Jose Tonito

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1961, José Tonito Rodriguez came to the United States in 1978 and currently lives in Florida. His early career as a photographer significantly shaped his current work. Using photographic paper, color inks, and an array of unconventional techniques, his images have a uniquely organic, exploratory feel. What he calls “accidents” splatter and sprawl across the paper, revealing themselves to him as he follows and urges them forward into other-worldly forms. Influenced by the forces of nature, he imagines the creation of rivers and lakes as he works, sometimes visualizing how clouds or even micro-organisms might behave under a microscope. The artist’s experiments tease the viewer into discovering “hidden, magical worlds” within our own imaginations.

High School, Havana, Cuba

Miami Dade College
Visual and Creative Arts

Florida International University BFA
Fine Arts/Photography

Solo Exhibitions:

2014 - Inktervensions.Augusta Savage Gallery. University of Massachussetts.

2011 – Inventario # 113. Fundación Ludwig de Cuba. Havana.

2005 – Los barcos de mi cabeza. Urban Art Gallery, Ft.Lauderdale

2004 – Unos van y otros vienen. Inner Center for the Arts, Miami.

2004 – The Human Experience. Southeast Museum of Photography. Palm Beach.

2003 – Cuba by Cubans. Books & Books, Miami.

2002 – Misty Wanderings. Art Center South Florida. Miami Beach.

2002 – Exodo. Francisco de Paula Gallery. Colombia Consulate, Miami.

2001 – Irina. Galería Madriguera. Quinta de Los Molinos. Havana, Cuba.

2001 – Children of Cuba. Books & Books, Miami.

2000 – Dominó. Fototeca de Cuba, Old Havana.

2000 – Sin palabras…, Colonial Museum, Havana, Cuba.



Group Exhibitions:

2017 - Grassland. Penticton Gallery, British Columbia, Canada

2012 - Lo real imaginado. 11th Havana Biennale, Cuba.

2011 - Miami Wave. Art Naples, Florida.

2010 - Altered States. Rodez Art Gallery, Miami.

2003 - Daniel Azoulay Gallery, Miami, Florida.

2001 - Regresos/Returns. Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach.

2000 – Expo 2000 in Hannover, Germany. MAM Project.