Juan Boza Sánchez

Infobox Person
name=Juan Boza Sánchez


caption=
birth_date=1941
birth_place=Camaguey, Cuba
death_date=March 5, 1991
death_place=New York City, New York

Juan Boza Sánchez (1941 in Camagüey, Cuba - March 5, 1991 in New York City, New York) was a gay [Randy P. Conner & David Hatfield Sparks, Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Participation in African Ispired Traditions in the Americas; (Haworth Press, Binghamton, New York, 2004); ISBN 1560233516] Afro-Cuban-American artist specializing at painting, drawing, engraving, installation and graphic design.

Boza studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes “San Alejandro” from 1960 to 1962 and then from 1962 to 1964 at the Escuela Nacional de Arte (ENA) both located in Havana, Cuba. He was expelled from San Alejandro due to "political issues" and became a lithographer with the Experimental Graphic Workshop in 1965.

Boza was fired as a result of the Congress of Education and Culture which convened in 1971 and led to the censorship of many artists in Cuba. In the years between 1971 and his exodus from Cuba in 1980 Boza restored religious statues to earn a living.

In 1980 Juan Boza managed to escape Cuba to New York via the Mariel boatlift. Boza described New York as a "tremendous shock" and upon arriving in New York "had to re-build Juan Boza from scratch." Boza began developing an Afro-Cuban theme that he realized was part of his culture after leaving Cuba, as well as his participation in the Santeria (also known as Lukumí) religion. According to Jaun Boza, "There is no distinction between my faith and my aesthetics."He lived in New York City from 1980, when he arrived during the Mariel boatlift until his death, at Brooklyn Memorial Hospital, working at the Printmaking Workshop, the Lower Eastside Printshop and the Art Student League.

Individuals Exhibitions

* 1964 - "Galería Provincial de Camagüey", Cuba.
* 1968 - "Boza. Gouaches, dibujos y Litografías", Galería de La Habana, Havana, Cuba
* 1983 - "Juan Boza. Black Mysticism", "Inter-Latin American Gallery", New York City.
* 1984 - Museum of African Americans, Buffalo, New York.
* 1990 - "Juan Boza's World" in "Ollantay Gallery", New York City.
* 1991 - Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois.

Collective Exhibitions

* 1960 - "Libertad para Siqueiros", Edificio Seguro Médico, Havana, Cuba.

* 1970 - "Salón 70", Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana, Havana, Cuba.
* 1970 - "25 Grabados Latinoamericanos", "Galería Pablo Picasso", Mexico City, Mexico
* 1970 - "IV Bienal Americana del Grabado", Santiago de Chile, Chile.
* 1975 - "9th International Print Biennial", Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan.
* 1983 - "Sexta Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano", Arsenal de la Marina, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
* 1984 - "Third Latin American Graphic Art Biennial"

Awards

* 1966 Exhibición Nacional de la Habana
* 1967 - Premio Portinari en Litografía - "Exposición de La Habana 1967", Galería Latinoamericana, Casa de las Américas (Havana), Havana, Cuba.
* 1968 - Premio - "Salón Nacional de Dibujo 1967", Galería de La Habana, Havana, Cuba.
* 1981 Jerome Foundation, New York
* 1983 - Cintas for Art - Cintas Foundation Fellowship, New York City.
* 1983 - Award in Drawing from the Jaun Miro Foundation in Barcelona, Spain
* 1985 - Cintas for Art - Cintas Foundation Fellowship, New York City.
* 2003 - The Judith Rothschild Foundation Grant Receipient

Collections

Boza' work is in the permanent collections of :
* British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Collection, London, United Kingdom.
* Casa de las Américas (Havana) Cuba.
* Cintas Foundation Inc, New York City.

References

* Jose Veigas-Zamora, Cristina Vives Gutierrez, Adolfo V. Nodal, Valia Garzon, Dannys Montes de Oca; Memoria: Cuban Art of the 20th Century; (California/International Arts Foundation 2001); ISBN 978-0917571114
* Jose Viegas; Memoria: Artes Visuales Cubanas Del Siglo Xx; (California International Arts 2004); ISBN 978-0917571121 es icon
* The Miami Herald, "JUAN BOZA CUBAN PAINTER", March 7, 1991
* Randy P. Conner & David Hatfield Sparks, Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Participation in African Ispired Traditions in the Americas; (Haworth Press, Binghamton, New York, 2004); ISBN 1560233516
* Ed. Fuentes-Perez, Ileana et al. Outside Cuba: Contemporary Cuban Visual Artists; 1989.ISBN 0-935501-13-4

External links

* [http://www.cintasfoundation.org/fellows_artists_b.htm Cintas Foundation webpage on artist]
* [http://simr02.si.ehu.es/FileRoom/documents/Cases/223boza.html Juan Boza - installations]
* [http://www.citypaper.net/articles/061799/ae.art.shtml The Art of Religion: A Tribute to Juan Boza]
* [http://www.africaresource.com/ijele/issue4/kane.html A Rereading of Juan Boza'a Critique of Wilfredo Lam: The Emergence of Afro-Cuban Arts in Post-Revolutionary Cuba]
* [http://www.judithrothschildfdn.org/a2003grants.html THE JUDITH ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATION GRANT RECIPIENTS FOR 2003]