Jose Romero

Artist STATEMENT

“A fusion of experiences throughout my life told through abstract works. They encompass people i have met and places i have been, and alter egos i re-create from the impressions these special folks or places make upon me. In other words, the intent is to celebrate those traits we as humans have in common and altogether make us one... To celebrate life.”
About:
...Spending a semester in Rome emphasized what I had already been feeling, that art is a part of me. It's something I have to do, which gives me that outlet and allows me to share with the world. Hopefully someday leaving behind a legacy or just perhaps a helpful record of what transpired in someone's life from our time told through works of art. What makes it interesting, is that these stories are told through the eyes and hands of someone with such a diverse and different background.
Born in Honduras, CA I began life as an upper middle class child in a third world country, brought to the USA in 86' at the age of ten, to a mostly African American community in New Jersey. From there my parents took us to upstate New York, where we grew up struggling to pay the rent for most of my teenage years. While in high school took up architecture and art courses, had two pieces elected into a national traveling show across the US. Then I left for New York City, where after studying architecture at Pratt Institute, and this is where I had the privilege of studying art and architecture in Rome for a semester, decided to stay and work as a junior architect in a firm which specialized in designing train stations. After this I took up with a small firm in chinatown in which I was learning to design high end residential (town houses) and restaurants. By this point had already picked painting back up. It was also at this point in time that I witnessed 9/11 from a rooftop on Canal street.

“Riding through New York City on a motorcycle is as fun as swimming in the sea”.

A few years later I was working for an exhibit design firm in the west of Greenwich Village, where I had the good fortune of working on an aquarium, of which the building was designed by the Renzo Piano Building workshop from Italy and France. It was after the design/documentation phase was over that I decided to become a full time freelancer, working for the celebrated (late) Jeffrey Bacon and then Mr. Cary Tamarkin, Jeff who designed in the traditional style and Cary who was a developer/architect and designed in the modern Bauhaus style. I strongly believe all this had a very important influence on my work, meeting and sharing with talented and interesting people from diverse backgrounds. By this point had also amassed enough of a collection to begin showing. I have been living in Taylors, SC for the last decade and work in Greenville. Finally broke into the art scene in downtown Greenville with a solo exhibition at the offices of MHK Architecture and Planning on Main St. in the summer of 2019. From there I was accepted to exhibit 30 pieces in a solo show at The Greer Center for Arts from Jan. 20' until July 20'. I just finished my first competition in which I placed 7th and will be included as one of the 8 winners and showcase my work in downtown Greenville all of 2021. This fall I will be on exhibit at the Wild Hare Gallery near downtown Travelers Rest, and next spring I will be exhibiting at the Greenville Center for Arts. More to come later...
My work is introspective, and most of the early pieces have something to do with me or an alter ego of some sorts, in many cases self portraits. I am now moving towards the conceptual expressionism side of things and am painting more with feeling, getting away from having the pieces be strictly about me but the impression they make upon me, and transposed onto the canvas. The Models series is a prime example of this, how the women move me to feel and I portray them on canvas. 

Jose Romero
Artist
(917) 353-5703
jose.m.romero@gmail.com

Resume:

Cafe Batata, Northport, NY (summer 05') – exhibited 12 pieces for 2 months
Outsider Studio, Livingston Manor, NY (June 06') – exhibited 6 pieces for a month
Outsider Studio, Livingston Manor, NY (July 06') – exhibited 8 pieces for a month
Outsider Studio, Livingston Manor, NY (July 07') – exhibited 6 pieces for a month
Neuberger Museum, Purchase, NY (April 08') – exhibited 1 piece for a month

The Mac Worthington Gallery of Contemporary Art, Columbus, Ohio (June 11')
The Mac Worthington Gallery of Contemporary Art, Columbus, Ohio (Oct 11')The Mac Worthington Gallery of Contemporary Art, Columbus, Ohio (Nov 11')
Athens Art - The International Arts Festival, Naxos, Greece (Jan 12') 
The Mac Worthington Gallery of Contemporary Art, Columbus, Ohio (April 12')The Mac Worthington Gallery of Contemporary Art, Columbus, Ohio (May 12')The Mac Worthington Gallery of Contemporary Art, Columbus, Ohio (June 12')The Mac Worthington Gallery of Contemporary Art, Columbus, Ohio (July 12')The Mac Worthington Gallery of Contemporary Art, Columbus, Ohio (August 12')The Mac Worthington Gallery of Contemporary Art, Columbus, Ohio (September 12')Solo show at the offices of MHK Architecture and Planning, Greenville, S.C. (June 19')Solo show at The Greer Center For Arts, Greer, S.C. (Jan.-July 2020)Placed 7th out of 133 in "Flat Out Under Pressure", a competition organized by Greenville's Metropolitan Arts Council in the Spring of 20', and the piece will be exhibited in downtown Greenville for a year in 21'. The top 8 were considered the winners.
Accepted into Art Plus Consultants, www.artplusconsultants.com Hong Kong, China (November 12’)

Published in “Anthology of Friends, Vol 7” - from Ovation TV Community (Dec. 2009)Published in "International Contemporary Artists - Vol. 1" (Oct. 2010)

Published in "International Contemporary Artists - Vol. 2" (Apr. 2011)

Published in "Anthology of Friends, Vol 11" - from Ovation TV Community (May 2011)
e_Published two digital pieces for a week each on www.ovationtv.com (July 2012)
e_Published in "Best of the Best" Mac Worthington Gallery of Contemporary Art (July 2012)e_Published in www.artplusconsultants.com (December 2012)