José Luis Vargas

Bio

Painter, performance artist, teacher, community coordinator, and radio producer - Vargas began his art studies at the Art Students League in Old San Juan in the early 1980s. He earned a BFA at the Pratt Institute in New York in 1988 and went on to study at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine in 1991. He obtained his master’s degree in painting from the Royal College of Art in London in 1994. He also studied art education at Kensington and Chelsea College in London.

Vargas works with other artists in a studio for artistic experimentation in Santurce, where he creates his character “The Saint of Santurce,” who takes part in a variety of public art events. His painting explores the supernatural along with cultural myths and symbols. A sense of humor often permeates his work with the use of comic strip elements including speech bubbles and text. Vargas has exhibited internationally in London, Puerto Rico, and New York and his work is in the collections of the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, San Juan, the Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art, San Juan, and the Royal College of Art, London. Vargas lives and works in San Juan, Puerto Rico.