Tony Capellán (Tamboril, 1955 - 2017)
Tony Capellán (1955 - 2017), was born in Tamboril, a municipality of the Santiago province in the Dominican Republic, located in the northeast part of the province, at the foot of the Cordillera Septentrional mountains.
A 'versatile artist, who excelled in painting, installation and sculpture,' he graduated from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, and studied engraving, intaglio and serigraph, at the Art Student League of New York. In 1979, Capellán held his first solo exhibition, Figuras de tiempo, in Santo Domingo.
In 1996, he received international acclaim for his plastic and rubber sandals with barbed wire installation "Mar Caribe" (Carribean Sea). Capellán collected used sandals along the bank of the Ozama River in Santo Domingo, where they had washed up. The toe strap from each flip-flop replaced with barbed wire, transforming this footwear into a symbol of political and economic hardship and undercutting the stereotypical view of the Caribbean Islands as a tropical paradise.
Tony Capellán (1955 - 2017)
A 'versatile artist, who excelled in painting, installation and sculpture,' he graduated from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, and studied engraving, intaglio and serigraph, at the Art Student League of New York. In 1979, Capellán held his first solo exhibition, Figuras de tiempo, in Santo Domingo.
In 1996, he received international acclaim for his plastic and rubber sandals with barbed wire installation "Mar Caribe" (Carribean Sea). Capellán collected used sandals along the bank of the Ozama River in Santo Domingo, where they had washed up. The toe strap from each flip-flop replaced with barbed wire, transforming this footwear into a symbol of political and economic hardship and undercutting the stereotypical view of the Caribbean Islands as a tropical paradise.
Tony Capellán (1955 - 2017)
