José Luis Vargas
José Luis Vargas
(profile photo by Javier Romero)
Visual Artist, Educator in Visual Arts and Arts in Education; Cultural Events Coordinator, Radio
Producer and Community Radio Facilitator; Podcaster
Education
Pratt Institute, NY- BFA, 1988; Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine, USA- 1991
Royal College of Art, London, UK- MA-1994
Awards
1992 John Moore's Painting Prize, Liverpool, UK; 1991 Scholarship Skowhegan School of Painting and
Sculpture, Maine, USA; 1989 Primer Premio, Arte Joven, Chase Manhattan Bank, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1988 Lorenzetti Traveling Scholarship, Pratt Institute, New York, USA 1987 Charles A. Dana Foundation
Scholarship, Pratt Institute, New York, USA 1985 Foundation Art Scholarship, Pratt Institute, New York,
USA
Individual Exhibitions
The Invisible College, 2025, Former Chapel La Milagrosa, Rio Piedras, San Juan 2024-2925 Phe-
nomenon, Museo de Arte y Diseño de Miramar, San Juan, PR- August 2024- February 2025 2023 Este
es mi mundo, Casa de los Contrafuertes, San Juan- August- September; Bazaar, Souvenir 154, San
Juan- February-March; The Alchemical Wedding, La Milagrosa Chapel, San Juan-January-February
2022 Weird Tales, Tripoli Gallery- Wainscott, NY- October- November; Este es mi mundo, Pública Es-
pacio, San Juan- August-September
2021 There’s no way back; Dragon, Crab & Turtle, St. Louis- October 2021-February 2022 Palace of
Memory; Shrine Gallery, NYC- February 26- April 3
2020 Voodoo Mayo Ketchup- Katherine Bernhardt and José Luis Vargas; Carl Freedman
Gallery, Margate, England- 12 sept- 24 oct.; Este es mi mundo ¡Entra!-(This is my World- Come in!) -
Lowell Ryan Projects, LA-12 sept- 31 oct. Yo reinaré- Embajada Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico- 22
may- 2 august Sideshow; Viewing Room, Marlborough Gallery, NY- 5 march- 18 April Mythmaking- Bill
Brady Gallery, Miami- 28 february- 28 march
2019 Confesiones Sobrenaturales, Espacio Hidrante, Santurce, Puerto Rico
2018 Prepárate pa lo que viene, Estación Tropical, Santurce, Puerto Rico El Museo de Historia So-
brenatural (with Estación Tropical), Loíza, Puerto Rico
2017 Superstición, Roberto Paradise, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2016 El Mundo de Kelvin, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2015 Vidente desde niño, Arsenal de la Marina, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto
Rico Ya se acabó, Roberto Paradise, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2014 Yo reinaré, Roberto Paradise, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2011 Prepárate para lo que viene, La 15, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2009 En algún lugar de la memoria, Museo de Arte, Caguas, Puerto Rico
2008 El Retorno de los Garadiávolos, Liga de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2006 El Museo de Historia Sobrenatural, Liga de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2002 Salto desde la tercera cuerda, Galería La Pintadera, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1998 Visitantes, Galería Botello, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1997 Is there an Alien base in Puerto Rico?, Phoenix Gallery, Brighton, UK
Todavía, Gutsch Gallery, Luzern, Switzerland
1994 Recent Work, Galería Botello, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1992 Selected Works, Museum of Oxford, Oxford, UK Liga de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1990 Galería Luiggi Marrozzini , San Juan, Puerto Rico
1989 Galería Luiggi Marrozzini , San Juan, Puerto Rico
1988 Liga de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1986 Galería Francisco Oller, Universidad de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Liga de Arte, San
Juan, Puerto Rico
Group shows
2024
Amantes de la Noche, El Kilometro 0.2, Santurce, PR- December 2024- February 2025 20th Annual
Thanksgiving Collective, Tripoli Gallery- Nov. 2024- Feb. 2025
Meca Art Fair, Souvenir 154 Booth, Dominican Republic- May; We have arrived, curated by Yatika Starr
Fields and Allison Glenn-Territory Indigenous Art (TIA), Tulsa, Oklahoma-April Entre ser y Estar, prefiero
quedarme, Kilometro 0.2- January
2023 Cartografías del Desplazamiento, curated by Helen Ceballos y Abdiel Segarra; Miami-December
Science Fictions and the Puerto Rican Futures, curated by Eva Diaz- June Circumference Bias, cu-
rated by Jackson Hescock, 3500 Lemp Ave, St. Louis- April-May New Devotions, curated by Laura
Rivera Ayala. Clemente Soto Vélez Center- March-April
2019 NADA Art Fair, Miami What have we done?, Tripoli Gallery Wainscot, NY MECA Art Fair,San
Juan, Puerto Rico Garden, Shrine Gallery NYC Tropical, Pública Art Space, San Juan Mundos Alter-
nos, Art and Science Fiction in the Americas, Queens Museum, NY
2018 Night, Tripoli Gallery, Southampton, NY Material Art Fair, Mexico City, Mexico
2017 Mundos Alternos, Art and Science Fiction in the Americas, UCR ARTSblock, Los Angeles, USA
Dallas Art Fair, Dallas, USA
2016 The Aging Coconut, Roberto Paradise, San Juan, Puerto Rico EXPO Chicago, Chicago,USA
NADA Art Fair, New York City, USA ARCO, Madrid, Spain
2015 ¡Qué no se acabe la fiesta!, The Hole, New York City, USA Muestra Nacional, Arsenal de la Mari-
na, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico NADA Art Fair, New York City, USA
MATERIAL, Mexico City, Mexico
2014 NADA Art Fair, Miami, USA NADA Art Fair, New York City, USA
2013 NADA Art Fair, Miami, USA
2012 Muestra Nacional, Arsenal de la Marina, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto
Rico
2010 Careos, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2009 Muestra Nacional, Arsenal de la Marina, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto
Rico
2002 Bienal de Arte Contemporáneo, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2000 Pintura Puertorriqueña, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1999 Cien años de la invasión, Arsenal de la Marina, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan,
Puerto Rico
1995 Rituales secretos, altares personales, 198 Gallery, London, UK
1994 Out of the Nineties, Mall Galleries, London, UK; Galería Botello, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1992 John Moore's Exhibition, Liverpool, UK
1990 Transatlántica, Arsenal de la Puntilla, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Anton Henning and José Luis Vargas, Vrej Baghoomian Gallery, New York City, USA
1989 Arte Joven, Chase Manhattan Bank, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1988 New Arrivals, Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, New York City, USA
1987 Trends, Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, New York City, USA
Reviews (selection)
Artforum; Modern Painters; Art News; Dazed; Artnet; Observer; Artfcity
Collections (selection) Royal College of Art, London; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico; Museo de Arte
Contemporáneo; Katherine Bernhardt; César and Mima Reyes; Nicole Klagsburn; Jiménez Colón Collec-
tion, Francesca Gavin; Colección Castro Barreto.