Manny Vega (born 1956) is an American painter, illustrator, printmaker, muralist, mosaicist, and set and costume designer. His work portrays the history and traditions of the African Diaspora that exist in the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

Early life

Vega was born in Bronx, New York, in 1956. He joined the artist collective

Taller Boricua The Taller Boricua, in Manhattan, New York is a multidisciplinary cultural space founded in 1969 by Puerto Rican artists to promote the arts and culture of the Puerto Rican community in El Barrio/East Harlem, as well as to offer a platform to under ...

in 1979 where he studied through 1986. While there he was also a pupil of Harlem printmaker Robert Blackburn at his Printmaking Workshop from 1980-1990.

Works

Among Vega's public art projects are a mosaic mural at the Pregones Theater in the Bronx, a mosaic mural portrait of Julia De Burgos in East Harlem, a series of mosaic panels for the 110 street train station, also in East Harlem, as well as a series of painted murals throughout New York City. For many years, Vega has been teaching visual arts for organizations such as

El 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 Cit ...

, the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

, the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, and the Caribbean Cultural Center. He has exhibited extensively in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Brazil. Vega has created set designs and costumes for

DanceBrazil DanceBrazil is an American dance company based out of New York City, which presents works based upon the dance and music of the Brazilian culture. The company particularly excels in performances of works from the Afro-Brazilian artistic movemen ...

and The American Place Theater. Since 1984, Manny has been traveling to Salvador, Bahia in Brazil, where he has been initiated into the Afro Brazilian temple known as "Ile Iya Omi Ase Iya Masse". As a member of the temple, his creative talents have been utilized to create some of the most elaborate ritual costumes and accessories. His work in this medium has been documented by the Fowler Museum of UCLA, the Smithsonian, as well as Dartmouth College. This body of work has been documented in the book, ''Beads, Body, and Soul: Art and Light in the Yoruba Universe'', as well as the book, ''The Yoruba Artist''. His current focus is to create a series of mosaic projects, based on study of classic Byzantine mosaic fabrication, to adopt this style to modern day imagery, which he calls "Byzantine Hip Hop". Vega has a studio on 103rd Street in

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

Personal life

Vega was married to his wife Anna Araiz who died of brain cancer in October 2001. She has been the subject matter of several of his pieces.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Manny 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists American scenic designers 1956 births Living people