Woman and Tiger Painting

Jose Oliva Immigrating from Cuba as his family fled the rising communist regime, he arrived in New York in 1970. Fantasy art and comic books provided early artistic influences, as did the rich community of artists, cultures and museums in New York City. He was always drawing in school and getting in trouble for it, until the school entered his work in a local contest and he won first place. Since then he has pursued the study of art and the techniques of the masters in the development of his own artistic expression. After a brief residency in Miami, Jose moved to Orlando, where he and his family have resided since 2002. As an elite athlete, his innate and intimate understanding of the human form is evident in his figurative work. The rhythmic, dynamic and near kinetic energy of his contemporary paintings has been described as a natural extension of his athletic mastery.