JOHN BALOSSI
(American, 1931-2007)
SPIRIT RIDER, RED SKY
Acrylic on Canvas
47½ x 67½ Inches
Signed Lower Right, 'Balossi' and Dated 1981
A monumental equestrian oil by this noted American Modernist painter, sculptor, printmaker, watercolorist and ceramicist. John Balossi received his Bachelor's in Fine Arts from New York's Columbia University and his Master's in 1960. During his student years, he worked as a commercial artist and also ran an art gallery with the American painter, Joseph Peplinsky. Balossi moved to Puerto Rico in 1960 and soon joined the faculty at the University of Puerto Rico where he served from 1962-1988. Over the course of a long career, Balossi exhibited widely and with success including in Paris, Rome, Madrid, New York and Los Angeles and was the subject of thirty solo exhibitions worldwide. In 1979, he was awarded first prize in the 1974 UNESCO painting concourse.
Balossi is known for his prints, drawings, watercolors and paintings in a variety of media and his works are recognizable for their consistently vivid chromaticism and for the artist's recurrent, thematic use of horses and female figures. The artist's sculptures in stone, wood, terracotta, iron and ceramic also gained international attention and recognition.
John Balossi's work is held in the permanent collections of museums worldwide including those of New York's Museum of Modern Art and Finch College Museum; the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Fine Arts ; Chase Manhattan Fine Arts Center; University of Massachusetts Amherst; Ponce Art Museum (PR); University of Puerto Rico Museum, Rio Piedras, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Library of Congress, Washington D.C., Giorgio La Pira, Rome, Societá Economica di Chiavari, Italy as well as in numerous private collections.
Solo Shows:
2011
Memorias, Galería Tous Soto, Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico, Capitolio de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2005
Pintura reciente, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2003
Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1999
Balossi, Galería Viota, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1992
Horses and Riders: A journey from San Juan to Chiavari, Galería Rojo y Negro, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1986
Esculturas en hierro, Galería Botello, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Constelaciones, Galería Botello, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1984
Esculturas en barro quemado-pinturas en papel, Galería André, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1981
Liga de Estudiantes de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1979
Galería Palomas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1977
Galería Manos, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1973
Galería Santiago, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1970
Ruth White Gallery, New York, United States
1968
Ruth White Gallery, New York, United States
1967
Galería Jacques Perrin, Paris, France
1966
Ruth White Gallery, New York, United States
Galerie San Marco, Chiavari, Geneve, Italy
1965
Galería Colibrí, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1964
J. Walter Thompson Company, New York, United States
1963
La Casa del Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1961
Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1960
Fuerte Buchanan, San Juan, Puerto Rico
La Casa del Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Group Shows:
2007
Contexto puertorriqueño: del rococó colonial al arte global, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2001
IV Gran subasta de arte puertorriqueño, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1990
Pintando al Ritmo del Jazz, Galería Rojo y Negro, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1988
Encuentro de Ceramistas de Latinoamérica, Universidad Nacional de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia; Venezuela; Brazil
1986
Bienal de Ceramique, Vallauris, France
Saludo al Encuentro de Ceramistas de Latinoamérica, Liga de Estudiantes de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Encuentro de Ceramistas de Latinoamérica, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico; Everson Museum, University of Syracuse, New York; Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, New York, United States, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico
II Trienal Mundial de Cerámica Pequeña, Zagreb, Yugoslavia
44 Concorso della Ceramica Contemporanea, Faenza, Italy
1985
I Trienal de Cerámica Pequeña, Zagreb, Yugoslavia
1984
Ahoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, California, United States
I Congreso de Artistas Abstractos de Puerto Rico, Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, Instituto de Cultura, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Paintings and Ceramics, Art Expo, New York, United States
Paintings and Sculpture, Art Expo, New York, United States
1983
Arte Actual Puerto Rico 1983, Chase Manhattan Bank, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1981
Expresiones en barro, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
1980-1981
Sculpture in Clay from Puerto Rico, Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey; Bacardi Gallery, Miami, Florida; Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts; Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
1980-1982
Competencia Internacional de cerámica artística, Faenza, Italy
1979
V Salón de Pintura UNESCO, Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
III Muestra de Pintura y Escultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1978
II Muestra de Pintura y Escultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1977
Latin American Sculpture, Xerox Corp., Rochester, New York, United States
I Muestra de Pintura y Escultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1974
I Salón de Pintura UNESCO, Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
III Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe, Convento de los Dominicos, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1972
II Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe, Convento de los Dominicos, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1970
I Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe, Convento de los Dominicos, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1969
Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1968
Childe Hassam Invitational, American Academy of Arts & Letters, New York, United States
1967
Festival de Navidad, Ateneo Puertorriqueño, San Juan, Puerto Rico
