Walter Otero Contemporary Art presents El Territorio del Alma - Arnaldo Roche

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Walter Otero Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the solo exhibition El territorio del alma by Arnaldo Roche which opens on Thursday, February 18 at 6:00pm in the contemporary art space located in #402 Ave. Constitución Puerta de Tierra, San Juan. 

Arnaldo Roche, one of the Puerto Rican painter, is well know for his self‐portraits and the use of frottage in his work. Through this technique the artist preserves as well as immortalizes the objects and people he depicts in his works. In addition to his distinct rubbings, the color blue has had a strong presence in his works for several years. Parallel to this body of work, Roche has kept the creation of still lifes a constant in his studio practice and for the first time an exhibition will be solely dedicated to these works. 

El territorio del alma features recent works by Arnaldo Roche where the viewer will be able to experience another side of his work. By using fragments of dried oil paint and diverse formats, Roche creates his detailed still lifes where the flora, colorful compositions and the three dimensionality conveys his energy and enthusiasm for life. Depicting the metaphor that represents what it means to exist, feel and posses a soul.  

According to Roche “These still lifes are the result of reconstructing what is loved, including my own soul under the premise that amongst the debris and rubble of life miracles can happen. This metaphor feeds the soul and harbors enough power to build a country, we all have the right to daydream and paint over a canvas the responsibility of freedom we all have.  How lucky are the ones that dramatize the transformation of the soul and depict battles as if the world was not ending today but tomorrow”.  

Arnaldo Roche obtained his bachelors degree in architecture from the University of Puerto Rico 1974 ‐1978 to later move to Chicago and complete a BFA and MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1982-­‐1984. His work has been exhibited in well-known group and solo shows, amongst the Nexo/Nexus: Latin American Connections in the Midwest, De Paul Art Museum, 2016; Arnaldo Roche, In Blue: Signals After Touch (Frottages), Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 2015; Arnaldo Roche ….For they shall inherit the earth, Latin American Masters, Los Angeles, California, 2014; Azul/Blue, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, 2009; Paint Made Flesh, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville Tennessee, 2009-10; Brotherhood/Hermandad, Arnaldo Roche Rabell, Museum of Latin American Art MOLAA, Long Beach,California, 2008; Arnaldo Roche - Rabell: The Uncommonwealth, exhibición  itinerante curada por Robert Hobbs, Anderson Gallery -­‐Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond; Museum of American Art ‐ Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Nevada Museum of Art, Reno; Krannert Art Museum ‐ College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois, Urbana‐Champaign; 1996.