José Alicea

José R. Alicea was born in 1928 in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where he first studied art under Miguel Pou. He was taught carving and modeling by the Spanish master Compostela. After receiving a scholarship from the Department of Labor, Alicea explored printmaking with Lorenzo Homar as his mentor. Alicea would later become his assistant. Since then, he has dedicated himself mostly to print, particularly because of a preference for the clarity and transparency which the print as a medium offers him. That is why Alicea goes straight to the rigor and cutting clarity of the print.

He has exhibited extensively thorughout Europe, the United States, and Puerto Rico. Some of his posters are part of the Metropolitan Museum of New York's permanent collection. The Museum of Modern Art also has three of the artist's wood cut prints in its permanent collection (catalog # 274.1964; 190.1967 and 191.1967). His most recent show, "José Alicea: Cantaré en Silencio", a tribute to Pablo Neruda, was held at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in 2005. Source: Arte Foundation