The editorial categories are research topics that have guided researchers during the recovery phase and continue to be the impetus behind the Documents Project’s digital archive and the Critical Documents book series. Developed by the project’s Editorial Board, each of the teams analyzed this framework and adapted it to their local contexts in developing their research objectives and work plans during the Recovery Phase. Learn more on the Editorial Framework page.
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In the introduction that Rolando López Dirube wrote for the exhibition catalog Dirube, La Romana, the artist—a Cuban exiled in Puerto Rico—mentions that the works in the show were produced between 1973 and 1975 in a studio on La Romana beach in the Dominican Republic. He also comments on his studios in Cataño and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Dirube places particular emphasis on the wood used in his sculptures as well as the ongoing subject matter of his work, which he defines as “access—whether on a conceptual level or by force—to the other side of surfaces.”
In the exhibition Dirube, La Romana, held at the museum of the Universidad de Puerto Rico from December 9, 1975–January 9, 1976, the sculptor presented thirty-five sculptures made in different media (wood, plastic, and concrete) and four series of drawings. The sculptures include Cráneo [Skull], Edificio [Building], Planetarium, Montaña [Mountain], Armadura [Armor], Esfera alterada [Altered Sphere], Moebius I and II, Orégano III [Oregano III], and Coraza [Shell]. Rolando López Dirube (1928–1997) studied at the Universidad de La Habana in Havana, where he was born. He went on to study at the Art Students League of New York and the Brooklyn Museum Art School. He settled in Puerto Rico in 1961. His work centered on sculpture, graphic arts, and murals. Within the artistic milieu, he is known only by his last name, Dirube.