Alejandro Anreus is a curator, art historian and critic who has focused his research on

Latin American Art Latin American art is the combined artistic expression of South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, as well as Latin Americans living in other regions. The art has roots in the many different indigenous cultures that inhabited the ...

. Though he began his career as an artist, Anreus is now an art historian and poet, and is professor of art history and Latin American/Latino Studies at

William Paterson University William Paterson University, officially William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), is a public university in Wayne, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Founded in 1855 and was named after American ju ...

. Among his many accomplishments, Anreus is a two-time recipient of the Oscar B. Cintas Foundation and has worked as a curator with public collections such as the Montclair Art Museum and the Jersey City Museum during his career.

Early life and education

Alejandro Anreus was born in

Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

on 11 September 1960. He later migrated to the United States as a result of the

Cuban Exile A Cuban exile is a person who emigrated from Cuba in the Cuban exodus. Exiles have various differing experiences as emigrants depending on when they migrated during the exodus. Demographics Social class Cuban exiles would come from various eco ...

of 1950s-1970s and settled down with his mother, two aunts and grandmother in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

. Anreus earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in art history at

Kean College Kean University () is a public university in Union and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Kean University was founded in 1855 in Newark, New Jersey, as the Newark Normal School. Initially establi ...

, where he was influenced and mentored by Marxist art historian Alan Wallach, and then his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

at The Graduate Center, CUNY.

Career

Artistic Practice

From 1981 through 1987 Anreus was represented by Schweyer-Galdo Galleries, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he had a one-person exhibition of his drawings every two years. After a hiatus, he participated in American Voices in 2004, his last exhibition, a two-person linoleum prints and photography exhibition with photographe
Julio Nazario
Edge Art, Rahway, New Jersey.

Curatorial practice

Alejandro Anreus has worked as Curator at the

Jersey City Museum The Jersey City Museum was a municipal art museum in Jersey City, New Jersey. The establishment opened in 1901 and was housed in the main branch of the Jersey City Public Library. It relocated to a new building in 2001, but due to financial dif ...

(1993-2001) and the

MontClair Art Museum The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) is located in Montclair, New Jersey, United States, a few miles west of New York City. Since it opened in 1914 as the first museum in New Jersey that granted access to the public and the first dedicated solely to a ...

. He also regularly participates in panels and seminars on Latin American art and art and politics of the 1930s. Exhibitions such as

Ben Shahn Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – March 14, 1969) was an American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as ''The Shape of Content''. Biography Shahn was bor ...

and The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti at the Jersey City Museum, Juan Sánchez: Printed Convictions, Subversions/Affirmations:

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (born 1940) is a Native American visual artist and curator. She is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and is also of Métis and Shoshone descent. She is also an art educator, art advocate ...

, A Survey and Bending the Grid: Luis Cruz Azaceta at the Aljira Center for Contemporary Art in Newark, NJ have been part of his curriculum as a curator. In 2015, he guest curated the exhibition Gloria Rodriguez Calero: Urban Martyrs And Later Days Santos,

Museo Del Barrio El Museo del Barrio, often known simply as El Museo (the museum), is a museum at 1230 Fifth Avenue in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is located near the northern end of Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile, immediately north of the Museum of the City ...

, New York.

Works and publications

Alejandro Anreus has focused critically on the role of politics within the modernity of Latin American and Latino Art. Covered in his research are topics such as muralism, political art of the 1930s and the life and work of Latino artists. His articles have appeared in Art Journal,

Third Text ''Third Text'' is a leading peer-reviewed academic journal covering art in a global context. After founder and editor Rasheed Araeen's earlier art magazine ''Black Phoenix'', which started in 1978 and published only three issues, ''Third Text'' ...

Art Nexus ''ArtNexus'' is the leading magazine to cover the contemporary art of Latin America. From its documentation center in Bogota, the magazine covers visual art and architecture. By publishing in both Spanish and English, the magazine fulfilled its go ...

and Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana. His most recent publications are Ben Shahn and The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (Jersey City Museum and

Rutgers University Press Rutgers University Press (RUP) is a nonprofit academic publishing house, operating in New Brunswick, New Jersey under the auspices of Rutgers University. History Rutgers University Press, a nonprofit academic publishing house operating in New B ...

, 2001)
Orozco in Gringoland: The Years in New York
(

University of New Mexico Press The University of New Mexico Press (UNMP) is a university press at the University of New Mexico. It was founded in 1929 and published pamphlets for the university in its early years before expanding into quarterlies and books. Its administrative ...

, 2001), an
The Social and The Real; Political Art of the 1930s in the Western Hemisphere
(

Penn State Press The Penn State University Press, also known as The Pennsylvania State University Press, was established in 1956 and is a non-profit publisher of scholarly books and journals. It is the independent publishing branch of the Pennsylvania State Uni ...

, 2006), which he co-edited with Diana L. Linden and

Jonathan Weinberg Jonathan Weinberg (born 1957) is an American artist and art historian. He is a critic at the Yale School of Art. Early life Weinberg grew up in New York City and attended the Fieldston School. He studied as an undergraduate at Yale University wi ...

. Since 2003, Professor Anreus has been part of the national advisory board of the "A Ver" series of

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

s. This is the first series of monographs focused on living Latino artists. This multi-volume project was funded by the Getty and Rockefeller Foundations and is based at the

Chicano Studies Chicana/o studies, also known as Chican@ studies, originates from the Chicano Movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, and is the study of the Chicana/o and Latina/o experience. Chican@ studies draws upon a variety of fields, including history, sociol ...

Department at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. He has lectured on notable topics such as Latin American Visualities a
Lehigh University Art Galleries
in 2006, and Revising Orozco at the

Pomona College Museum of Art The Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, known colloquially as the Benton, is an art museum at Pomona College in Claremont, California. It was completed in 2020, replacing the Montgomery Art Gallery which had been home to the Pomona College ...

in 2014. Professor Anreus completed Mexican Muralism, A Critical History (in collaboration with Leonard Folgarait of Vanderbilt and Robin Adèle Greeley of

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

), which was published by

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

at the end of 2012. In 2014 he published a monograph on Cuban-American painter Luis Cruz Azaceta. Anreus was a panelist at the conference o
Modern Cuban Art in New York: The MoMA Exhibition of 1944
at the CUNY Graduate Center in 2014. As a poet he has authored Memento mori (2010) and Los exilados suenan (2013).

Awards

*1979: Oscar B. Cintas Foundation *1986: Oscar B. Cintas Foundation *1990: New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Individual Artist Grant (Drawing)

Selected exhibitions

*2004: American Voices (two person with photographe
Julio Nazario
, Edge Art, Rahway, New Jersey *From 1981 through 1987 Anreus was represented by Schweyer-Galdo Galleries, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he had a one-person exhibition every two years *2015: Urban Martyrs And Later Days Santos,

, New York

Public collections

Art Museum of the Americas Art Museum of the Americas (AMA), located in Washington, D.C., is the first art museum in the United States primarily devoted to exhibiting works of modern art, modern and contemporary art from Latin America and the Caribbean. The museum was forma ...

, Washington, DC *

The Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

*The Detroit Institute of Art *Museo del Papel Omar Rayo, Roldanillo, Colombia *Museo José Luis Cuevas, Mexico City *Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ * The Montclair Art Museum, Catedral de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anreus, Alejandro 1960 births Living people 21st-century Cuban poets Cuban art historians Cuban emigrants to the United States William Paterson University faculty Cuban academics CUNY Graduate Center alumni Artists from Havana