JONATHAN CARELA b.1991
Is a multidisciplinary artist from the Dominican Republic. His practice explores human behavior and the social structures that shape it through a critical reinterpretation of the Caribbean landscape as a space of tension between the political, the emotional, and the symbolic.Inspired by personal and collective experiences in both urban and rural Caribbean contexts, Carela draws on everyday language, improvisation, irreverence, and humor as formal and poetic tools. Through painting, video, and sculpture, he challenges social imaginaries, questions colonial legacies, and evokes symbolic forms of resistance, while also proposing the possibility of constructing a visual memory from the margins.
Carela received three associate degrees in Altos de Chavón, the school of design, D.R.: Graphic design (2013), Fine Arts (2014), and Author’s cinema (2020). His work has been shown in the Dominican Republic, New York, and Miami.
CV
EDUCATION
2013 Associate’s Degree, Graphic Design, Altos de Chavón, La Romana, D.R.
2014 Associate’s Degree, Fine Arts, Altos de Chavón, La Romana, D.R.
2020 Associate’s Degree, Author Cinema, Altos de Chavón, La Romana, D.R.
GROUP SHOWS
2025 Poemas de Sal y Tierra, Homework Gallery, Miami, Fl.
2024 Act I: The Showcase, Ala Projects, New York, NY.
2024 Pulso1, Modafoca Galería, Santo Domingo, D.R.
2024 UNBOUND, curated by Mary Pena & Aurelis Troncoso at Michigan State University*
2023 Hormiga Caribe, Homework Gallery, Miami, FL.
2023 Nuevas Visiones: Conexiones Transculturales, CODAP, Santo Domingo, D.R.
2023 OJOS CARIBE, Casa Mella Russo, Santo Domingo, D.R.
2022 Centro de la Imagen, Santo Domingo, D.R.
2019 Mestura, Wao Gallery, Altos de Chavón, La Romana, D.R.
2018 Ego Vaina, Sala Alternativa de Exposiciones del Centro León, Santo Domingo, D.R.
2015 Confluencia en Rojo, Julio Valdez Project Space, New York, NY
2014 VISIÓN 7, Museo Cándido Bidó, Bonao, D. R.
2014 Exhibición de Apertura: Casa Quien, Casa Quien Gallery, Santo Domingo, D.R.
2014 Del Entorno, Galería Plataforma Panorama, Santiago, D.R.
2014 Inauguración, Dogo Gallery, Santiago, D.R.
*Part of Michigan State University’s permanent collection.
AWARDS
2018 Altos de Chavón, Film Scholarship, La Romana, D.R.
2016 California College of Arts, Arts Scholarship, San Francisco, CA
2013 Altos de Chavón, Fine Arts Scholarship, La Romana, D.R.
2011 Altos de Chavón, Graphic Design Scholarship, La Romana, D.R.
PROGRAMS & RESIDENCIES
2023 Edge Zones Art Center, Miami, FL.
2017 Programa de Formación Continua, Centro Eduardo León Jiménes, Santiago, D.R.
PANELS
2023 Meca Art Fair: Ruralizades
2024 UNBOUND at Michigan State University: Exploration of spatial acts and visions within the Black Latinx diaspora.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2016 - 2018 Scenic Painter, Various Film & TV Projects, D.R.
2015 - 2016 Professor of Photography, Applied Arts & Print Making, Plaza de La Cultura Art School, Bonao, D.R.