• La Mano

    “La Mano*”

    Dimensions 48" x 60"
    Category Painting
    Medium Oil on canvas
    Genre Contemporary
    Period 21st Century
    Collection *Title translation: The Hand
  • Muchas manos

    “Muchas manos*”

    Date 2012
    Dimensions 72" x 81"
    Category Painting
    Medium Oil on canvas
    Genre Contemporary
    Period 21st Century
    Collection *Title translation: Lots of hands
  • La Copa de los Poderes Mágicos

    “La Copa de los Poderes Mágicos*”

    Dimensions 80" x 144"
    Category Painting
    Medium Oil on canvas
    Genre Scenes
    Period 21st Century
    Collection *Title translation: The Cup with Magical Powers
  • Noche de Luna Llena

    “Noche de Luna Llena*”

    Date 2001
    Dimensions 78" x 126"
    Category Painting
    Medium Acrylic on canvas
    Genre Scenes
    Period 21st Century
    Collection Museo de Arte de Ponce Collection
    Acknowledgement *Title translation: Full Moon Night
  • La Divina Comedia [Un teatro Atemporal]

    “La Divina Comedia [Un teatro Atemporal]*”

    Dimensions 96" x 84"
    Category Painting
    Medium Acrylic on canvas
    Genre Scenes
    Period 21st Century
    Collection *Title translation: The Divine Comedy (A timeless theater)
  • Pasión por el arte

    “Pasión por el arte*”

    Dimensions 108" x 108"
    Category Painting
    Medium Acrylic on canvas
    Genre Scenes
    Period 21st Century
    Collection *Title translation: Passion for Art
  • Vejigante a la bolla

    “Vejigante a la bolla”

    Dimensions 96" x 96"
    Category Painting
    Medium Acrylic on canvas
    Genre Scenes
    Period 21st Century
  • Ganges

    “Ganges”

    Date 2002
    Dimensions 120" x 120"
    Category Painting
    Medium Acrylic on canvas
    Genre Scenes
    Period 21st Century
  • Por la encendida calle Antillana va Tembandumba de la Quimbamba

    “Por la encendida calle Antillana va Tembandumba de la Quimbamba”

    Date 2003
    Dimensions 96" x 126"
    Category Painting
    Medium Acrylic on canvas
    Genre Scenes
    Period 21st Century
    Collection Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico Collection
    Acknowledgement Gift of: Benjamín G. Kaufmann Juliá

Carlos Cancio

San Juan, PR, 1961

Biography Details

Painter. After graduating from the University of Boston with a degree in fine arts, Cancio moved to Spain, where he set up his first studio. From 1991 to 2003, he lived in San Francisco, California. He currently lives and works in San Juan. He began to show his work professionally in 1981, and he has presented his work in several cities in the United States, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. He has traveled extensively—recently, to India, where he became more familiar with that country’s art and culture. He has had solo shows at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (1987), the Museum of Art and History in San Juan (1988), and the Museo de las Casas Reales Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic (2004). He has also taken part in group shows in the United States and Puerto Rico. His work is characterized by the use of figuration and its inclusion of pan-Caribbean motifs; his style is poetic.

Artist Statement

“I am not what is called a political painter, who imposes & criticizes. I don’t have a fight with society, but I do paint society as I see it, which is mixed, and I portray the beauty of this mixture. Because of this it’s subtle and not a struggle. I express well being, and the maximum expression of the human being instead of humanity’s angst or anxiety. I paint people how they should be in my point of view. My paintings are little or big utopias of my own…”

Carlos Cancio

Source: “H20”, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2005.

Formation

Education

1984

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts. Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Exhibitions

Solo Shows

2012

  • Seres superiores, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2011

  • If there were Pharaohs; They would be in DeNile, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2009

  • Teatro atemporal: La divina comedia, Galería Alfredo Ginocchio, Polanco, Mexico City, México

2008

  • Civilizaciones… bend, stretch & twist time, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2006

  • Ritual y Misticismo, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2005

  • H2O, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2004

  • En los mares que he vivido, Museo de las Casas Reales, Dominican Republic

2003

  • Por la Encendida Calle Antillana, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • El Desprestigio de la Belleza, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2001

  • La Vereda Tropical, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2000

  • Circo Erótico, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1998

  • MCMXCVII Finales de Siglo, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1995

  • La Vida al Aire Libre, Galería Botello, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1990

  • Power and Tenderness, Sokolov Studio Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, United States
  • Ojos y Miradas, Fomento Económico de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1988

  • 500 años en las aguas del Caribe, Museo de Arte e Historia, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1987

  • Gente: Real o Imaginada, Convento de los Dominicos, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1984

  • En el Mar, Caribe Hilton Hotel, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Group Shows

2013

  • De Aniversario, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2012

  • Interconexiones: Lecturas curatoriales de la colección permanente del MAPR, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2011

  • Signos vitales, nuevas adquisiciones, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Generaciones, Galería Tous Soto, Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico, El Capitolio, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2007

  • Contexto puertorriqueño: del rococó colonial al arte global, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2005

  • Arte América Art Fair, Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida, United States

2004

  • Art Miami, Miami, Florida, United States

2002

  • V Gran Subasta, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

2001

  • El Arte en Puerto Rico a través del Tiempo, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1999

  • 8 Pintores Contemporáneos de Puerto Rico y la República Dominicana, Edificio Mercantil Plaza, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1998

  • Colección de Arte Puertorriqueño del Museo de Arte de Ponce, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1991

  • Drawing Show, George Gallery, London, England

1987

  • Galería Botello, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1982

  • Galería André, San Juan, Puerto Rico

1981

  • Semana de la Herencia Hispana, Edificio Federal John F. Kennedy, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Collections

  • Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
  • Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Museo Puertorriqueño de Antropología Religiosa, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, Bayamón Campus, Bayamón, Puerto Rico

Bibliography

Catalogues

“MCMXCVIII”, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1998.

 

“La Vereda Tropical”, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2001.

 

“H20”, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2005.

 

Newspapers

Alegre Barrios, Mario. “Arte entre veredas y ventanas”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 7 de noviembre de 2004, p. 8.

 

Alvarez Lezama, Manuel. “Cancio, hechicero y sensual”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, PR), 11 de noviembre de 2001.

 

Delgado, Gloribel. “Comida y erotismo en Carlos Cancio”. Primera Hora (San Juan, PR), 5 de noviembre de 2001, pp. 18-19.

 

Dávila Estelritz, Adela. “Cancio tiempo y espacio”. Primera Hora (San Juan, PR), 13 de marzo de 2008, pp. 71-72.

 

Magazines

Peralta Agüero, Abil. “Carlos Cancio”. Arte al Día (Miami, FL), Núm 101, pp. 2-7.