{{Short description|Cuban artist}} {{Infobox artist | name = Josignacio | image = Artist Josignacio in his Miami studio.jpg | image_size = | caption = Josignacio in his Miami art studio. | birth_name = Josė Ignacio Sánchez-Rius | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|10|24|df=y}} | birth_place = Havana, Cuba | death_date = | death_place = | known_for = Plastic Paint Medium, Neo Figurative Art, Abstract art | training = | movement = Contemporary art, "Cuban Generation of the 80s" | notable_works = ''The Music is Timeless''<br/> ''The Three Wisest Monkeys''<br/> ''The 3 O'Clock''<br/> ''The Pact'' <br/> ''Red Fish''<br/> ''The Virtual Key''<br/> ''Rhapsody Blue'' | patrons = | awards = Hortt 38 Best In Show '96, 1st Place in EVMCC '79 and '80 }}
'''Josignacio''' (b. José Ignacio Sánchez-Rius, in Havana, Cuba, on October 24, 1963) is a Cuban-born American Contemporary artist and author.<ref name="MutualArt Services">{{cite web |title=Josignacio |url=https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Josignacio/DF55099AA2803A89 |website=www.mutualart.com |publisher=2023 MutualArt Services, Inc. |access-date=20 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="Josignacio novel">{{cite book |last1=Sanchez-Rius |first1=Josignacio |title=Las Lágrimas del Cocodrilo |date=2013 |publisher=Create Space Publishing |isbn=9781481882958 |url=https://www.abebooks.com/9781481882958/L%C3%A1grimas-Cocodrilo-Spanish-Edition-Josignacio-1481882953/plp |access-date=20 April 2023 |language=Spanish}}</ref> He is among the most significant living contemporary Cuban and Latin American artists due to his career auction records, paint medium innovations, and association with notable cultural events, venues, and celebrity figures in the United States and Cuba.
He emerged in Cuba's controversial, "La Generacion de los 80s,"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.diariolasamericas.com/cultura/the-prodigious-decade-una-mirada-la-generacion-los-80-n4123703 |author=Geysell Cisneros |title="The Prodigious Decade", una mirada a la generación de los 80 |publisher=Tribuna de la Habana |date=June 6, 2017 |access-date=June 6, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://ufsinfronterasp2010.weebly.com/uploads/2/8/5/1/2851833/adriana_herrera_-_arte_cubano_disidente2.pdf |author= Adriana Herrera Téllez|title= "Paradojas del arte cubano de la generación disidente de los 80" In the writing of the history of Cuban art of the second half of the 20th century, the mention of an exhibition, mythical for its foundational role in the emergence of artistic contemporaneity, is unavoidable: Volume I |publisher= Revista Sin Frontera |date= April 22, 2010 |access-date= October 28, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.conexioncubana.net/general/artes-plasticas/394-historia-del-arte-en-cuba |author= Conexión Cubana|title= "Historof Art in Cuba" The emancipation of the 80s |publisher= Cuban Fine Art |date= May 22, 2016 |access-date= October 28, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.artemundolatino.com/arte-cubano/la-generacion-los-80/ |author= Janet Batet |title= "La generación de los 80's en el Arte Cubano – El contexto" To understand how what is later called the Generation of the 80s is conceived in the history of Cuban art, one must take into account an institutional condition that is almost always forgotten in relation to Cuban culture |publisher= Arte Mundo Latino |date= February 27, 2018 |access-date= October 28, 2018 |archive-date= September 23, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200923003457/https://www.artemundolatino.com/arte-cubano/la-generacion-los-80/ |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.diariodecuba.com/cultura/1535226322_40989.html |author= Alfredo Triff |title="La generación descarriada de los 80" For these misguided artists of the generation of the 80 the situation is still promising. The very fact of its marginality and aesthetic diversity are precisely elements in favor of the search for new forms and contents |publisher= Diario de Cuba |date= August 26, 2018 |access-date= October 28, 2018}}</ref> the 80s generation of contemporary Cuban art,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.newsweek.com/next-wave-havana-197036 |author= Peter Plagens |title="The Next Wave from Havana" They are known as the "Generation of the '80s", the artists who grew up in Cuba after the 1959 revolution. |publisher= Newsweek |date= November 29, 1992 |access-date= February 10, 2018}}</ref> also referred to as New Cuban Art. This cultural decade in Cuba contrasted a country in transition, influenced artistic debates both at home and abroad, and began the generation's collaboration with “Volume 1" <ref>{{cite web |url= https://artoncuba.com/articulo/grupos-en-el-arte-cubano-de-los-ochenta/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160312024502/http://artoncuba.com/articulo/grupos-en-el-arte-cubano-de-los-ochenta/ |url-status= usurped |archive-date= March 12, 2016 |author= Niurma Pérez Serpa |title= "Groups in the Cuban art of the eighties" If there is one characteristic that distinguishes art in the eighties, it was the tendency towards the formation of groups or artistic collectives |publisher= Art Oncuba |date= March 1, 2016 |access-date= October 28, 2018 }}</ref> - a commitment to non-government mandated artistic expression. They included Rubén Torres Llorca, José Bedia Valdés, Ricardo Rodriguez Brey, Juan Francisco Elso, Rogelio López Marín (Gory), Gustavo Pérez Monzón,<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cubanartnews.org/2018/07/11/screaming-heads-and-still-lifes-the-late-career-art-of-carlos-alfonzo/ |author= Janet Batet |title= "Screaming Heads and Still Lifes: The Late-Career Art of Carlos Alfonzo" Carlos Alfonzo: Painting is the latest exhibition devoted to this Cuban-born artist, currently on view at Fredric Snitzer Gallery in Miami. Painting traces the final years of Alfonzo's life and art, in which his dialogue with death becomes the central theme |publisher= Cuban Art News Farber Foundation |date= July 11, 2018 |access-date= October 28, 2018 |archive-date= October 29, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181029071711/https://www.cubanartnews.org/2018/07/11/screaming-heads-and-still-lifes-the-late-career-art-of-carlos-alfonzo/ |url-status= dead }}</ref> José Manuel Fors, Leandro Soto Ortiz, Israel León, Tomás Sánchez and Carlos Alfonzo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnap.cult.cu/premios/premio-nacional-de-artes-plasticas/eduardo-ponjuan-gonzalez |title=Eduardo Ponjuán González | Portal de las Artes Visuales en Cuba |access-date=2018-10-29 |archive-date=2018-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029112317/http://www.cnap.cult.cu/premios/premio-nacional-de-artes-plasticas/eduardo-ponjuan-gonzalez |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In the second half of the decade, other artistic groups were formed, including 4 x 4, Grupo Hexágono, Arte Calle, Grupo Provisional, the duet René Francisco Rodríguez and Eduardo Ponjuán González <ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bellasartes.co.cu/obra/rene-francisco-rodriguez-y-eduardo-ponjuan-gonzalez-productivismo |author= Antonio Eligio Fernández |title= "Productivism" Productivism is a chain of senses, a cascade of messages that open with double or triple click, triggering associations of all kinds |publisher= The Miami Herald |date= August 9, 1995 |access-date= October 28, 2018 |archive-date= October 29, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181029112247/http://www.bellasartes.co.cu/obra/rene-francisco-rodriguez-y-eduardo-ponjuan-gonzalez-productivismo |url-status= dead }}</ref> and ABTV. Grupo Puré, another new wave of young artists, graduates of the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.isa.cult.cu |title=ISA, Universidad de las Artes |publisher=Isa.cult.cu |access-date=2022-09-03}}</ref> included Ana Albertina Delgado Álvarez, Adriano Buergo, Ciro Quintana.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.elnuevoherald.com/vivir-mejor/artes-letras/article157617744.html |author= Yanet Batet |title= "Ciro Quintana: Cimarronaje Neobarroco" Going into the works of Ciro Quintana is like daring behind the scenes. We attended a complicated staging full of sarcasm of which the artist makes us participants and accomplices at the same time |publisher= El Nuevo Herald Newspaper |date= June 22, 2017 |access-date= October 28, 2018}}</ref> Josignacio first gained artistic recognition in Cuba as a key figure of this period and was widely exhibited in Havana galleries during the 1980s.<ref name="La Gazette Drouot">{{cite web |title=Lot n° 67 JOSIGNACIO (Cuba, 1963). "Martí..." |url=https://www.gazette-drouot.com/en/lots/19447755-josignacio-cuba-1963---22--- |website=www.gazette-drouot.com |publisher=© La Gazette Drouot 2023 |access-date=20 March 2023}}</ref>
In 1984, Josignacio created the "Plastic Paint Medium" of art by mixing epoxy resins with oil colors and other pigments, resulting in a hard, glossed, 3D finish, a method which would become his identifiable style.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bienvenidoscuba.es/revista/2017/12/01/josignacios-chromatic-whirlwind/?lang=en|title = Josignacio´s chromatic whirlwind|date = December 2017}}</ref> Josignacio is the first living contemporary Latin American artist to have an artwork surpass US$3 million at auction.<ref name="Arts Coast Magazine">{{cite news |last1=Permuy |first1=Antonio |title=Visualizing Our Historic Roots |url=https://creativepinellas.org/magazine/visualizing-our-historic-roots/ |access-date=20 March 2023 |work=Arts Coast Magazine |publisher=Creative Pinellas |date=31 January 2023 |format=Digital}}</ref><ref name="Diario Las Americas">{{cite news |last1=Delgado |first1=Grethel |title=Josignacio expone su obra en Miami con una variada propuesta |url=https://www.diariolasamericas.com/cultura/josignacio-expone-su-obra-miami-una-variada-propuesta-n4238131/amp |access-date=20 March 2023 |work=Diario Las Americas |publisher=Las Américas Multimedia Group LLC. |date=1 December 2021 |location=Miami, Florida |language=Spanish |format=Digital}}</ref>
His work has been exhibited in Cuba, Europe, the United States<ref name="McCarthy-Williams">{{cite web |title=Highlights - Auction sales |url=http://mccarthywilliams.com/auctions/ |website=www.mccarthywilliams.com |publisher=McCarthy-Williams Auctions |access-date=24 March 2023 |location=London}}</ref><ref name="Asbury Park: A Century of Change">{{cite book |last1=Pike |first1=Helen-Chantal |title=Asbury Park: A Century of Change |date=2021 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=9781467105149}}</ref><ref name="Diario Las Americas" /> and featured in the collections of several notable cultural institutions including the Tampa Museum of Art, the Museo Jumex, the Wilzig Museum, and Cuba's National Library.
==Early life== ===Upbringing=== Josė Ignacio Sánchez Rius was born on 24 October 1963 in Havana, Cuba.<ref name="MutualArt Services" /> He was raised in Havana during the post-Revolution period. During his upbringing, Josignacio was acquainted with several prominent Cuban national figures in the creative arts. These included the artists René Portocarrero, Amelia Peláez, Felipe López, Mariano Rodriguez, Roberto Fabelo, and Gilberto Marino, many of whom had established international profiles and several of which, most notably Portocarrero, would also mentor him with painting lessons.<ref name="Arts Coast Magazine" /> He also knew famed Cuban ballerina and choreographer Alicia Alonso due to his cousins being professional dancers.<ref name="Diario Las Americas" /> This exposure was highly formative to his creative development and influenced his own art career.
===Early art career===
He began to exhibit his work in 1979 at the age of sixteen.<ref name="La Gazette Drouot" /> In 1983, Josignacio passed the admissions test for the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) at the age of twenty. Before attending, however, he has shaved his head as a change in his personal style and appearance to reflect entering a new stage in his life.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016">{{cite news |last1=Almaguer de Armas |first1=Yoel |title=Plastic Paint Medium: una revolución tecno-pictórica creada en Cuba |url=https://www.radiorebelde.cu/noticia/plastic-paint-medium-una-revolucion-tecno-pictorica-creada-cuba-20161207/ |access-date=20 March 2023 |work=Radio Rebelde |publisher=© Radio Rebelde |date=7 December 2016 |language=Spanish |format=Digital |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325012522/https://www.radiorebelde.cu/noticia/plastic-paint-medium-una-revolucion-tecno-pictorica-creada-cuba-20161207/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> This act was misinterpreted by the ISA administration as a protest against the Castro government, and he was subsequently banned from attending the institute.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /> Following this incident, the artist was largely self-taught and supplementally educated through continued mentorships, as in his childhood.<ref name="La Gazette Drouot" />
Despite the reprimand, Josignacio chose to continue to pursue an art career. The following year, in 1984, he worked as a studio assistant for Martinez Anay and Andres Ugalde during their creation of a large scale public mural for the Sociedad de Educación Patriótico-Militar (SEPMI; the Military Patriotic Educational Society), the Cuban equivalent of the Boy Scouts.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /><ref name="La educación patriótica">{{cite web|url= https://www.monografias.com/docs114/a-la-epmi-traves-del-programa-espanol-a-literatura/a-la-epmi-traves-del-programa-espanol-a-literatura.shtml |author= Lic. Mayelín Rodríguez Aguiar and MS c. Ricardo Domingo Mendoza Díaz |title= La educación patriótica - militar e internacionalista a través del programa de Español |publisher= Cuban Art News Farber Foundation |date= April 27, 2017 |access-date= October 28, 2018}}</ref> The agency was then directed by former Cuban Cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez. His involvement in this public art project proved to be a significant turning-point for his career as it was during that period that the artist first discovered a method of mixing epoxy resin with oil paint.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /> This new medium took him two years to develop and refine through experimentation and would come to be known as the “Plastic Paint Medium.”<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /> Josignacio held first career solo exhibition, secured by his uncle Gerardo, at the Artistic and Literary Lyceum of the city of Regla on March 2, 1987.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /> The exhibition was also notable for being the first global exhibition entirely composed of publicly displayed works in the Plastic Paint Medium.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /> During this period of developing the Plastic Paint Medium, Josignacio was a frequent patron of the renowned Havana restaurant La Bodeguita del Medio and part of the community of artists that would gather there.<ref name="Bodeguita artwork">{{cite web |title=La Bodeguita del Medio - 'Red Car in Cuba' |url=https://www.timvanbelleghem.com/listing/1261656400/la-bodeguita-del-medio-red-car-in-cuba |website=www.timvanbelleghem.com |publisher=© 2023 Tim Van Belleghem Art Antiques |access-date=7 April 2023}}</ref> By 1988, Josignacio was a member of the Asociación Hermanos Saíz (AHS), a Cuban youth arts institution,<ref name="AHS">{{cite web |title=AHS: Nosotros |url=http://www.ahs.cu/?page_id=34 |website=www.ahs.cu |publisher=Asociación Hermanos Saíz |access-date=20 March 2023}}</ref> and his career began to become increasingly impacted by international Cuban politics. As an AHS member, he was commissioned that year to create the design for one of the participating floats in the Havana Carnival.<ref name="Havana Carnival">{{cite web |title=A history of the Havana Carnival from 1573 to today |url=https://www.lahabana.com/content/a-history-of-the-havana-carnival-from-1573-to-today/ |website=www.lahabana.com |publisher=© 2018 lahabana.com |access-date=20 March 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325012518/https://www.lahabana.com/content/a-history-of-the-havana-carnival-from-1573-to-today/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Artwrld">{{cite web |title=Josignacio |url=https://art.wrld.org/josignacio |website=www.art.wrld.org |publisher=Artwrld.org |access-date=20 March 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325012521/https://art.wrld.org/josignacio |url-status=dead }}</ref> Upon completion of his design and presenting it to the event commission, he was informed that his commission was canceled and the float design was recommissioned to fellow Cuban painter Manuel Mendive.<ref name="Artwrld" /> This was precipitated by a controversial incident in which one of Mendive's paintings, ''El Pavo Real'', was burned by an anti-Castro activist following his purchase of the piece at an April 22 auction held in the former Cuban Museum of Art and Culture in Miami.<ref name="New Miami Times 04-08-1999">{{cite web|url= http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/art-to-burn-6359117 |author=Lissette Corsa |title= Art to Burn |publisher=Miami New Times On the night of April 22, 1988, Miami art collector Ramon Cernuda presided over an auction at the now-defunct Cuban Museum of Art and Culture. José Juara, the buyer, walked outside and set the Manuel Mendive original ablaze in the presence of about 500 protesters, who accused the artist of being sympathetic to Fidel Castro's regime. |date=April 8, 1999 |access-date= January 6, 2018}}</ref> In reaction to this incident, the Castro government reassigned Josignacio's commission to Mendive in a show of solidarity.<ref name="NSU Alvin Sherman Library works">{{cite web |title=Marta Permuy Legacy Collection: Vase of Flowers |url=https://nsuworks.nova.edu/nsudigital_permuycollection/25/ |website=nsuworks.nova.edu |publisher=NSU Alvin Sherman Library |access-date=18 March 2026 |location=Fort Lauderdale}}</ref>
Nevertheless, by 1989 Josignacio had become professionally established with his work exhibited in eighteen Havana galleries between 1987 and 1989.<ref name="La Gazette Drouot" /> A final career turning point occurred later that year as he was invited exhibit his art internationally in two venues in Mexico City: The Gallery of the National Auditorium and Centro Cultural Los Talleres in Coyoacán.<ref name="Los Talleres info">{{cite web |title=Centro Cultural Los Talleres |url=http://www.lostalleres.com.mx |website=www.lostalleres.com.mx |publisher=© Copyright 2023 Los Talleres |access-date=21 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="Artwrld" /> The planned shows were ultimately cancelled on May 10, 1989, by the Castro government by way of the Cuban embassy in Mexico City.<ref name="NSU Alvin Sherman Library works" /> This latest incident prompted the artist relocate permanently to the United States on September 14, 1989, where he would become a naturalized American citizen.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}
==Career in the United States==
Upon relocating to the United States in 1989,<ref name="Laura Brunetti Gallery 2011 opening">{{cite web |last1=Belfer |first1=Susan |title=In Living Color - Contemporary Cuban Artist Exhibits Masterpieces: Miami embraces Laura Brunetti Gallery's show with Josignacio |url=https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Laura-Brunetti-Gallery-Celebrates-Artist-Josignacio.html?soid=1101446125127&aid=8OKVKxXyhJE |website=www.myemail.constantcontact.com |publisher=Laura Brunetti Gallery |access-date=20 March 2023 |location=Miami, Florida |date=21 March 2011}}</ref> Josignacio joined the South Florida Cuban diaspora in exile. There he quickly emerged as a major figure in Miami and Cuban exile culture and society. After becoming connected to Cuban fine art dealer Alfredo Martinez, Josignacio was introduced to his network and Martinez became a patron and supporter of his work.<ref name="Arts Coast Magazine" /> Martinez owned two prominent art galleries in Coral Gables: Marpad Gallery and Alfredo Martinez Gallery.<ref name="Arts Coast Magazine" /> Josignacio became a featured artist of both and would quickly establish himself in the American art market through the 1990s.<ref name="Arts Coast Magazine" />
In 1991 Josignacio had a solo exhibition in Marpad Gallery and was then a featured artist in the annual Art Miami contemporary art fair, in which he would maintain a regular presence through 2007.<ref name="Exhibitions">{{cite web |title=Exhibitions |url=http://www.josignacio.com/shows.html |publisher=The Internet Archive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211030445/http://www.josignacio.com/shows.html |access-date=20 March 2023|archive-date=2018-02-11 }}</ref> The following year was a featured artist in Marpad Gallery's major collective exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of the Discovery of America, held in April 1992. The exhibition featured 37 Latin American artists from Cuba, Costa Rica, Haiti, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Panama, as well as from Spain.<ref name="500th Anniversary Exhibition Article">{{cite news |last1=Alvarez Bravo |first1=Armando |title=Quinto Centenario |work=El Nuevo Herald |date=1 April 1992 |page=5D |language=Spanish}}</ref>
Josignacio experienced a pronounced career breakthrough in the United States by the mid-1990s. In 1996 he had a solo exhibition in Alfredo Martinez Gallery and participated in two prominent South Florida annual collective art exhibitions: Art Palm Beach and the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale's 38th Annual Hortt Competition Exhibition, Florida's oldest juried art exhibition.<ref name="Exhibitions" /> In the latter Josignacio won the Best in Show award<ref name="La Gazette Drouot" /> for which he was one of 80 featured artists exhibiting a total of 105 works chosen from a pool of over 1,300 submissions.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /><ref name="Sun Sentinel">{{cite web|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1996-09-08/entertainment/9609060188_1_juror-s-statement-paintings-art-history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528053736/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1996-09-08/entertainment/9609060188_1_juror-s-statement-paintings-art-history |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 28, 2012 |author= Roger Hurlburt|title= "Hortt Short in Quality" Juror Cites Show, Heavy On Abstract Paintings, For "Sheer Quantity" Of Entries. Judging by the 105 pieces on display at "The 38th Hortt Competition," juror William Agee must have been squinting in aesthetic desperation by the time he made the final cuts. The show, which continues through Oct. 13 at the Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, is drawn from more than 1,500 entries by 98 artists from Broward, Palm Beach, Dade and Monroe counties. |publisher= Sun Sentinel newspaper |date= September 8, 1996 |access-date= February 11, 2018}}</ref> His winning piece was the work ''The 3 O'Clock''.<ref name="Miami Herald Hortt 38">{{cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Elisa |title=Hortt provides a sampler of the art of South Florida |work=The Miami Herald |date=8 September 1996 |pages=1I–4I}}</ref> In 1997 he exhibited in the Liquid night club, a high-profile Miami nightclub of the 1990s, in an exhibition organized by close Madonna associates Ingrid Casares<ref name="New York Magazine">{{cite news |last1=Van Meter |first1=Jonathan |title=Who's That Girl? |url=https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/features/3347/ |access-date=20 March 2023 |work=New York Magazine|date=27 July 1998}}</ref> and Chris Paciello.<ref name="New Miami Times Liquid Exhibition">{{cite news |last1=Martinez |first1=Liz |title=Into the Night |url=https://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/into-the-night-6360742 |access-date=22 March 2023 |work=New Miami Times |date=15 May 1997}}</ref> Casares and Paciello would also organize and host three additional exhibitions for Josignacio that year at Risk, another of their night clubs.<ref name="Exhibitions" />
In 2001 and 2002 he participated in the Cuba Nostalgia art fair and collective exhibition through Alfredo Martinez Gallery. The exhibitions featured other leading Cuban artists such as the Cuban Vangaurdia artists, Jose Maria Mijares, and Carlos Alfonzo.<ref name="Exhibitions" />
From 2006 to 2010, Josignacio was the subject of three film documentaries. In 2013 he published his first novel, ''Las Lagrimas del Cocodrilo''.<ref name="Josignacio novel" />
The mid-2010s was another pivotal period in Josignacio's career. In 2015 he returned to Cuba for the first time in 25 years since emigrating to the United States.<ref name="La Gazette Drouot" /> That same year he set the global auction record for the highest price achieved by a living Cuban artist with the sale of ''The Three Wisest Monkeys'' for US$720,000 in Las Vegas, Nevada.<ref name="Artprice auction results">{{cite web |title=JOSIGNACIO |url=https://www.artprice.com/artist/481114/josignacio |website=www.artprice.com |publisher=ArtMarket.com |access-date=21 March 2023}}</ref> [[File:Painting diptych, Mi verso es de un verde claro y de un carmín encendido, November 18 2017, Havana, Cuba.jpg|thumb|left|Painting diptych of José Martí, November 18, 2017. The artwork is on permanent display at The National Library José Martí.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-28-2017" />]] In March 2016 Josignacio set the global auction record for the highest price achieved by a living Latin American artist with the sale of ''The Music is Timeless'' (1989) for US$3,481,205.00 in London.<ref name="McCarthy-Williams" /> This was also the first work by a living Latin American artist to surpass US$3 million at auction.<ref name="Arts Coast Magazine" /><ref name="Diario Las Americas" /> Josignacio's ''Rostro'' (1989), sold for US$2,329,200.00 in London.<ref name="McCarthy-Williams" /> This marked his second instance of reaching the multimillion-dollar threshold at auction and cemented the market value of his artwork in the 21st century.<ref name="McCarthy-Williams" /> That year Josignacio returned once again to Cuba to display works from his ''Dancers'' series, at the request of his childhood friend, Cuban ballerina and choreographer Alicia Alonso.<ref name="Diario Las Americas" /> This was first time the series had been exhibited in Cuba.<ref name="Diario Las Americas" /> Among the works was a figurative painting of Alonso, which was exhibited at the International Ballet Festival in The National Ballet of Cuba in Havana.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" />
In 2017 the artist developed three major new series of work: one of the Chinese Zodiac, one of Cuban national hero José Martí, and one of LGBT+ themed works in opposition to homophobia and transphobia.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 01-26-2017">{{cite news |last1=Almaguer de Armas |first1=Yoel |title=Josignacio y la boca abierta |url=https://www.radiorebelde.cu/de-cuba-y-de-los-cubanos/josignacio-boca-abierta-20170126/ |access-date=21 March 2023 |work=Radio Rebelde |date=26 January 2017 |language=Spanish |format=Digital |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325035551/https://www.radiorebelde.cu/de-cuba-y-de-los-cubanos/josignacio-boca-abierta-20170126/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-28-2017">{{cite news |last1=Almaguer de Armas |first1=Yoel |title=Dona Josignacio dípticos de José Martí |url=https://www.radiorebelde.cu/noticia/dona-josignacio-dipticos-jose-marti-fotos-20171228/ |access-date=21 March 2023 |work=Radio Rebelde |date=28 December 2017 |language=Spanish |format=Digital }}{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Radio Rebelde 06-01-2017">{{cite news |last1=Almaguer de Armas |first1=Yoel |title=Siete guitarras contra la homofobia y la transfobia |url=https://www.radiorebelde.cu/noticia/siete-guitarras-contra-homofobia-transfobia-fotos-20170601/ |access-date=21 March 2023 |work=Radio Rebelde |date=1 June 2017 |language=Spanish |format=Digital |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325014027/https://www.radiorebelde.cu/noticia/siete-guitarras-contra-homofobia-transfobia-fotos-20170601/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Each was unveiled and displayed in exhibitions centered on their respective themes.
In 2021 he was a featured artist participating in Art Basel Miami; this was the international art fair's first showing since the outbreak of the global coronavirus pandemic.<ref name="Diario Las Americas" />
In 2024, Josignacio marked the 40th anniversary of his development of the Plastic Paint Medium by breaking a three-year exhibiting hiatus and participating in the high-profile ''Flora & Fauna'' exhibition, held in the former Gulf Coast Museum of Art in Largo.<ref name="The Artisan Magazine 2024">{{cite news |last1=Permuy |first1=Antonio |title=A Flourishing Vision: Historic exhibition at Creative Pinellas pays homage to the beauty of nature |url=https://issuu.com/sonews/docs/july-august_2024_artisan_web/s/52452585 |access-date=1 July 2024 |work=The Artisan Magazine |issue=July/August 2024 |publisher=KEM Media Group |date=1 July 2024}}</ref> The exhibition was his first show in Tampa Bay and his first exhibition since 2021. Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, ''Flora & Fauna'' also featured other notable artists including Adriano Nicot and Edel Alvarez Galban, and received coverage from Diario Las Americas, ''The Artisan Magazine'', as well as television coverage.<ref name="Diario Las Americas 2024">{{cite news |last1=Delgado |first1=Grethel |title=El pintor Josignacio expone su obra en la muestra "Flora & Fauna" |url=https://www.diariolasamericas.com/cultura/el-pintor-josignacio-expone-su-obra-la-muestra-flora-fauna-n5356363 |access-date=1 July 2024 |work=Diario Las Americas |publisher=Las Américas Multimedia Group LLC |date=9 May 2024}}</ref><ref name="FOX 2024">{{cite web |title=Explore Florida's natural beauty at Creative Pinellas' Flora & Fauna exhibit |url=https://www.fox13news.com/news/explore-floridas-natural-beauty-creative-pinellas-flora-fauna-exhibit.amp |website=www.fox13news.com |publisher=©2020 FOX Television Stations |access-date=1 July 2024}}</ref> Three of Josignacio's well established nature themed series were on view: his ''Butterfly'', ''Flowers'', and ''Fish''.<ref name="The Artisan Magazine 2024" />
[[File:ThePact2015byJosignacio.jpg|thumb|''The Pact,'' 2015 by Josignacio, capturing the Cuban Thaw. Part of the permanent public collection of the Tampa Museum of Art.]]
In December 2024, Josignacio participated in the Art Basel-affiliated exhibition ''Forbidden Fruit'' in Miami Beach during Miami Art Week 2024. The exhibition was notable for being the largest exhibition of Cuban erotic art ever held and drawing more than one thousand attendees to its opening. His featured work in the exhibit, ''Honey, your dinner is served'' (1996), was then donated to the World Erotic Art Museum (WEAM), marking his first career entry into a museum permanent collection and capping the 40th anniversary of his first Plastic Paint Medium work.<ref name="Diario Las Americas Forbidden Fruit">{{cite web |title=El arte erótico de Josignacio irrumpe en Miami Art Week |url=https://www.diariolasamericas.com/cultura/el-arte-erotico-josignacio-irrumpe-miami-art-week-n5367436 |website=diariolasamericas.com |date=28 November 2024 |publisher=Diario Las Americas |access-date=21 December 2024}}</ref> ''Honey, your dinner is served'' was worth a reported $256,000<ref name="Diario Las Americas Forbidden Fruit" /> and was considered the flagship donation of the collection of donated works that marked the largest donation the museum had received outside the Wilzig family.<ref name="Longview News-Journal">{{cite web |title=Largest exhibition ever of Cuban erotic art to open at WEAM |url=https://www.news-journal.com/largest-exhibition-ever-of-cuban-erotic-art-to-open-at-weam-in-miami-beach/article_016bc25a-2338-531b-934d-8529209a779a.html |website=news-journal.com |date=December 2024 |publisher=© 2024 Longview News-Journal |access-date=21 December 2024}}</ref>
Following the WEAM donation, in January 2025 it was announced that Josignacio was added into the permanent collection of the Tampa Museum of Art with the acquisition of his piece ''The Pact''. Executed ten years prior in 2015, ''The Pact'' was donated by art patron Antonio Permuy and was considered a notable work in Josignacio's career for marking the historic "Cuban Thaw" in diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba.<ref name="Tampa Museum of Art acquisition">{{cite web |last1=Delgado |first1=Grethel |title=Obra de Josignacio inspirada en José Martí entra a la colección permanente del Museo de Arte de Tampa |url=https://www.diariolasamericas.com/cultura/obra-josignacio-inspirada-jose-marti-entra-la-coleccion-permanente-del-museo-arte-tampa-n5369845 |website=www.diariolasamericas.com |publisher=Diario Las Americas |access-date=20 January 2025 |location=Miami, Florida |language=Spanish}}</ref> The acquisition was also noteworthy due to the long established Cuban roots in Tampa, and the many visits of Cuban national figure José Martí, who is prominently featured in the center of the piece, to the city. The Tampa Museum of Art released a statement marking the acquisition saying "''The Pact'' is a significant work that commemorates the thawing of relations between the United States and Cuba, in addition to highlighting José Martí's historical connection with our community."<ref name="Tampa Museum of Art acquisition" />
In late 2025, Josignacio's ''Vase of Flowers'' of his series ''Flores meae numquam marcescun —My flowers never wilt'', was added into the NSU Alvin Sherman Library's Marta Permuy Legacy Collection.<ref name="NSU Alvin Sherman Library works" /> The Alvin Sherman Library is noted for being one of the largest library's in the state of Florida and holding a permanent collection of art with works by Salvador Dalí, Dale Chihuly, Peter Max, and Baruj Salinas. ''Vase of Flowers'' was completed during the COVID-19 global pandemic of 2020 as a sign of hope during the period of lockdowns and widespread uncertainty.<ref name="NSU Alvin Sherman Library works" /> The piece was unveiled in the Library's Cotilla Gallery during its annual Hispanic Heritage exhibition, during which it was displayed alongside an original work by Salvador Dalí from the Library's permanent collection.<ref name="NSU Latin American exhibition 2025">{{cite web |title=Latin American Art Collection of the NSU Alvin Sherman Library |url=https://libguides.nova.edu/c.php?g=1415719&p=10490927& |website=nova.edu |publisher=NSU Alvin Sherman Library |access-date=23 October 2025 |location=Fort Lauderdale}}</ref>
In March 2026, Josignacio was added to the permanent collection of the Jumex Museum in Mexico City with the acquisition of a work from his ''Guitar'' series to mark the 10th anniversary of his 2016 auction record for the highest price reached for a painting by a living Latin American artist with the sale of another work from the series, ''The Music is Timeless''.<ref name="NSU Alvin Sherman Library works" />
== Style and analysis==
thumb|right|"Fénix" (Phoenix) by Josignacio, 2016. Part of the permanent collection of the House of Arts and Chinese Traditions in Havana, Cuba
Josignacio's artwork is described as varyingly abstract, semi-abstract, and neofigurative.<ref name="Diario Las Americas" /><ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-28-2017" /> His works emphasize color over form and he typically works in large scale formats.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 01-26-2017" />
He best known for working in and pioneering the "Plastic Paint Medium," which he first developed in 1984.<ref name="Diario Las Americas" /> The medium uses clear epoxy resin mixed with color pigment which is then drip-poured unto surfaces to create forms. The resulting effect achieves a brilliance in color and shine Cuban art critic Yoel Almaguer de Armas compares to painted glass.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 01-26-2017" />
The term Plastic Paint Medium was first coined by Dr. Jose Antonio Portuondo who wrote in the catalog for Josignacio's first solo exhibition in 1987. In it, he described the use of epoxy resin as an “agglutinating medium” and called Josignacio the artistic representative of the “Plastic Era.”<ref name="Plastic Paint Medium Technique">{{cite web |title=Plastic Paint Medium Technique |url=http://www.josignacio.com/plastic-paint-medium.html |publisher=The Internet Archive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211030440/http://www.josignacio.com/plastic-paint-medium.html |access-date=21 March 2023|archive-date=2018-02-11 }}</ref> Its impact and avant-garde nature has been called “A revolution inside The Revolution” by Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez while art critic Leonel López-Nussa described it as “New-Ism.”<ref name="Plastic Paint Medium Technique" /><ref name="Gabriel Garcia Marquez book">{{cite book |last1=Guevara Lohmann |first1=Evelyn |title=Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Mafia & Drug Trader's Master |date=2018 |isbn=9783752806366 |page=1st|publisher=BoD – Books on Demand }}</ref> Dr. Kenworth W. Moffett, former Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale Director, described the Plastic Paint Medium as "the result of the marriage of art and technology."<ref name="Plastic Paint Medium Technique" /> Among the medium's practical advantages are that it is more durable against the elements as well as better resistant to the effect of UV light than standard oil and acrylic works.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" />
Despite the "Plastic Era" associations of Josignacio's Plastic Paint Medium, there have also been psychological, philosophical, and anti-commercial statements found within his work.<ref name="The Impulse of Creating">{{cite web |last1=Perez |first1=Claudia |title=The Impulse of Creating |url=https://www.cubartecontemporaneo.com/wp-content/uploads/Josignacio-Art-Catalogue.pdf |website=www.cubartecontemporaneo.com |publisher=Avistamientos Gallery |access-date=22 March 2023 |location=Havana, Cuba |date=10 October 2015 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325012520/https://www.cubartecontemporaneo.com/wp-content/uploads/Josignacio-Art-Catalogue.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Like the Abstract Expressionists, his method engages in what he describes as a “dialog” with his works while creating them, allowing himself to be guided to a conclusion rather than tightly controlling the outcome.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /> This approach prioritizes the unconscious over the conscious in the creating process.<ref name="The Impulse of Creating" /> As such, he has stated that he is more interested in the organic abstract elements that emerge in his creative process than in the result, which allows for a continual discovery of new aspects to the works after completion.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /> He has also incorporated abstracted ambiguous images in his art to contrast the superficial elements and encourage deeper psychological reflection from the viewer.<ref name="The Impulse of Creating" />
Among his most well-known and reported series of works are his auction record-breaking ''Guitar'' series, his various animal series, as well as more figurative representations of the human form.<ref name="Diario Las Americas" /><ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /> One of his longest-running series is his ''Flores meae numquam marcescun —My flowers never wilt'', a series of florals which began during his teenage years in the 1970s and predates his development of the Plastic Paint Medium, but has continued with the medium's adoption into the 21st century.<ref name="NSU Alvin Sherman Library works" />
His most recent works since the end of the 2010s further experiment with contemporary mediums, such as multimedia, sculptural, and three dimensional works that incorporate LED light.<ref name="Diario Las Americas" /><ref name="Miami Design District">{{cite web |title=AN EVENING OF ART WITH JOSIGNACIO + CHRISTOPHER RODDICK |url=https://www.miamidesigndistrict.net/event/2543/an-evening-of-art-with-josignacio--christopher-roddick/ |website=www.miamidesigndistrict.net |publisher=® The Miami Design District |access-date=25 March 2023}}</ref>
===Influences=== Early Cuban abstract art, European art, and mid-century American art are significant influences in Josignacio's art. After 1960 and during Josignacio's upbringing, Cuban abstract art<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cubanartnews.org/2018/05/30/solid-abstraction-bringing-cuban-abstract-art-into-the-21st-century/ |author= Yanet Batet |title= "Solid Abstraction: Bringing Cuban Abstract Art into the 21st Century. Picking up a thread of art history from the 1940s and '50s" Solid Abstraction: Strategies of Disobedience in Cuban Art includes works by ten Cuban artists living on and away from the island. All of them work with abstraction as both a trope and a strategy in their art. |publisher= Cuban Art News Farber Foundation |date= May 30, 2018 |access-date= October 28, 2018 |archive-date= October 29, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181029071842/https://www.cubanartnews.org/2018/05/30/solid-abstraction-bringing-cuban-abstract-art-into-the-21st-century/ |url-status= dead }}</ref> was scarce or considerably silenced on the island as a result of the Cuban Revolution.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://artoncuba.com/article/the-silent-shout-voices-in-cuban-abstract-art-1950-2013/ |author=Rafael Díaz Casas and Janet Batet |title=The silent shout. Voices in Cuban Abstract Art, 1950-2013 |publisher=OnCuba magazine |date=December 8, 2013 |access-date=February 19, 2018 |archive-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220152100/https://artoncuba.com/article/the-silent-shout-voices-in-cuban-abstract-art-1950-2013/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref> This contributed to the radical, avant-garde nature of the art emerging in Cuba during the 1980s. The 80s Generation group would coalesce around Galería Color-Luz, which was started just after Ms. Soldevilla returned from several years in Paris as Cuba's cultural attaché, bringing European influence. Her partner in the effort, Pedro de Oraá, an artist, poet and art critic, born in 1931, also wrote a short history of the group.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/arts/design/concrete-cuba-visits-a-quieter-period-of-latin-american-modernism.html |author=Roberta Smith |title=Concrete Cuba' Visits a Quieter Period of Latin American Modernism |work= The New York Times |date= January 14, 2016 |access-date= February 19, 2018}}</ref>
Josignacio was influenced by the Abstract Expressionists of the New York School (art), especially Jackson Pollock, from whom he originally saw the use of dripping and pouring paint onto canvases. However, instead of alkyd enamels that Pollack used, Josignacio used his "Plastic Paint Medium" technique of mixing epoxy resins with oil colors and other pigments. Dutch painter Karel Appel's faces<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/05/arts/international/shedding-new-light-on-the-late-dutch-artist-karel-appel.html |author= Nina Siegal |title= Shedding New Light on the Late Dutch Artist Karel Appel |work= The New York Times |date= February 4, 2016 |access-date= February 19, 2018}}</ref> and Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky's mix of colors <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/artists/wassily-kandinsky-who-was-he/ |author= Ossian Ward |title= How Wassily Kandinsky's synaethesia changed art |publisher= The Telegraph |date= December 16, 2016 |access-date= February 19, 2018}}</ref> were also special focuses. From Dutch-American Willem de Kooning.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/willem-de-kooning-woman-i-1950-52-2|title = MoMA | Willem de Kooning. Woman, I. 1950–52}}</ref> Josignacio learned the centered figure compositions<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/992|title = Composition}}</ref> Another influence of Abstract Expressionism is his use and strong incorporation of fluid, largescale color field backgrounds in his works. Josignacio was also influenced by his early exposure and mentorships from Cuban Vanguardia artists, such as René Portocarrero, and their use of color.<ref name="Arts Coast Magazine" />
In addition to the formal elements of fine art movements and artists, the Josignacio has also cited other influences to his work outside visual art. These have included music (particularly in his ''Guitar'' series), human emotion, and the details within the natural world.<ref name="Artist Statement">{{cite web |title=Josignacio Artist Statement |url=http://www.josignacio.com/artist-statement.html |publisher=The Internet Archive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128200734/http://www.josignacio.com/artist-statement.html |access-date=22 March 2023|archive-date=2018-01-28 }}</ref> In regards to nature, Josignacio has acknowledged using close-up images of fossil rocks, deep-sea flora and fauna, and outer space as references and inspiration for his work.<ref name="Artist Statement" />
==Recognition and legacy==
Josignacio is best known for developing the Plastic Paint Medium, as well as for breaking auction records for living Cuban and Latin American artists.<ref name="Arts Coast Magazine" /><ref name="Diario Las Americas" /> As his profile has expanded since beginning his career in the 1970s, Josignacio's artwork has been exhibited in major art markets in Europe, Cuba, and the United States including Havana, London, New York City, New Jersey, Miami, Coral Gables, Miami Beach, and Fort Lauderdale.<ref name="Diario Las Americas" /><ref name="McCarthy-Williams" /><ref name="Asbury Park: A Century of Change" /> This has included participation in international art fairs, exhibitions, and prominent venues including Art Palm Beach, Art Miami, Art Basel Miami, the Miami Design District, and the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale's Annual Hortt Competition Exhibition. His art is in the permanent collection of the Tampa Museum of Art, Museo Jumex in Mexico City, the World Erotic Art Museum, and Cuba's National Library, the Biblioteca Nacional de Cuba José Martí.<ref name="Tampa Museum of Art acquisition" /><ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-28-2017" /><ref name="NSU Alvin Sherman Library works" /> His artwork is also included within the private collections of the several most prominent figures of the 20th and 21st centuries across a range of fields. His collectors have included Madonna, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Emilio and Gloria Estefan, Andy Garcia, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, four past presidents of Mexico, and leading Latin American art collections including Jorge Mas Canosa, the Bacardi and Fanjul families, Alfredo Martinez, and Antonio Permuy.<ref name="Coral Gables News">{{cite web |last1=Permuy |first1=Antonio |title=Artist seeks to link Miami and Tampa Bay Cuban art Scenes |url=http://v.calameo.com/?bkcode=0027917210d966653fa89 |website=www.v.calameo.com |publisher=Coral Gables News |access-date=7 November 2023 |location=Coral Gables, Florida |page=30 |date=23 October 2023}}</ref><ref name="Biscayne Bay Tribune">{{cite web |last1=Permuy |first1=Antonio |title=Artist Seeks to Link Cuban Art Scenes |url=https://www.calameo.com/read/002791721c014431398c4?trackersource=library |website=www.calameo.com |publisher=Biscayne Bay Tribune |access-date=7 November 2023 |location=Miami, Florida |page=30 |date=23 October 2023}}</ref><ref name="The Artisan Magazine 2024" /><ref name="Tampa Museum of Art acquisition" /><ref name="NSU Alvin Sherman Library works" />
Josignacio's career has been covered by international media including Architectural Digest,<ref name="Architectural Digest">{{cite news |last1=Monié |first1=Karine |title=Movimiento CUBANO: Renombrados o emergentes, los artistas originarios de Cuba seducen cada vez más a los coleccionistas de todo el mundo |url=https://www.admagazine.com/cultura/arte-y-artistas-cubanos-contemporaneos-20170510-2999-articulos |access-date=21 March 2023 |work=Architectural Digest |publisher=© 2023 Condé Nast |date=10 May 2017 |language=Spanish |format=Digital}}</ref> ARTnews,<ref name="ARTnews">{{cite news |title=Volume 92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nlRUAAAAMAAJ&q=Josignacio |access-date=25 March 2023 |work=ARTnews |publisher=Artnews Associates, 1993 |date=1993 |page=56}}</ref> The Miami Herald,<ref name="Miami Herald 04-20-1990">{{cite news |last1=Kohen |first1=Helen |title=Two events offer chance to buy art, fight AIDS |work=The Miami Herald |date=4 April 1990 |page=15G}}</ref> El Nuevo Herald,<ref name="El Nuevo Herald 07-20-1996">{{cite news |last1=Alvarez Bravo |first1=Armando |title=La dualidad de la vida en la obra de Josignacio |work=El Nuevo Herald |date=20 July 1996 |page=5E |language=Spanish}}</ref> Diario Las Américas,<ref name="Diario Las Americas" /> ''Arts Coast Magazine'',<ref name="Arts Coast Magazine" /> ''New Miami Times'',<ref name="New Miami Times Liquid Exhibition" /> ''Arteinformado'',<ref name="Arteinformado">{{cite web |title=El TOP 500 Artprice recoge más artistas iberoamericanos y mejores ingresos de subastas |url=https://www.arteinformado.com/magazine/n/el-top-500-artprice-recoge-mas-artistas-iberoamericanos-y-mejores-ingresos-de-subastas-4873 |website=www.arteinformado.com |publisher=© ARTEINFORMADO 2017 |access-date=21 March 2023 |language=Spanish |date=14 October 2015}}</ref> Granma,<ref name="Granma">{{cite news |last1=Piñera |first1=Toni |title=Las Oleadas de resina de Josignacio |work=Granma |date=4 March 1987 |location=Havana, Cuba |language=Spanish}}</ref> ''Radio Rebelde'',<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /> ''Coral Gables News'',<ref name="Coral Gables News" /> the ''Biscayne Bay Tribune'',<ref name="Biscayne Bay Tribune" /> and ''The Artisan Magazine''.<ref name="The Artisan Magazine 2024" />
In addition to published exhibition catalogs, he has been mentioned in books such as ''Asbury Park: A Century of Change'' and included in ''The Review of Inter-American Bibliography'' (1998) by Organization of American States.<ref name="Asbury Park: A Century of Change" /><ref name="RIB Vol. 48">{{cite book |last1=Various |title=The Review of Inter-American Bibliography (Volume 48) |date=1998 |publisher=Columbus Memorial Library, Inter-American Committee on Bibliography, Organization of American States. Department of Cultural Affairs, Organization of American States. Division of Philosophy and Letters, Pan American Union. Division of Philosophy and Letters, Pan American Union. Division of Philosophy, Letters and Sciences |pages=122–123}}</ref> In 2023 his US career became the subject of the book ''Josignacio: Genio del Oleo y la Resina. Tomo I'' (''Josignacio: Genius of Oil and Resin. Volume 1'').<ref name="Josignacio book">{{cite book |last1=Martinez |first1=Alfredo |title=Josignacio: Genio del Oleo y la Resina. Tomo I |date=2023 |publisher=Interactive Fine Art |location=Miami |url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/185519203054?hash=item2b31ce62ee:g:F5UAAOSw0WJi5bvr&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4Bp08a%2FbJcMmqHe2v%2Fl8V%2FOl0T8xsh4yL%2B8TsH7QB2eKdIte90VZSjb5j9ihwuwMSryrqi6r2AXAbzpRzui75viM%2F5I6CQiWcKRp4aSaImwUEs9r2hbSeWxPZ2mBxsTEcnJ%2FNXz%2FKrTYC5RiVLNRg53UEX1SqdYqFcjf87dWo26rypdA%2B9n0Y17%2BwgdpoeX07zLggstCPpac4%2Fk9uAPe09KxqHniNNM2UMq0BmGFUPVF486u4%2FnP0K316i%2BVJVglFgZCanPfeU217Afa9I7O4uPVZh5SGK23iYgQp5G%2FfxQt%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR876neXtYQ |access-date=11 April 2023 |language=Spanish}}</ref>
Josignacio's career has been the subject of several film documentaries in English and Spanish including ''Josignacio: Las Formas del Color'' (2008; by Art Work Productions and directed by Roberto J. Cayuso), as well as ''Josignacio: The Master of Colors'' (2010) by Calico Productions and directed by Daniel Urdanivia.<ref name="The Master Of Colors">{{cite web |title=Josignacio: "The Master Of Colors" Part 1 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKJ3ZBRjZ7o |website=www.youtube.com | date=20 January 2010 |publisher=Calico Productions |access-date=25 March 2023}}</ref> He has also been featured in the documentaries ''La Pintura Cubana'' (2006) Art Work Productions and ''Los pintores cubanos: Dos siglos de pintura cubana'' by Latin American Art Consultants.<ref name="Los pintores cubanos documentary">{{cite web |title=Los pintores cubanos: Dos siglos de pintura cubana |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM3bsd1AMuA |website=www.youtube.com | date=8 October 2014 |publisher=Latin American Art Consultants |access-date=25 March 2023}}</ref> Josignacio has also written published letters in support of other artists, including Alfredo Martinez and Edel Alvarez Galban.<ref name="El Resultado de mi Mirada">{{cite book |last1=Martinez |first1=Alfredo |title=El Resultado de mi Mirada, Tomo I |date=2022 |publisher=Interactive Fine Art |location=Miami |edition=1 |url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/El-Resultado-de-mi-Mirada-Tomo-I-/185335534911?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 |language=Spanish}}</ref><ref name="Jardines Invisibles">{{cite book |last1=De Armas |first1=Armando |title=Jardines Invisibles: AGalban & Froilan Escobar |date=2022 |publisher=Arte para Vivir, Inc. |location=Columbia, South Carolina |isbn=9798835007547 |page=10 |edition=1st}}</ref>
The Vasari Project maintains archives relating to Josignacio's career due to their cultural significance to South Florida and the Cuban community.<ref name="Vasari Project archives">{{cite web |title=Artist File: Josignacio |url=https://mdpls.na.iiivega.com/search/card?id=4da2750d-2fdf-5188-afe4-27ffc3721fc0&entityType=FormatGroup |website=www.mdpls.na.iiivega.com |publisher=Miami-Dade Public Library System |access-date=11 October 2023 |location=Miami, Florida}}</ref> The Vasari Project is overseen by the Miami-Dade Public Library System to document artistically significant records pertaining to the Miami-Dade County region from the Post-World War II era through to the present.<ref name="Vasari Project">{{cite web |title=The Vasari Project: A Compendium of Collections and Collecting in Miami |url=https://mdpls.org/vasari |website=www.mdpls.org |publisher=Miami-Dade Public Library System |access-date=11 October 2023 |location=Miami, Florida}}</ref>
===Social causes and charity work===
Josignacio contributed to social charities by donating his artworks to raise funds for various causes.
Within months of his arrival to Miami art scene, art historian and former Miami Herald art critic Helen Kohen<ref>{{cite web |url= http://biscaynetimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2302:helen-kohen-a-life-well-lived&catid=38:art-a-culture&Itemid=201 |author= Anne Tschida |title= Helen Kohen: A Life Well Lived |publisher= Biscayne Times |date= January 2016 |access-date= February 14, 2018 |archive-date= February 16, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180216030849/http://biscaynetimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2302:helen-kohen-a-life-well-lived&catid=38:art-a-culture&Itemid=201 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article22417170.html|author= Howard Cohen |title="Art Historian, former Herald critic Helen Kohen dies at 83" When Helen Kohen retired as the Miami Herald's art critic in 1995 after 17 years on the beat, she left a clear hint of life beyond the newsroom. Kohen was not about to leave the visual arts scene that she was so much a part of grooming in South Florida since moving to Miami Beach in the 1950s |publisher= Miami Herald newspaper |date= May 27, 2015 |access-date= February 14, 2018}}</ref> wrote about Josignacio's dedication to help raise money for AIDS patients of Genesis Project in 1990, six months after his arrival to the United States.<ref name="Miami Herald 04-20-1990" /> These auctions, held at InterContinental Hotel Miami, were presided by Julio Hernandez Rojo<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cintasfoundation.org/fellows/visual-artists/409-julio-hernandez-rojo |author= Cintas Foundation Staff |title= After his return to the United States, he participated in a number of exhibitions in Miami and became known for his colorful, optimistic landscapes. His work is in the permanent collection of the Miami-Dade Public Libraries. (Cintas for art, 1979-80) |publisher= Cintas Foundation |date=1979|access-date= February 14, 2018}}</ref> and Dolores C. Smithies.
Since 1996, Josignacio has been a fundraiser for the Miami Children's Hospital.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} He has also worked on behalf of earthquake victims and hurricane victims.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} In 2017, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of his painting ''Smooth Guitar'' was donated to aid those affected by Hurricane Irma.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liveauctioneers.com/news/auctions/upcoming-auctions/sale-painting-dynasty-fine-arts-sept-19-aid-red-cross/|title = Sale of painting at Dynasty Fine Arts Sept. 19 to aid Red Cross|date = 18 September 2017}}</ref>
===Public art===
thumb|left|''Tree of Life'' 2011. Public art triptych featured in Asbury Park Transportation Center, Asbury Park, NJ.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://subwaynut.com/njt/north_jersey_coast/asbury_park/|title = Asbury Park - (New Jersey Transit North Jersey Coast Line) - the SubwayNut}}</ref>
In 2011, Josignacio produced an 8-foot x 12 foot mural titled ''Tree of Life'' in Asbury Park, New Jersey. This triptych represents a convergence of the past, present and future, to create an image of humanity, and is dedicated to the children of Asbury Park. ''Tree of Life'' is permanently located at the Asbury Park Transportation Center on Main Street in Asbury Park, New Jersey.<ref name="New Jersey Stage">{{cite web|url=https://www.newjerseystage.com/articles/getarticle.php?ID=1541 |author=Susan Belfer |title= "Tree of Life" The Caring Canvas Hosted Josignacio's Art Unveiling Ceremony and Dedication in Asbury Park, NJ |work=New Jersey Stage|date=November 11, 2011 |access-date= January 6, 2018}}</ref> ''Tree of Life'' was the first artwork to be exhibited in the Asbury Park Transportation Center<ref name="Asbury Park: A Century of Change" /> and is valued at US$180,000.<ref name="Tree of Life info">{{cite web |title=Miami Artist Josignacio's 'TREE OF LIFE' Stands Tall in Asbury Park, NJ |url=https://www.prlog.org/11722296-miami-artist-josignacios-tree-of-life-stands-tall-in-asbury-park-nj.html |website=www.prlog.org |publisher=Belfer Communications |access-date=23 March 2023 |location=Asbury Park, NJ |format=Digital |date=12 November 2011}}</ref>
In 2017, Josignacio donated a diptych of José Martí to the permanent collection of the Biblioteca Nacional de Cuba José Martí (the José Martí National Library of Cuba).<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-28-2017" /> The diptych was inspired by a quote from Martí: “Mi verso es de un verde claro y de un carmín encendido” ("My verse is light green and burning carmine”), which defined the joint color field background of the works.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-28-2017" /> They were unveiled in the exhibition “Martí visto por Josignacio” (Martí seen by Josignacio) at the El Reino de Este mundo Gallery, of the National Library of Cuba.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-28-2017" />
===Awards===
*1979, 1980 - First prize in painting at the Escuela Vocacional Militar Camilo Cienfuegos (EVMCC) de Guanabacoa, Havana.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} *1996 - Awarded the Best in Show Prize at Hortt 38 juried art show exhibition at the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale in Florida.<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" />
===Auction records===
As a blue chip artist, his large scale works have recurrently surpassed $100,000 at auction since the 2010s. Within the category of Contemporary art, Josignacio was ranked by Artprice in the top 500 global rankings for the Contemporary Art Market in 2015<ref name="Artprice Contemporary Art Market Report 2015">{{cite web |title=The contemporary art market REPORT 2015 |url=https://imgpublic.artprice.com/pdf/the-contemporary-art-market-report-2015.pdf |website=artprice.com |publisher=Artmarket.com |access-date=3 March 2025}}</ref> and 2016,<ref name="Artprice Contemporary Art Market Report 2016">{{cite web |last1=Ehrmann |first1=Thierry |title=The Contemporary Art Market Report 2016 |url=https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-contemporary-art-market-report-2016/contemporary-art-market-2016 |website=artprice.com |publisher=Artmarket.com |access-date=3 March 2025}}</ref> as well as number 294 of the Top 1000 Contemporary Artists in 2020.<ref name="Artprice Report 2020 Top 1000 Contemporary Artists">{{cite web |title=Artprice Report: 20 Years of Contemporary Art Auction History |url=https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-contemporary-art-market-report-2020/top-1000-contemporary-artists-at-auction-2000-2019 |website=Artprice.com |publisher=Artmarket.com |access-date=3 March 2025}}</ref>
On December 23, 2014, Josignacio's ''The Three Wisest Monkeys'' (1991) was sold for a hammer price of $720,000 at Pangaea Auction House in Las Vegas, Nevada, and set Josignacio as the highest achieved auction price by a living Cuban artist globally, surpassing Tomás Sánchez who previously held the record at $540,000.<ref name="Artprice auction results" /> Another work, ''Sweet Adagio in Solo Guitar'' (1994), from his ''Guitar'' series, sold for $630,000 that year.<ref name="Cuban Contemporary art mrkt">{{cite web |last1=Rostgard |first1=Kenny |title=Is Cuba the new Mecca of the contemporary art market? |url=https://sites.google.com/site/boldparagraph/home/is-cuba-the-new-mecca-of-the-contemporary-art-market |website=www.sites.google.com |publisher=Kenny Rostgard |access-date=21 March 2023}}</ref> thumb|right|''The Three Wisest Monkeys''. Sold for US$720,000 in Las Vegas on December 23, 2014.
In 2015, nine of Josignacio's works collectively attained a total of $2,152,500 at auction.<ref name="Cuban Contemporary art mrkt" /> Of them, ''Les Clefs du Succès'' (The Keys of Success) (2011) from his ''Keys'' series, sold on December 15, 2015, for a hammer price of $574,750 at Miami Auction Gallery, Miami, Florida. This placed it among the top ten highest auction sales for works by Cuban artists in 2015.<ref name="Artprice article">{{cite web|url=https://www.artprice.com/artmarketinsight/top-10-cuban-works |title=Top 10 Cuban works - Artmarketinsight |publisher=Artprice.com |access-date=2022-09-03}}</ref>
On March 10, 2016, Josignacio's ''The Music is Timeless'' (1989), another of his ''Guitar'' series, sold for a hammer price of US$3,481,205.00 at McCarthy-Williams Auctions in London.<ref name="McCarthy-Williams" /> This is currently the highest price attained for a painting by a living Latin American artist and the first to surpass US$3 million.<ref name="Arts Coast Magazine" /><ref name="Diario Las Americas" /><ref name="Coral Gables News" /> It had been estimated to sell between $480,000 and $620,000.<ref name="McCarthy-Williams" />
On July 7, 2016, Josignacio's ''Rostro'' (1989), sold for a hammer price of US$2,329,200.00 at McCarthy-Williams Auctions, London and surpassed its estimate range of $600,000 to US$850,000.<ref name="McCarthy-Williams" />
==Other art ventures==
For commercial art commissions, Josignacio launched and trademarked his brand under the corporate name "Josignacio Art Studio." Through this name, the artist has produced commissioned commercial, decorative art and ornamental art in addition to his fine art works.
These commercial works include original furniture, frames, and mirrors made in the mediums of wood, cork, reed, cane, wicker, horn, bone, shell, amber, mother-of-pearl, and meerschaum as well as plastics.<ref name="Josignacio Art Studio LLC">{{cite web |title=Josignacio Art Studio, LLC |url=https://uspto.report/TM/90486882 |website=www.uspto.report |publisher=© 2023 USPTO.report |access-date=21 March 2023}}</ref> He has also been commissioned to design the cover illustration for books.<ref name="Oduduwa Un Secreto de Ifa">{{cite book |last1=Mola Fernandez |first1=Claudia |title=Oduduwa Un Secreto de Ifa |date=1999 |publisher=Editorial Oduduwa |isbn=978-0-9672988-0-1 |edition=1}}</ref>
His art corporation is filed and registered in the state of Florida. It was initially launched as Josignacio Art Studio, Inc. in 1994 and based in Coral Gables.<ref name="Josignacio Art Studio Inc.">{{cite web |title=JOSIGNACIO ART STUDIO, INC. |url=http://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/SearchResultDetail?inquirytype=EntityName&directionType=Initial&searchNameOrder=JOSIGNACIOARTSTUDIO%20P940000106650&aggregateId=domp-p94000010665-f3b834e5-e4af-4116-920d-d37e8f870ffe&searchTerm=JOSIGNACIO%20ART%20STUDIO%2C%20INC.&listNameOrder=JOSIGNACIOARTSTUDIO%20L200003868450 |website=www.sunbiz.org |publisher=Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations |access-date=21 March 2023}}</ref>
In 2021, the firm was reorganized and relaunched as Josignacio Art Studio LLC. and is now based in Miami Beach.<ref name="Josignacio Art Studio LLC" />
==Select exhibitions== ===Post-1990 exhibitions===
Following his arrival in the United States and early inclusion in a 1990 AIDS charity auction at the InterContinental Hotel Miami, Josignacio participated in group exhibitions at the controversial<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/23/nyregion/controversial-art-killed-museum-case-that-parallels-sensation-cultural-leaders.html |author= Mireya Navarro |title= How Controversial Art Killed a Museum; In a Case That Parallels 'Sensation,' Cultural Leaders Took On Miami |publisher= The New York Times Newspaper |date= October 23, 1999 |access-date= February 14, 2018}}</ref> Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture as well as several Miami art galleries.
*2016 - ''China and its Popular Culture''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uh.cu/sites/default/files/Programa_Festival_de_la_Cultura_China.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-08-12 |archive-date=2016-08-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820120048/http://www.uh.cu/sites/default/files/Programa_Festival_de_la_Cultura_China.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> at the Culture Pavilion of the Expocuba which was dedicated to celebrate the 169th anniversary of the arrival of Chinese people to Cuba. Notably, this was the first exhibition of Josignacio in Cuba after working in the US for more than 26 years. The exhibition depicted the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac. Additionally, there was an interpretation of the fenghuang, a koi fish, a butterfly, and a panda bear. The opening words of the exhibition were held by the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Havana, Cuba, Mr. Zhang Tuo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cu.chineseembassy.org/esp/sgxx/dsjl/t991515.htm|title=中华人民共和国外交部}}</ref> * 2016 - ''De Douceur Á Intense''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radioreloj.cu/es/noticias-radio-reloj/cultura/fascinacion-los-tules/ |author=E. Fernández |title="Fascinación por tules" In the exhibition De Douceur Á Intense, in the Lecuona room, a figurative portrait of the Prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso, is included. With the innovative technique of Plastic Paint Medium, Josignacio offers his personal vision that seemed to capture in plastic the spirit of dance in the nineteenth century" |publisher=Radio Reloj |date=October 28, 2016 |access-date= January 6, 2018}}</ref> was personally commissioned for the 25th Anniversary of the International Ballet Festival of Havana [58] in October 2016, by the historically revered prima ballerina assoluta and founder of the Cuban National Ballet, Alicia Alonso. This twenty-one painting exhibition from Josignacio's "Dance Series" captured both dramatic and poignant moments from the most relevant classical ballets, including Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote and Carmen. The exhibition was held in "La Sala Ernesto Lecuona," at the Gran Teatro de La Habana, Cuba. * 2017 - ''El Renacer del Ave Fénix''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-07 |title=Propuestas del Centro Histórico para esta semana |url=http://www.tribuna.cu/enterate/2017-01-07/propuestas-del-centro-historico-esta-semana |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109080144/http://www.tribuna.cu/enterate/2017-01-07/propuestas-del-centro-historico-esta-semana |archive-date=2017-01-09}}</ref> (Rebirth of the Phoenix)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canalhabana.icrt.cu/actualidades/inauguran-muestra |title=El Renacer del ave Fénix. |author=Canal Habana |publisher=Canal territorial fundado el 28 de enero de 2006 La Habana, Cuba |date=January 10, 2017 |access-date=January 6, 2018 |archive-date=January 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102073035/http://www.canalhabana.icrt.cu/actualidades/inauguran-muestra |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://opushabana.cu/index.php/servicios/cartelera/48-exposiciones/11171-el-renacer-del-ave-fenix | title=Revista Opus Habana - "El renacer del ave fénix" }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/cartelera/teatro/ | title=Juventud Rebelde - Diario de la juventud cubana }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/principales/2017-01/15/c_135984209.htm |title=La exposición "El renacer del Ave Fénix" en La Habana |publisher=Spanish.xinhuanet.com |date=2017-01-15 |access-date=2022-09-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://prensa-latina.cu/index.php?o=rn&id=56692&SEO=inician-las-celebraciones-en-cuba-por-la-llegada-del-ano-nuevo-lunar | title=NOTICIAS - Prensa Latina }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.granma.cu/cultura/2017-01-13/comienzan-festejos-por-nuevo-ano-lunar-chino-13-01-2017-23-01-04 | title=Comienzan festejos por Nuevo Año Lunar Chino | date=13 January 2017 }}</ref> to celebrate the new Chinese year 2017 "Fire Rooster" (28 January -15 February 2018) Commissioned by its director Dr. Teresa Li, this Josignacio exhibition was held in Casa de las Artes y Tradiciones Chinas (House of Arts and Chinese Traditions), in the heart of Havana's Chinatown. The opening words of the exhibition were given by Mr. Chen Xi [66], the new Ambassador of the People's Republic of China and ethnologist and author, Dr. Natalia Bolívar. Cuban government representatives were also present at the opening. The key artwork of this exhibition, ''Fenix'', a part of Josignacio's "Signs Series," was acquired by Casa de las Artes y Tradiciones Chinas (House of Arts and Chinese Traditions), Havana, Cuba, for public display in its permanent collection. * 2017 - For the 75th Anniversary of Havana's renown La Bodeguita del Medio<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.traveltradecaribbean.es/llego-la-bodeguita-del-medio-75-aniversario/ |author= Josefina Pichardo |title= "Y llegó La Bodeguita del Medio a su 75 Aniversario" After distinguishing the workers with more than 20 years in La B del M, the painter Josignacio donated to the establishment his work "Mojito", specially made for the occasion; and Professor Jorge Méndez, of the Mintur, highlighted the part that touches gastronomy in the heritage value that La Bodeguita has ... and advocated that in the future Cuban food can be counted on the list of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity. |publisher= TTC |date= April 28, 2017 |access-date= March 25, 2018 |archive-date= February 6, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180206002634/https://www.traveltradecaribbean.es/llego-la-bodeguita-del-medio-75-aniversario/ |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trabajadores.cu/20170427/la-bodeguita-del-medio-festejos-cubania/ |author=Reno Massola |title=La Bodeguita del Medio: Festejos de Cubanía |publisher=Trabajadores. Organo de la Central de Trabajadores de Cuba. |date=April 27, 2017|access-date=January 6, 2018}}</ref> as part of the festivities to commemorate this event, an acquisition of Josignacio's work titled ''Mojito'', a semi-figurative painting depicting this traditional drink, was included and is now on permanent display. * 2017 – ''Siete Adagios para Safo y Ganimedes'' ("Seven Adagios for Sappho and Ganymede")<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.radiorebelde.cu/noticia/siete-guitarras-contra-homofobia-transfobia-fotos-20170601/ | title=Siete guitarras contra la homofobia y la transfobia (+Fotos) | access-date=2017-06-01 | archive-date=2017-06-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170603183906/http://www.radiorebelde.cu/noticia/siete-guitarras-contra-homofobia-transfobia-fotos-20170601/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> Despite the controversy of homosexuality's delicate theme in communist Cuba, a collection of Josignacio's seven neo-figurative large format Guitars, curated by journalist and writer, Yoel Almaguer de Armas and Lic. in Art History, Diana Rosa Crespo, was exhibited in the Karl Marx Theatre. Along with Josignacio's signature forms and colors, the selection was specifically chosen to represent the seven colors of the rainbow, symbolic of the colors of the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) flag, which characterizes the world LGBTQ movement. The Rainbow Flag, also known as the LGBTQ flag, has represented gay and lesbian communities since the late 1970s. The flag was designed by artist Gilbert Baker and popularized in 1978. These artworks are part of Josignacio's extensive series of Guitars called “Rainbow Guitars.” He did this exhibition in support of equal rights and the acceptance of those discriminated against in his native homeland. Led by Mariela Castro Espin, head of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), the exhibition was intended to signal the Cuban government's intention to open up human rights issues. The reason for Josignacio's exhibition title "Seven Adagios for Sappho and Ganymede" is that the musical term adagio indicates that music is to be played slowly, reminding us of the same slow process of LGBTQ acceptance and its two primary characters. The real Sappho of Mytilene, also known as Sappho of Lesbos, was a Greek poet who has historically been identified by many as the symbol of female homosexuality. The mythological Ganymede became the lover of the God Zeus. * 2021 - Art Basel Miami 2021, Miami Beach FL.<ref name="The Artisan Magazine 2024" /> * 2024 - ''Flora & Fauna'', Creative Pinellas, Largo FL <ref name="The Artisan Magazine 2024" /> * 2024 - ''Forbidden Fruit'', World Erotic Art Museum, Miami Beach FL. The largest-documented exhibition of Cuban erotic art.<ref name="Diario Las Americas Forbidden Fruit" /> Featured four generations of leading Cuban artists including Wifredo Lam, Carlos Enriquez, Rene Portocarrero, Mario Carreño, Victor Manuel, Amelia Peláez, Roberto Fabelo, Manuel Mendive, Agustín Fernández, Baruj Salinas, Juan Gonzalez, Jose Mijrares, Lourdes Gomez Franca, Yamilet Sempe, Adriano Nicot, and AGalban.<ref name="WEAM Forbidden Fruit page">{{cite web |title=Forbidden Fruit: The Art of Cuban Sexuality |url=https://weam.com/event/forbidden-fruit-the-art-of-cuban-sexuality/ |website=weam.com |publisher=© 2025 WEAM |access-date=10 July 2025 |location=Miami Beach, Florida}}</ref> * 2025 - ''Prelude: An Introduction to the Permanent Collection'', Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa FL<ref name="Tampa Museum of Art acquisition" />
==Writings and essays==
* 2016 - "Delirium" by Lic. in Art History and Journalist Eliset García Deulofeu<ref>{{cite web |url= https://artoncuba.com/blog-es/delirium/ |author= Eliset García Delofeu |title= "Delirium" The vestiges of the drawing serve as the primary idea for the unleashing of an ordered chaos of loose spots and brushstrokes. There are remnants of a figuration flagellated by the explosion of spots and the use of dripping. There are no attachments to the form, nor reminiscences to the perfecting stroke of the drawing. Freedom is the undeniable term to the creation of the artist and this finds the rationale in abstractionism. Convergence of extinct figuration and abstract flights, here is Josignacio |publisher= On Cuba |date= June 26, 2017 |access-date= March 25, 2018 |archive-date= March 26, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180326142013/https://artoncuba.com/blog-es/delirium/ |url-status= usurped }}</ref> * 2016 - "Plastic Paint Medium: una revolución tecno-pictórica creada en Cuba"<ref name="Radio Rebelde 12-07-2016" /> by Lic. in Art History, Journalist and writer Yoel Almaguer de Armas * 2017 - "Josignacio y la boca abierta"<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.radiorebelde.cu/de-cuba-y-de-los-cubanos/josignacio-boca-abierta-20170126/ |author= Yoel Almaguer de Armas |title= "Josignacio y la boca Abierta" The Tiger is a picture that is not displayed. The original will never be displayed. Josignacio painted it but it was a gift painting, made with special effort, perhaps with fear as well, with some curiosity and with the desire that this work was at the level of the person for whom it was created. |publisher= Radio Rebelde |date= January 26, 2017 |access-date= March 25, 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> * 2017 - "Siete guitarras contra la homofobia y la transfobia"<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.radiorebelde.cu/noticia/siete-guitarras-contra-homofobia-transfobia-fotos-20170601/ |author= Yoel Almaguer de Armas |title= "Siete Guitarras contra la Homofobia y la transfobia" Seven Adagios for Sappho and Ganymede was an attempt to support the painter Josignacio for the Day against homophobia and transphobia: a visual gift interpreted from the musicality of guitars that are not exact with each other, but that inspire calm, calm and harmony |publisher= Radio Rebelde |date= June 1, 2017 |access-date= March 25, 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> by Lic. in Art History, Journalist and writer Yoel Almaguer de Armas and Lic. in Art History Diana Rosa Crespo * 2017 - "El Martí de Josignacio"<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.uneac.org.cu/noticias/el-marti-de-josignacio |author= José Ángel Téllez Villalón |title= "El Martí de Josignacio" Martí seen by Josignacio is the title of the exhibition that occupies these days the gallery The Kingdom of this World of the National Library of Cuba José Martí, recently inaugurated, on the occasion of the anniversary of the founding of this institution and within the framework of the Conference for the National Culture. |publisher= UNEAC |date= November 15, 2017 |access-date= March 25, 2018 |archive-date= December 23, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171223110134/http://www.uneac.org.cu/noticias/el-marti-de-josignacio |url-status= dead }}</ref> * 2017 - An extraordinary artistic product "Un extraordinario producto artístico"<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.tribuna.cu/cultura/2017-11-06/extraordinario-producto-artistico |author= Nathalie Mesa Sánchez |title= "Un Extraordinario Producto Artístico" Under the curatorship of Eliset García Deulofeu, Yoel Almaguer de Armas and Diana R. Crespo Tapia, the exhibition presents us representations of the Martí of the Spanish dancer, that of the white rose, that of the black doll, the visionary of the future |publisher= Tribuna de la Habana |date= November 6, 2017 |access-date= March 25, 2018 |archive-date= January 2, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180102013226/http://www.tribuna.cu/cultura/2017-11-06/extraordinario-producto-artistico |url-status= dead }}</ref> by Nathalie Sánchez. Published November 6, 2017 Tribuna de La Habana * 2017 - "Martí visto por Josignacio".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ministeriodecultura.gob.cu/marti-visto-por-josignacio/ |author= José Ángel Téllez Villalón |title= "Martí visto por Josignacio" A Cuban artist linked to the neofiguration and abstractionism that this time proposes 28 works, fruit of his approach to the life and work of José Martí, billed with his novel technique of Plastic Paint Medium and his peculiar visual lyric |publisher= Ministerio de Cultura República de Cuba |date= November 15, 2017 |access-date= March 25, 2018 |archive-date= December 10, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171210232352/http://www.ministeriodecultura.gob.cu/marti-visto-por-josignacio/ |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cubarte.cult.cu/es/article/50143 |title=Cubarte - "Martí visto por Josignacio" / Por: J. Ángel Téllez |access-date=2017-12-09 |archive-date=2017-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209203952/http://www.cubarte.cult.cu/es/article/50143 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 2017 - "Visiones de Martí"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.granma.cu/cultura/2017-11-21/visiones-de-marti-21-11-2017-22-11-22 |author=Toni Piñera |title=Visions of Martí. Each generation has left, in the Martian images, their own mythologies, showing us, at the same time, the historical significance at that time assigned to the national heroes |publisher=Granma Newspaper |date=November 21, 2017 |access-date= November 23, 2017 }}</ref> * 2017 - "Martí visto por Josignacio en el alma del arte que acrisola y enaltece"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radioenciclopedia.cu/exclusivas/marti-visto-por-josignacio-alma-arte-acrisola-enaltece-20171208/ |author=MSc. Nora Rodríguez Calzadilla |title=Martí seen by Josignacio in the soul of art that enhances and exalts. Martí visto por Josignacio en el alma del arte que acrisola y enaltece |publisher=Radio Enciclopedia |date=December 8, 2017 |access-date=December 31, 2017 |archive-date=December 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209152205/http://www.radioenciclopedia.cu/exclusivas/marti-visto-por-josignacio-alma-arte-acrisola-enaltece-20171208/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 2018 - "La identidad de un creador" by Nathalie Mesa<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tribuna.cu/cultura/2018-01-02/identidad-creador |author=Nathalie Mesa Sánchez |title="La Identidad de un creador""The Identity of a Creator" On Sunday, November 5, the Tribune of Havana published an article about one of the most profound exhibitions that have taken place in Havana in recent months. The title of the same: Martí seen by Josignacio, comes from the interpretation and representation that this artist has made to the life and work of Our Apostle. |publisher=Tribuna de La Habana |date=January 2, 2018 |access-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104132533/http://www.tribuna.cu/cultura/2018-01-02/identidad-creador |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 2018 - “El Martiano Josignacio”<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cubarte.cult.cu/periodico-cubarte/el-martiano-josignacio-por-j-angel-tellez-villalon/ |author= José Ángel Téllez Villalón |title= "El Martiano Josignacio" Conocí a José Ignacio Sánchez Rius (La Habana, 1963), o simplemente Josignacio, a través de sus pinturas. Fue uno de esos sábados que me "voy de cuadros", en que tuve la dicha de toparme con su exposición Martí visto por Josignacio, en la galería El Reino de este Mundo de la Biblioteca Nacional de Cuba. |publisher= Cubarte |date= January 27, 2018 |access-date= March 27, 2018}}</ref> * 2018 - "Martí vs Dos Ríos" Painting of Josignacio selected to illustrate the cover an back cover of the Volume 1 (2018) of the National Library of Cuba's magazine<ref>{{cite web|url= http://revistas.bnjm.cu/index.php/revista-bncjm |author= Revista de la Biblioteca Nacional José Martí de Cuba |title= "Martí vs Dos Ríos" Magazine founded in Havana City in 1909. With more than a century of being established, this iconic publication has always selected for its covers meaningful images of the most prestigious artists as well as significant events. On this occasion, the directive of the publication No 1 2018, has selected an artwork to illustrate cover and back cover a painting of contemporary Cuban artist Josignacio. |publisher= Cubarte |date= September 18, 2018 |access-date= September 12, 2018}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} * ''Las Oleadas de resina de Josignacio'' Culturales by Toni Piñera, ''Granma'' newspaper La Habana 4 de Marzo de 1987. Cuba * ''Josignacio Plastica'' by Ele Nussa. ''Revista Bohemia'' Marzo 27 de 1987. Cuba * ''Exposicion del Joven Pintor Josignacio'' 17 de septiembre de 1987 ''Trabajadores'' newspaper Cuba * ''Josignacio Novato del año'' Plastica by Ele Nussa.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.radioenciclopedia.cu/cultural-news/exclusive/leonel-lopeznussa-exhibition-confident-mosaic-about-the-life-of-creator-20170213/ | title=Leonel López-Nussa Exhibition: a confident mosaic about the life of a creator | website=CMBQ Radio Enciclopedia | access-date=2018-01-17 | archive-date=2018-01-17 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117131414/http://www.radioenciclopedia.cu/cultural-news/exclusive/leonel-lopeznussa-exhibition-confident-mosaic-about-the-life-of-creator-20170213/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Revista Bohemia'' Septiembre 18 de 1987. Cuba * ''Josignacio esta acabando, Los Pasos de un Joven Diligente'' Plastica by Ele Nussa. ''Revista Bohemia'' Abril de 1988. Cuba * ''Contacto'' Dedicated to artist Josignacio by Hilda Rabilero, Cubavision International, Canal 6, 1987. Cuba1988 * ''Concierto Sentido'' Dedicated to artist Josignacio and Cuban musician José María Vitier, Cubavision International, Canal 6, 1988. Cuba * "Revista de la Mañana" "Josignacio nos habla de su novedosa tecnica" an interview by Freddy Moros,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tvcubana.icrt.cu/seccion-entre-tu-y-yo/3471-freddy-moros-55-anos-de-periodismo-televisivo | title=Freddy Moros: 55 años de periodismo televisivo | access-date=2018-01-17 | archive-date=2018-01-17 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117131427/http://www.tvcubana.icrt.cu/seccion-entre-tu-y-yo/3471-freddy-moros-55-anos-de-periodismo-televisivo | url-status=dead }}</ref> Dedicate to Artist Josignacio. Cubavision International, Canal 6, 1988. Cuba * Josignacio Creador de una novedosa tecnica pictorica by Dinorah del Real "Panorama" Cubavision International, Canal 6, 1988. Cuba * Josignacio Nuestro Orgullo by Esteban Lamelas, Univision Channel 23, 1996 * Helen Kohen, Two Events Offer Chance to Buy artworks, Fight AIDS Auction, Miami, Florida, ''The Miami Herald'' newspaper, April 20, 1990 * Alvarez-Bravo, Armando, ''De Ronda'', Miami, Florida, ''El Nuevo Herald'' newspaper, September 4, 1996. * Alvarez-Bravo, Armando, ''Josignacio'', Miami, Florida, ''El Nuevo Herald'' newspaper, July 20, 1996. * ''Into the Night'' by Liz Martinez. ''Miami New Times'', May 15, 1997http://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/into-the-night-6360742 * Emilio Ichikawa<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cubanet.org/htdocs/CNews/y01/nov01/29o6.htm | title=Cuba News / Noticias - CubaNet News}}</ref> * Josignacio: un pintor abstracto en Miami, Miami, Florida, ''El Nuevo Herald'' newspaper, August 11, 2008.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Josignacio}} Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Cuban contemporary artists Category:Artists from Havana Category:Painters from Miami Category:20th-century Cuban painters Category:20th-century Cuban male artists Category:21st-century Cuban painters Category:21st-century Cuban male artists Category:Cuban male painters Category:American male painters Category:Cuban emigrants to the United States Category:20th-century American painters Category:21st-century American painters