Miguel Tió

Biography

Miguel Tió (born in 1959), a native of the Dominican Republic, began his painting studies with the artist Elias Delgado while also attending the “Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santo Domingo.

His interest in Publicity and Graphic Design led him into continuing studies at the “Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo”. He worked as an in-house draftsman and sketch artist for “Teleantillas TV” and as an illustrator for the “Secretaria de Estado y Educacion, Bellas Artes y Culto” in his native Dominican Republic.

His eventual move to New York City in 1994, led him to Izquierdo Studio, where worked as a painter and silk screener for a variety of projects such as the feature films Spiderman 1 & 2, and The Woods: the Broadway shows Beauty and the Beast, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Rent, Miss Saigon: the opera’s Four Saint in Three Acts, Madame Butterfly; commercials for Hershey’s Kit Kat, Old Navy; window displays: for Wathne, Polo/Ralph Lauren, Victoria‘s Secret, Nautica and special events such as Bette Midler’s fundraising galas Hoolaween I and II at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

He has also worked with Heidi Pettee Designs, Inc., New York as a head painter for displays and a mural for Richard Leeds International and Rosie Magazine’s feature story.

He also worked for the Warner Brothers flagship store in New York City as a head painter and craft specialist for a variety of in-store and window displays including Harry Potter voted as one of the top ten Christmas windows in the year 2000 by the New York Post.

Since 2005 he works as an art teacher for a Studio in a School and in 2006 he studied the ancient technique from the renaissance, “The Mische Technique” with the very well-known artist and founder of the Society for Art of the Imagination, Brigid Marlin.

His works have been exhibited in solo and group shows in The Dominican Republic, The United States, England, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Cyprus, and Japan. Some of the group shows in which he has participated are: “Sacred Art”, Lofthouse Gallery, Wessobrunn, Germany. “Flights of Imagination”, The Brick Lane Gallery, London, England. “JAALA 2008 Exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tokyo, Japan; “The Society for Art of The Imagination”, Associazione Sassetti Cultura, Milan, Italy; “In This Life”, Reflections on War & Politics, at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Fort Collins, Colorado; “Artexpo New York” at the Jacob Javitts Center.

The most recent of his six solo shows was “Now and After” at the Center for Latino Art and Culture at Rutgers University, NJ.

In 2008 traveled to North Cyprus invited by the municipality of Kyrenia to participate in a workshop and exhibition for the Olive Tree Festival in Girne.

In 2010 he was nominated and selected as one of the recipients of the 2010 “EL Awards” a recognition given annually by El Diario La Prensa to the most outstanding Latino men in the tri-state area.

In 2011 was invited by the TellUsArt organization to participate in “Keep Our Planet Alive” a workshop and exhibitions in Dharampur, Himachal Pradesh, and New Delhi in India.

He has been commissioned to paint various portraits, among them a portrait of Diane Von Furstenberg, which was used for her fashion show in 2002, and the portrait of Walt Whitman commissioned by the collector Ed Centeno.

Artist Statement

I was introduced to the spiritual life during my childhood by my mother. She knew that I was going to need information that would explain things that were happening to me. She gave me many books that opened a whole new fascinating world, books that helped me lose my fear “to hear” and “to see” by understanding spiritual phenomena. I embraced mystical power, images, and messages in later years. Indeed, they have become an integral part of my artistic career.

Some of my works explore themes ranging from traditional religious dogma and prejudice to the instinctive and emotive nature of human sexuality. Though these two subjects are traditionally represented as being poles apart, I aim to demystify the prejudices and preconceptions which divide them, and instead, connect them through a contemporary interpretation that is rational, thoughtful, and honest, as well as spiritual and sacred. This interpretation is never intended to be controversial or offensive, but rather, conciliatory and revealing.

Each painting conveys a personal method of communicating and expressing silent words within my interior world. Each color, tint, and shade stems from a complex spectrum of thoughts, perspectives, and narratives. Both high contrasts of light and shadow are indispensable when conveying the drama and complexities of the human body and spirit.

I believe in the new man of the new era. There is a transformation from the old beliefs into new ones. Art helps produce those transformations by touching the soul of the observer and leaving a seed that will germinate in the future.