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Jorge Luis Rodríguez: The Playing of the Music Boxes – Featuring Timbalona Collective
March 28 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
The Event
The Timbalona Collective is a dynamic percussion ensemble rooted in the vibrant traditions of Afro-Caribbean and Latin American folk music. This performance will realize Jorge Luis Rodriguez’s long-held dream of seeing his sculpture series, The Music Boxes, played as musical instruments.
The Sculptures
Created in 1981 while Rodriguez was a resident artist at the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Cajas musicales are crafted from welded steel and deeply influenced by African Art. Each of the eight boxes is distinct, possessing its own unique aesthetic and resonance. Rodriguez’s work has always been experimental, pushing the boundaries of modernism and redefining our understanding of sculpture. Join us for this inaugural event—45 years in the making.
About the Artist
Rodríguez is a pioneering multidisciplinary artist whose career bridges minimalism, site-specific installation, and Afro-Caribbean cultural expression. After moving from Puerto Rico to New York in 1963, he absorbed the city’s emerging art movements—minimalism, optical art, and environmental art—before “abandoning the canvas” in the 1970s to pursue sculpture. Following his studies at the School of Visual Arts and New York University, he developed a visual language that fuses formal precision with symbolic and cultural depth. His early works, shaped by the alternative art scenes of Harlem and SoHo, reflect a growing dialogue regarding culture, modernism, and art in public spaces.
