Proyecta Group
MANIFESTOSanto Domingo, 1968
The purpose of this collective demonstration is to reaffirm the freedom of
the artist and his systematic rejection of any attempt to
subordinate art to commerce and propaganda.
Consequently, defend the integrity of the means of expression that
we have against any bad intention of an unconscious critic subject to
economic and personal interests, which deliberately divert public
opinion, for selfish and speculative purposes.
Within our future activities, we intend to spread the reality of
Dominican Plastic Arts and its historical trajectory at a popular level,
in various and successive exhibitions, of a definitively didactic nature,
establishing direct and regular contact with the public.
We are also, and in a very particular way, interested in preserving
the prestige and historical position of Dominican values consecrated
through years of work and dedication and which are the logical basis
for present and future generations of artists.
Domingo Liz
Draftsman, sketcher, sculptor and painter. Graduated of plastic arts at the
National School of Fine Arts.He is one of the
managing pillars of the PROYECTA Group.
His trajectory counts with numerous prizes received in national and international biennials.
He combined his artistic production with the teaching practice
at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo and at the School
National Fine Arts.
The paintings and drawings are characterized by colors and particular forms,
his characters show a cartoonish aspect, with an evident and voluntary
anatomical disproportion.
National Visual Arts Award (2012)
Ada Balcácer
“Ada Balcácer is a creative volcano capable of turning everything she touches into art. Ada breaks the molds to make novelty. She is an emblem of Dominican painting and a universal painter”.
Cocó Gontier
In 1951 she graduated from the National School of Fine Arts, later on, Ada Balcácer taught
engraving classes at her Alma Mater. She also studied at the University of Puerto Rico,
the Art Students League and the Fashion Institute of Technology, both in New York City.
As a professor, she directed the drawing chair of the Department of Architecture of the
Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. In 1980 she formed a program for the
professional development of women called Women Applied to Industry.
National Visual Arts Award (2011)
Fernando Peña Defilló
He studied at the National School Fine Arts from 1949 to 1951. At the end of
this period he settles in Europe, starting with Spain, where he joined the
Spanish Informalism. In 1963 he returned to Santo Domingo.
Innovator of the national painting and one of the main introducers of abstractionism
in the Caribbean. His work is characterized by symbolism and spirituality, he worked with
great emphasis on black and white culture. Peña Defilló is considered the father of Dominican Informalism.
National Visual Arts Award (2010)
Gaspar Mario Cruz
He studied at the National School of Fine Arts. Awarded
two first prizes in National Biennials of Plastic Arts carried out in the
city of Santo Domingo in the years 1956 and 1958.
National Visual Arts Award - Post Mortem (2020)
Leopoldo Pérez
He studied art at the National School of Fine Arts, where he received high
distinctions. He lived a few years in the United States and later obtained a
scholarship to study in Madrid, in both places he participated in
individual and collective exhibitions.
From the beginning he was attracted to the pictorial humanism that made him confront
personal interpretations of immediate aspects of life, without frills, without
naturalistic detail and without arbitrary drama. In his works, figurative compositions
are built from fragmented forms defined by thick lines.
Luis Felipe Félix Gontier
He was born in Bordeaux, France (1941), to a Dominican father and a French mother. An
excellent draftsman, sketch artist, his paintings are an undeniable cult of the human
figure, which he deforms at the whim of his love for curvy lines. His pictorial language
of volumes and colors recalls in his paintings the works of Taíno ceramics and sculptures.
He is sometimes hurtful and dramatic in his work. The sense of color is controlled and
his forms move in large areas where the roundness of his compositions predominates,
almost always taken from a transformation in movement of the human figure.
Thimo Pimentel
Visual artist, educator and author. Outstanding drawer, sketch artist, interested in research
and the possibilities of various materials; he has worked with wood, stone, acrylic, glass,
fabrics, metals and ceramics since 1963. The PROYECTA Group was an excellent school for Pimentel.
In the last 30 years he has dedicated himself to ceramic murals, to writing, and scientific research.
He is the creator of the International Ceramic Tile Triennials (elit-tile), Contemporary
Ceramic Museum and the Furtive Art Movement, with actions of art and culture
unprecedented in the national plastic arts scene. Member of the International
Academy of Ceramics since 2018.
National Award for Visual Arts (2016)
Ramón Oviedo
His work presents strong strokes and colors that evoke harshness, sleaze,
cruelty, but also humanity. The abstraction and expressionism that prevails in
them, make up the psychic world of man with his abysses and solitudes.
He obtained important national and international awards and recognitions.
Murals and paintings are exhibited in various museums and international forums,
in public and private collections. Ecuadorian painter Oswaldo Guayasamín
described Ramón Oviedo's painting as an "explosion of unprecedented colors and shapes."
National Award for Visual Arts (2013)