María Dolores Rodríguez  (Puerto Rico)

María Dolores Rodríguez was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1955.  She studied at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas in San Juan, Puerto Rico between 1974 and 1982, earning a Bachelors degree in Graphic Arts.  In 1983-84, she did post-graduate studies in Pedagogy at that same institution.  She also studied at the Facultad de Bellas Atres de la Universidad de Sevilla (Spain) from 1986 through 1989, and earned her Masters degree (in Visual Arts with concentration on Painting) from the Academia San Carlos de México where she studied from 2000 through 2002.

She returned to Puerto Rico after completing her studies in México, and currently lives in San Juan.

Artist's web site: www.caribbeanartspr.com

One-Person Shows:
Zoom Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico - 1980
La Rotisserie, Condado, Puerto Rico - 1983
La Gente del Dream Land Café, Galería Domenech, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico - 1992
Trópico pagano, Liga de Estudiantes de Arte de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico - 1996
Sincretismo y Simulacro: Imágenes de la iconografía tradicional, Galería La Pintadera, San Juan - 2002

Group Shows:
Taller Panamericano de la Gráfica - 1979
Cinco en la Firenze, Firenze Restaurant & Gallery - 1980
Primera Sala de Gráfica Puertorriqueña, San Juan - 1981
Primera Exposición de Pintores Ponceños, Universidad Interamericana de Ponce - 1983
Women Artists from Puerto Rico, Cayman Gallery, New York - 1984
Obra única sobre papel, Salón de Arte Yaucano - 1985
Museo de Bella Artes del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña - 1986
Colectiva de Mujeres Artistas, Capitolio de Puerto Rico - 1993
Semana de la Mujer, Galería Botello, Hato Rey - 1995

Prizes and Recognitions:
Mención de Honor en Pintura del Ateneo Puertorriqueño - 1984
Primer Premio de Pintura Certámen Revista Sin Nombre - 1985
Mención de Honor en Pintura, Certámen de la Fundación Alfonso Arana - 1994
Beca del Fondo Nacional para el Quehacer Cultural - 1995 and 1997
Beca de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores de México - 2000

Debajo de un palmar is the first in a series of three paintings that were executed shorty before the artist went to study in Mexico.  Each concerns the mermaid (here shown seated with her back to us).  This painting depicts the mermaid's wedding reception.  Friends and family of the groom are gathered around a table under the palms, while the mermaid's friends are seen in the lower left corner of the painting.  Another mermaid swims just offshore.

In the second painting in the series, Descorazonada, the mermaid is seen alone in a room, curled up on the floor in a puddle of water, with her broken heart on a plate on a small table.  The final painting in the series, Velorio, shows the mermaid lying in an open casket.

Capitán América vela por nosotros
illustrated the cover of the Spring 2006 issue
of the Latin American Research Review,
published by the University of Texas Press.