Juan Medina is a Latin-American
artist born in the Dominican Republic in 1948. He graduated with honors
from the National School of Fine Arts in Santo Domingo and from the Mural
Studio of Professor Jaime Colson. Since 1974 he is professor in the same
school in charge of nude painting and post-graduate studies. He was
appointed Director in 2002.[no-sidebar]
As a young
professional he was very much impressed by the social and political
problems in his country and was inclined towards social realism. In 1970
the City of Santo Domingo commissioned a large outdoor fresco mural
titled "Education". In the late 70's he worked with esoteric themes,
principally in blue. He exhibited these works in 1979 in a one man show
at Centro de Arte C'ndido Bido. During this period he also participated in various collective shows
in the Dominican Republic.
Between 1982
and 1992 Medina worked on commissioned paintings and drawings for the
Commemoration of the Discovery and Evangelization of America and the 150th
Anniversary of the Dominican Republic. These works are found in the
Cathedral of Santo Domingo, the Museum of Casas Reales, Patronato de
la Ciudad Colonial and the National Pantheon. During this period he
presented two individual shows: "Historic Moments" (
1989) in the Museum of Casas Reales and "Chronicles of
America" ( 1992) in the headquarters of the Dominican Commission
for the Celebration of the Fifth Centenary of the Discovery and
Evangelization of America. He is author of the drawings for the multi
exposition commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Dominican
Republic, "The National Independence, The Process" in form of
large posters, published in book form.
After an
intense period of work in a traditional art style Medina felt the need to
further investigate within the modern. Since 1992 he has been working in
mixed media techniques, experimenting with colors, textures, effects and
his elegant draftsmanship. His last exhibit titled "Euritmia" was
held in his Estudio-Pinacoteca 2003.
