| Jorge Blanco guereña | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1945 Caracas, Venezuela |
Jorge Blanco (born March 21, 1945 in Caracas) is an artist from Venezuela before he emigrated to the United States in 1999. Jorge Blanco is currently residing in Sarasota, Florida.[1] He has spent his professional career working as a sculptor,[2] graphic designer and illustrator. His work is in public sites in the United States, Venezuela and Japan.
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Blanco began painting in 1967, and sculpting in the early 1970s. In the eyes of Blanco however he has been an artist since childhood. “I have been an artist all my life because--in my opinion--every child is an artist. I never stopped drawing or coloring," Blanco said in an interview for the Observer (a newspaper printed in Florida).[3] His interest in three-dimensional work is always at the forefront of his career. He won a scholarship at the Neumann Institute in Caracas, Venezuela, graduating with a degree in Industrial Design. After graduation he worked as a graphic designer. His first solo exhibition was in 1974, where he showed sculpture and drawings. He lived in Rome, Italy (1975–1979) where he continued to work in sculpture, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and drew political cartoons for the newspaper L'Opinione.[4] He participated in the Bordhigera Humor Salon, (1978) winning the Dattero D'Argento and in the Monterotondo Sculpture Salon, where he was awarded the first prize for medium format sculpture. In an interview Blanco states, “Sculpture is my passion. I will do this forever. Everything else is a second, different level."
In 1979 Blanco returned to Caracas, Venezuela where he exhibited his sculptures and drawings at the Sofía Imber Museum of Contemporary Art. Blanco continued working in sculpture and he also designed and illustrated a children's newspaper "El Cohete". In 1980 was hired as the Art Director for the Caracas Children's Museum (Art, Science and Technology, Museo de los Niños) [5] (1980–1998). During his 18 years at the Caracas Children’s Museum Jorge Blanco created his character (The Castaway) in 1981. After leaving the Caracas Children’s Museum Blanco moved to the United States where he is still living today. Jorge receives commissions for large sculpture pieces and exhibits his art work often. From December 26, 2010 to January 4, 2011 Jorge showed his “Punta en Blanco” exhibit at the Gallary Espacio Tierra Negra.[6]
The castaway is comic about a man trapped on an island. There are no words in the comic, just images of the character living on the island. The comic was originally printed in the newspaper “El Diario de Caracas.” The Comic has become the cover of notebooks, images of various models of phone cards, along with images of several t-shirts.[7]
Blanco's early works were influenced by his teachers Gertrude Goldschmidt (Gego) and Cornelis Zitman and by the work of artists such as Auguste Herbin, Paul Klee and Joan Miró. He worked with unconventional materials such as Lycra, rope, wood, mirrors combined with bronze. Blanco's sculptures were and continue to be geometric studies, interpretations of his internal world. In 1992 Blanco began to explore color and metal as a primary material. Blanco shares his thoughts on what has influenced him: “If I was living in the desert in Africa is might be impossible to do what I am doing. I am doing this because of my experience from the big city, my experience as a graphic designer and my studies in industrial design; it seems it was all put in a blender and my passion was developed." [3]