Juan Boza Sánchez


Juan Boza Sánchez or Juan Stopper Sanchez was a gay Afro-Cuban-American artist specializing at painting, drawing, engraving, installation and graphic design.
Boza studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro" from 1960 to 1962 and then from 1962 to 1964 at the Escuela Nacional de Arte both located in Havana, Cuba. He was expelled from San Alejandro due to "political issues" and became a lithographer with the Experimental Graphic Workshop in 1965.
Boza was fired as a result of the Congress of Education and Culture which convened in 1971 and led to the censorship of many artists in Cuba. In the years between 1971 and his exodus from Cuba in 1980 Boza restored religious statues to earn a living.
In 1980 Juan Boza managed to escape Cuba to New York via the Mariel boatlift. Boza described New York as a "tremendous shock" and upon arriving in New York "had to re-build Juan Boza from scratch." Boza began developing an Afro-Cuban theme that he realized was part of his culture after leaving Cuba, as well as his participation in the Santeria religion. According to Jaun Boza, "There is no distinction between my faith and my aesthetics."
He lived in New York City from 1980, when he arrived during the Mariel boatlift until his death, at Brooklyn Memorial Hospital, working at the Printmaking Workshop, the Lower Eastside Printshop and the Art Student League.

Exhibitions

In 1964, Sanchez presented a personal exhibition in the Galería Provincial de Camagüey in Cuba. Four years later, he created "Stopper: Gouaches, Drawings and Lithographies," shown at the Gallery of Havana. In 1983, Sanchez exhibited "Juan Stopper: Black Mysticism" at the Latin Inter-American Gallery in New York. In 1984, his art was exhibited at the Museum of African Americans in Buffalo, New York. In 1990, he presented "Juan Boza's World" at the Ollantay Gallery in New York.
Sanchez also participated in many collective exhibits. He first group showing was in the 1960 Freedom for Siqueiros at the Seguro Médico Building in Havana. In 1970, he exhibited pieces in Salón 70 at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana; in 25 Latin American Engravings at the Gallery Pablo Picasso in Mexico; and in the Fourth American Biennial of the Engraving in Santiago, Chile. In 1975, he participated in the Ninth International Print Biennial at the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, Japan. In 1983, he appeared in the Sixth Biennial of Latin American Engraving" at the Navy Arsenal in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1984, he appeared in the Third Latin American Graphic Art Biennial.

Individuals Exhibitions

In 1967 at the Latin American Gallery in Casa de Las Américas in Havana, Sanchez won the Portinari Prize in Lithography for his "Exhibition of Havana."
His work is in a number of collections: the British Broadcasting Corporation in London, UK; the Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba; the Tapes Inc. Foundation in New York CityA; the Museum of the Independent University of Mexico in Mexico City; and the 'Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana.