About the Artist
Reuben Negrón began his artistic career as lead scenic painter and set designer for S.T.A.G.E. (Student Theater Arts Guild of Entertainment) in Stratford, Connecticut. Since then, Reuben has devoted himself to painting and illustration but has not forsaken his dramatic roots.
Today, his watercolors reflect a long partnership with drama and theatrical
environments. While each of his paintings carry a unique narrative, they are
all strung together by a hauntingly quiet commonality. Pain and ecstasy are
treated as one and the same. It is obviously neither the figure, nor
the scene which Reuben is interested in capturing but the essence and
meaning behind the moment. For him, these are more powerful then the simple
recreation of the physical place. It is in these quiet places between the cracks where his subtle drama thrives.
In 1997, Reuben began a body of work called Gods of Nowhere which
challenged the presence of censorship in popular news media. The series
focused on the lack of coverage and involvement in no-profit situations
where the greater good of the sponsor far out weighed the need of the
people. Kashmir, the final installment in that series, brings to light the
hardship
of the Kashmiri people and their place in the war between India and
Pakistan.
Kashmir was most recently be seen in this year's Communication Arts
Illustration Annual 41.
Reuben has worked as a freelance illustrator since 1997. His clients include
Senior Golfer Magazine, Automobile Magazine, GE Capital, Tickets-In-A-Hurry,
the Bridgeport Board of Education, and the Stratford Marketing Group.
Despite the darker qualities of his work, Reuben has also worked as a
conceptual chilldren's book illustrator. (He is very pleased to say that no
child has yet to come away with nightmares after seeing his work.)
cobotenuss@hotmail.com [e-mail]
