussing specifically its image, technique, and historical context. Regarding the political content of Martorell’s work, [...]

Puerto Rican artist and art critic José Antonio Torres Martinó discusses the various media—event, installation, theater, print, poster, film—used by Antonio Martorell in his attempt to provoke and establish a dialogue with the viewer. Novel and [...]

Puerto Rican critic Ernesto Ruiz de la Mata comments that after the II Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [2nd San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic Art] was inaugurated, many people forgot about the marginal activities that made [...]

In 1991, the IX Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe [9th San Juan Biennial of Latin and Caribbean American Graphic Art] was held in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican critic Ernesto Ruiz de la Mata took advantage of the occasion to [...]

The French critic and historian based in the Dominican Republic, Marianne de Tolentino, wrote a critical review of the IV Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [4th San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic Arts] (1979) organized by the [...]

The Mexican writer and art critic Raquel Tibol questions the validity of international biennials. However, she believes they are important for stimulating changes and innovations. She talks about the change from the rule that provided for each judge [...]

In this interview conducted byPuerto Rican critic Ernesto Ruiz de la Mata, Italian art dealer Luigi Marrozzini recounts his experiences as the director of Galería Colibrí. Marrozzini offers a detailed account of the opening exhibition of the [...]

Spanish critic Manuel Pérez-Lizano reviews the group exhibition, Arte y Política [Art and Politics], which was organized in 1988 by the Galería M.S.A. (Manifiesto Sintetista Actualizado) [Manifesto of Synthetism Today] during the VIII Bienal de [...]

Puerto Rican art historian Margarita Fernández Zavala divides Myrna Báez’s graphic work into four parallel stylistic discourses: costumbrismo (representation of local everyday life), formalism, expressionism, and lyricism. Fernández Zavala dates [...]

Puerto Rican artist José A. Torres Martinó had a low opinion of the exhibition at the X Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe [10th San Juan Biennial of Latin American and Caribbean Graphic Art], held in 1993. Nevertheless, he [...]

Puerto Rican artist and critic José Antonio Torres Martinó states that Myrna Báez has been a militant supporter of Puerto Rican independence throughout her lifetime. Her work, however, is by no means political propaganda. Like many artists before [...]

The Argentine critic Marta Traba, who was based in Puerto Rico at the time of this article, evaluates the works presented on the occasion of the Primera Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [1st San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic [...]

Lorenzo Homar presents an ink caricature of the jury at the Primera Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [First Latin American Print Biennial, San Juan] held in 1970, whose members were: Arturo Dávila, director of the department of fine [...]

This essay by Puerto Rican historian Teresa Tío discusses the historical development of graphic portfolios in Puerto Rico between the 1950s and the 1990s. The essayist’s thesis is based on the fact that Puerto Rico has a long tradition of creating [...]

Puerto Rican artist José A. Torres Martinó comments on the news that the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña [ICP, Institute of Puerto Rican Culture], in spite of its lack of funding, plans to hold the XI Bienal de San Juan del Grabado [...]

Puerto Rican artist José A. Torres Martinó reports that the VIII Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe [8th San Juan Biennial of Latin American and Caribbean Graphic Art], held in 1988, ended with a considerable financial [...]

This document is an interview of the Puerto Rican artist, Marcos Irizarry, by Jacqueline Biaggi in which the artist provides important facts about his life, his studies and his exhibitions. Irizarry was a printmaker who participated in various [...]

Puerto Rican artist José A. Torres Martinó tells a story about the VIII Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe [8th San Juan Biennial of Latin American and Caribbean Graphic Art], held in 1988. At the inauguration, a young man [...]

José A. Torres Martinó, a Puerto Rican artist, considers both the Primera [1st] (1970) and the Segunda [2nd] (1972) Bienal de San Juan de Grabado Latinoamericano [San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic Art] to be the most significant biennials [...]

Anthropologist Ronald J. Duncan analyzes work by 125 of the 315 artists that participated in the IV Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [IV Latin American Print Biennial, San Juan] in an attempt to determine basic demographic patterns. In [...]

Puerto Rican artist José A. Torres Martinó notes that many collectors prefer to purchase paintings rather than prints, since paintings—as unique works that are less perishable—provide greater satisfaction. He believes that the Bienal de San [...]

U.S. critic Shifra M. Goldman comments on the importance of the Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe [San Juan Biennial of Latin American and Caribbean Graphic Art] for Puerto Rico, Latin America, and the Caribbean. At the VII [...]

Puerto Rican critic Enrique García Gutiérrez comments on the VIII Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe [8th San Juan Biennial of Latin American and Caribbean Graphic Art], held in 1988. In spite of all the errors committed in [...]

The French critic and historian Marianne de Tolentino, who lives in the Dominican Republic, writes about the Puerto Rican abstract painter and printmaker, Luis Hernández Cruz. During his early years, according to de Tolentino, he worked mainly with [...]

Samuel Cherson, an exiled Cuban critic living in Puerto Rico, considers the Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic Art] to be one of the greatest cultural events in Puerto Rico. It implies an [...]

Puerto Rican historian Margarita Fernández Zavala gives a short history of the beginnings of the Hermandad de Artistas Gráficos de Puerto Rico [Puerto Rican Brotherhood of Graphic Artists] in 1981. She writes this article in response to the refusal [...]

The Puerto Rican artist and critic José A. Torres Martinó explains his stance regarding the exhibition organized in San Juan as a “contrabienal” [counter-biennial] to the Sexta Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe [6th [...]

Argentine poet and critic Rafael Squirru gives an overview of the events at the II Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano [2nd San Juan Biennial of Latin American Graphic Art] (1972), the prizes awarded by the jury, the participating artists [...]