Arnaldo roche rabell biography of donald

Arnaldo Roche Rabell was born and raised in Puerto Rico and earned his MFA from SAIC in 1984.

After graduating, he split his time between Puerto Rico and Chicago, a duality that is apparent in his paintings. While in school, he developed a technique similar to frottage, in which he pulled impressions from his models’ bodies underneath the canvas, or made prints from his own paint-covered body.

He would then press objects into the thick layers of paint in order to make imprints on the surface, before carving into the canvas, resulting in intricate textures.

Arnaldo roche rabell

The expressionistic bodies and mask-like faces which appear in many of his paintings speak to the complexities of Roche’s life as well as the broader theme of Puerto Rican identity. Symbols such as tropical vegetation, the lace fabric made by Puerto Rican craftspeople, Christian iconography, the Chicago skyline, and landmarks from Washington, D.C.

appear in his paintings. Early on, Roche made por