Jorge Luis Rodríguez
Orisha / Santos – An Artistic Interpretation of the Seven African Powers
February 13 – April 4, 2026
Obatalá/Virgen de las Mercedes, 1984-85 Welded steel
THE BIRD TRAPPED WITHIN THE PANDEMIC LABYRINTH, 2020 carved wood, welded steel, feathers
Jorge Luis Rodriguez brings back an immersive investigation and recreation of a seminal installation first presented at the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art (MoCHA) in 1985. Rodriguez (b. 1944, Puerto Rico) explored the spiritual and cultural intersections of Afro-Caribbean traditions in Orisha/Santos: An Artistic Interpretation of the Seven African Powers (Orisha/Santos). Groundbreaking at the time of its creation, the installation emerged from a collaborative effort between Charles Abramson (d. 1988) and Rodriguez, two artists working at the forefront of the installation and land art movements of the 1970s.
Bringing the language of geometric minimalism into his sculptural investigations, Rodriguez describes his artistic evolution as moving “from a minimalist artist to an artist who uses minimalism,” blending the style with figurative abstraction. Despite the work’s smaller scale at Taller, Rodriguez’s art possesses a sense of monumentality and physical presence.
The first half of the gallery features a selection from Rodriguez’s broader oeuvre. The rear space will showcase the recreated Orisha/Santos installation, produced in collaboration with two Philadelphia-based artists deeply connected to Santería: Yoanny Aldaya and Danny Melendez. Reprising his original method, Rodriguez painstakingly forms each deity from cut steel sheets that embody the potent syncretism between symbol and belief, each retaining the spirit and individuality of its ancestral form.
In this series, Obatalá—one of the oldest and most revered Yoruba deities—is depicted as a dual figure representing both mercy and justice. To evoke this dual nature, Rodriguez carved the deity’s crown into sheets of steel, alluding to its royal and spiritual status, and merged it with the iconography of the Virgen de las Mercedes (Our Lady of Mercy). This synthesis bridges Christian and Yoruba traditions, further emphasized by the inclusion of small cotton pieces symbolizing the compassion and purity shared by both divinities.
Through each deity’s interpretation, Rodriguez challenges colonial narratives, highlighting the will and resilience of those who preserved their cultural identity against oppression. His work de-romanticizes colonialism, revealing how Africans resisted enslavement and sustained their beliefs, transforming survival into an enduring act of artistic and spiritual defiance.
Jorge Luis Rodriguez (b. 1944, San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a pioneering multidisciplinary artist whose career bridges minimalism, site-specific installation, and Afro-Caribbean cultural expression. After moving to New York in 1963, Rodriguez absorbed the city’s emerging art movements—minimalism, optical art, and later, environmental art—before “abandoning the canvas” to pursue sculpture in the 1970s.
Following studies at the School of Visual Arts and New York University, where he worked with figures such as Louise Bourgeois and Brice Marden, Rodriguez developed a visual language that fused formal precision with symbolic and cultural depth. His early works, shaped by Harlem and SoHo’s alternative art scenes, reflected a growing dialogue around multiculturalism and art in public space.
In 1985, he gained recognition for Growth, the first commission of New York City’s Percent for Art Program, and for Orisha/Santos: An Artistic Interpretation of the Seven African Powers, which explored Santería’s spiritual iconography well before it entered the mainstream art world.
Painted steel
Later projects, including A Monument to 500 Years of the Cultural Reversal of America, expanded his practice into large-scale conceptual installations informed by research across the Americas, Spain, and North Africa. Now retired from teaching, Rodriguez continues to create in his New York studio, developing works that blend decades of artistic inquiry with deep spiritual and cultural resonance.
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Opening Reception
Friday Feb 13, 2026 | 5:30pm - 8pm
Curator, art critic, and art historian Susana Torruella Leval comments on the career of artist Jorge Luis Rodríguez, including his public works and sculpture.