Antonio Martorell

Graphic artist, painter, draftsman, installation creator, set and wardrobe designer, writer, illustrator, and professor. He is one of the most prolific artists in contemporary Puerto Rico and direct heir to the plastics tradition initiated by the maestros of the Fifties Generation. He completed diplomacy studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and studied painting and drawing with Julio Martín Caro in Madrid, Spain in 1961. Upon his return to Puerto Rico, he studied graphic arts with Lorenzo Homar at the Graphic Arts Workshop of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. During the sixties, he founded the Alacrán Workshop, one of the first independent graphics studios in Puerto Rico. He has taught graphics in Puerto Rico, Argentina, Cuba, Colombia, and Mexico. He was the director of the Dr. Pío López Martínez Museum of the University of Puerto Rico, Cayey campus. In addition to writing for El Vocero newspaper, he has written and published the books La piel de la memoria (The Skin of Memory) and El libro dibujado/el dibujo librado (The Drawn Book/The Delivered Drawing). On several occasions, his work has received national and international recognition. In 1997, he was awarded an honorary Ph.D. from Turabo University in Caguas. His work is based on figurative compositions that reflect his preference for portraits and his love for the written word, theater, and playfulness. - Source Reyes Veray Collection