Juan González

Juan González (January 12, 1942 – December 24, 1993) was an important twentieth-century Cuban-American painter who rose to international fame in the 1970s and remained active until his death in the 1990s. Born in Cuba, González launched his art career in South Florida during the early 1970s and quickly gained recognition in New York City, where he subsequently relocated in 1972. While in New York González won several fine art awards, including the National Endowment of the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts grant, and the Cintas Fellowship. González's art known is for its distinctive hyperrealism and magical realism elements delivered in a highly personal style with symbolic overtones. His work has been widely exhibited throughout the United States as well as internationally in Europe, Latin America, and Japan. He is included in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, The Carnegie Museum of Art, and Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Life and career Early life Juan González was born in Camaguey, Cuba, in 1942. He spent his early life in Cuba until fleeing to the United States in 1961 as a part of the Cuban exile resulting from the Cuban Revolution. González initially resided in Knoxville, Tennessee before relocating the following year to Miami where he joined other exiled Cuban artists and members of the Cuban diaspora. González then enrolled in the University of Miami where he initially studied architecture before transferring to fine art in 1966 where he won a Kennedy Scholarship. 1970s: Rise to fame In the late 1960s, while González attended University of Miami, he was taught the airbrush painting technique by fellow Cuban artist and then-neighbor Baruj Salinas, which González then used to achieve the large-scale Realism style that would soon gain him recognition by leading art institutions. His use of the airbrush as a drawing tool for detailing, rather than background and abstraction effects, was noted for being innovative and non-traditional. In 1969, Salinas introduced González to art figures Marta and Jesús Permuy. In 1970, González earned his bachelor's degree and began his graduate studies at the University of Miami, for which he received one of the few University Fellowships in art. By 1971, González had won several local and regional art competitions and awards, including the Klinkenberg Award (in 1969 and 1970) and the Lowe Museum's Ward Award (1971).