Aurelio Grisanty

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-style prints.

Aurelio "Rail" Grisanty
Born
Aurelio Grisanty

1949 (age 7374)
NationalityDominican national; United States citizen
EducationStudied drawing with Yoryi Morel
Studied interior design at the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña
Known forPainting, graphic design; interior/set design and costume design
Notable workBeach Town Posters
AwardsDeclared “Exceptional Individual of International Renown” by the U.S. government, 1997

Early life and education

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 teenager, Grisanty studied drawing with Dominican artist Yoryi Morel from 1963 to 1964, studied graphic arts and painting in Mexico City from 1969 to 1974, and studied interior design at the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.[1]

Career

From 1974 to 1976, Grisanty designed and directed the Graphic Arts Department at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. At the time, he became involved in designing theatrical sets and costumes in Santo Domingo, most notably for a production of Salome, directed by cinematographer Jean-Louis Jorge. Grisanty then served as the director for the graphic-design department of the advertising agency 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.

Individual exhibits

  • 1974  Centro Cultural Dominicano, Santo Domingo
  • 1979  Centro de La Cultura, Santiago, Dominican Republic
  • 1979  Museo de las Casas Reales, Santo Domingo
  • 1981  Puerto Plata Art, Dominican Republic
  • 1982  Altos de Chavon, La Romana, Donminican Republic
  • 1982  Casa de La Cultura Hispanica, Santo Domingo
  • 1983  Centro de Arte Nouveau, Santo Domingo
  • 1986  La Galeria, Santo Domingo
  • 1987  Cameron Cobb Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
  • 1988  Cameron Cobb Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
  • 1988  La Galeria, Santo Domingo
  • 1989  Carlton Cobb Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
  • 1990  Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
  • 1992  Museo National de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo
  • 1995  Museo de las Casas Reales, Santo Domingo
  • 2002  Artist's Museum, Washington, D.C.
  • 2009  Gallery 50, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Group and museum exhibits

  • 1976  Museo del Hombre Dominicano
  • 1977  Michigan Council for the Arts
  • 1981  Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo
  • 1983  Valparaiso Biennial, Chile
  • 1985  University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 1988  Cuban Museum of Art, Miami, Florida
  • 1991  IDB, Nagoya, Japan
  • 1993  Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington, D.C.
  • 1994  AT&T, Washington, D.C.
  • 1994  Brazilian Cultural Institute, Washington, D.C.
  • 1996  George Mason University, Virginia
  • 1998  Ada Balcacer Gallery, Santo Domingo
  • 1998  Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington, D.C.

See also

References

  1. Beach Town Posters - Artist Bio "".
  2. Bordsen, John (June 24, 2009). "Artist Dips into French-Flavored Past for Posters of Beach Life". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
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