The Artist
Wyrbel Familia was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. At an early age, he showed his inclination for the fine arts, going through his first steps in drawing and painting. While on this path he was involved in a deep investigation process into the different painting techniques and styles.
He attended the Art School of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), after first graduating with a bachelor’s degree in advertising (creativity and management) from the first University of America, where he demonstrated remarkable progress in different art disciplines such as drawing, painting and sculpture, plus illustration and design. During his professional career as a visual artist, he has had 11 individual exhibitions to his credit and more than 60 group shows of which the following stand out:
- Canvas of the Dominican Identity, (Dominican Man Museum D.R, 2005).
- Dominican College of Visual Artist (Santo Domingo D.R 2005)
- Subsistentia Solo Exhibition (CODAP D.R, 2006).
- 30 Artist in Rome (Italy Rome 2006)
- Contemporary Drawing Museum (Santo Domingo D.R 2006)
- Visual Field II, (Dominican Man Museum D.R, 2006).
- The informal Labor in Dominican Republic, Solo exhibition (The New School for Social Research, 5th Avenue Manhattan NY 2007).
- Taking Notes, Recognition of Merit and Multicultural contribution (Boricua College, Bronx NY 2007)
- European Academy Solo Exhibition, (Santo Domingo D.R, 2007)
- Alegorias Solo Exhibition, (Rio Pent House Gallery I, Manhattan NY, 2008)
- Juan Pablo Duarte life and Work, (National Panteon D.R 2008).
- Dominican Historical Chronography (National Panteon D.R 2009).
- 165 Anyversay of Dominican Republic Independence (Boricua College Bronx NY 2009)
- Masks I, Solo Exhibition (Rio Pent House Gallery II, Manhattan NY 2009).
- Looks of the Night (Royal Houses Museum, Santo Domingo D.R 2009)
- Masks II “The Transition”, Solo Exhibition (Rio Pent House Gallery II, Manhattan NY 2010)
- Bodies Melody Solo Exhibition (Rio Pent House Gallery II, Manhattan NY 2011)
- Incorporatus (Culture Ministry, Santo Domingo D.R 2011)
- Art Expo NY (Manhattan NY, 2015)
- The Inmortal Republic of Duarte, Historic exhibition shown in more than 32 cities simultaneously, same night/ same time, 80% based in the historic work of Wyrbel Familia (Around the whole country of D.R 2015)
- Dominican Independence Solo Exhibition (Organization of American States OEA, Washington DC 2016)
- Ceremony of Duartiano’s Institute Solo Exhibition (Capitol Hill Washington DC 2016)
- International Merengue Day (Tampa FL, 2022)
- 1st Place Art Jazz Contest 2023 at Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa FL.
His artwork stand out in private collections in Dominican Republic, Italy, France, Germany, Spain among others, which express a great recognition to his talent and dedication to the Visual Arts. Up to date is a member of the Dominican School of Fine Artists (CODAP) and the Fine Artists International Association (AIAP – UNESCO).