José Morbán 

José Morbán (b.1987 Dominican Republic) is a visual artist who lives and works in Santo Domingo. He’s a graduate from the School of Design at Altos de Chavón in La Romana, Dominican Republic. His recent exhibitions include Tropo, Trompo, Trampa at Lucy García Contemporary Gallery, Santo Domingo, D.R.; Landmark at KM 0.2, San Juan, Puerto Rico; 28 Concurso de Arte Eduardo León Jiménes at Centro León, Santiago, D.R.; one month after being known in that island at Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger, Basel. He was artist in residence at Art Omi on 2021, Ghent, NY. His work is part of the JP Morgan Chase collection, Centro Eduardo León Jiménes and Phelps-Cisneros. He is a member of ONTO (@ontopub), an artists publication based in Santo Domingo with a satellite in New York.

Busto (c. 1940)
oil on linen, 21”x21”, 2021

NFS

Tropo, Trompo, Trampa

Tropo, Trompo, Trampa is a series of paintings that deals with edifications and spaces built during the dictatorship of Rafael L. Trujillo and his successor Joaquín Balaguer that helped cement the imagery of authoritarian power and supposed progress of the Dominican Republic in the twentieth century. Most of these spaces –mainly from Santo Domingo– remain untouched, their meanings have neither been properly revised, like ghosts from another time that still haunt us.

I was interested in working with the idea of destroyed or half vanished monuments as a way to deconstruct Dominican history and its legitimized icons. These structures stop being immovable or indestructible even though their remains still affect our present.

Jaragua (c. 1945)
oil on linen, 21”x21”, 2021

NFS

Faro (c. 1992)
oil on linen, 21”x21”, 2021

NFS

Las Américas (1976)
oil on linen, 27”x27”, 2021

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Tratado (1940)
oil on canvas, 38”x38”, 2021

NFS

El Obelisco (2016)
oil on canvas, 38”x38”, 2021

NFS

www.josemorban.com
www.onto.pub