| Aurelio "Rail" Grisanty | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Aurelio Grisanty |
| Born | 1949 Dominican Republic |
| Nationality | Dominican national, U.S. citizen |
| Field | Painting, graphic design; interior/set design & costume design |
| Training | Studied drawing with Dominican Master Yoryi Morel. Studied interior design at University Pedro Henriquez Ureña, Santo Domingo. |
| Works | Beach Town Posters |
| Awards | Declared “Exceptional Individual of International Renown” by the U.S. government, 1997 |
Aurelio "Rail" Grisanty (born 1949 in the Dominican Republic), is a Dominican-born American painter, graphic artist, muralist, set and costume designer, entrepreneur, and the principal artist of the Beach Town Posters ongoing series of vintage Art Deco prints.
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Grisanty was born under politically oppressive circumstances in the Dominican Republic. As a child, he spent hours in his grandparents' garden observing colors, textures and lighting. Grisanty wrote: “There, I learned how green is shaded by red. How, without direct light, yellows become brown. How purple unveils its reds and blues in a transparency. And black does not exist. I learned that small things can make a big context and vice versa. I learned that the character of man is as complex as Nature.” As a teen, Grisanty studied drawing with Dominican Master Yoryi Morel from 1963–64, studied graphic arts and painting in Mexico City from 1969–1974, and studied interior design at University Pedro Henriquez Ureña in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.[1]
From 1974-76, Grisanty designed and directed the Graphic Arts Department Autonoma University in Santo Domingo. At the time he became involved in designing theatrical sets and costumes in Santo Domingo, most notably for the production of Salome, directed by cinematographer Jean Louis Jorge. Grisanty then served as Director for the graphic design department of one of the Dominican Republic's premier advertising agencies, Retho Publicidad in Santo Domingo.
Grisanty moved to Washington, D.C. in 1984 and pursued a career as a painter and graphic artist. He moved to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in 2004. One year later he co-founded Beach Town Posters, a series of fine art posters celebrating American beach towns, rendered in a vintage Art Deco style. The inspiration for Beach Town Posters came from the French vacation posters that decorated his childhood beach home. Grisanty is the sole artist for the ongoing series.[2]
Grisanty has won a series of awards for his stage and costume design and individual artworks. His notable career achievements include winning the Special Prize from the Jury at the Santo Domingo Art Biennial in 1976, and being declared an "Exceptional Individual of International Renown" during his citizenship process by the U.S. government in 1997.
(2009) Gallery 50, Rehoboth Beach, DE.
(2002) Artist's Museum, Washington DC.
(1995) Museo de Las Casas Reales, Santo Domingo.
(1992) Museo National de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo.
(1990) Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
(1989) Carlton Cobb Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
(1988) Cameron Cobb Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
(1988) La Galeria, Santo Domingo.
(1987) Cameron Cobb Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
(1986) La Galeria, Santo Domingo.
(1983) Centro de Arte Nouveau, Santo Domingo.
(1982) Casa de La Cultura Hispanica, Santo Domingo.
(1982) Altos de Chavon, La Romana, Donminican Republic.
(1981) Puerto Plata Art, Dominican Republic.
(1979) Museo de Las Casas Reales, Santo Domingo.
(1979) Centro de La Cultura, Santiago, Dominican Republic.
(1974) Centro Cultural Dominicano. Santo Domingo.
(1998) Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington DC.
(1998) Ada Balcacer Gallery. Santo Domingo.
(1996) George Mason University, VA.
(1994) Brazilian Cultural Institute, Washington DC.
(1994) AT&T Washington DC.
(1993) Mexican Cultural Institute. Washington DC.
(1991) IDB Nagoya, Japan.
(1988) Cuban Museum of Art, Miami, FL.
(1985) University of Pittsburg, PA.
(1983) Valparaiso Biennial, Chile.
(1981) Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo.
(1977) Michigan Council for the Arts.
(1976) Museo del Hombre Dominicano.