Towers Cabaret 2020

By Luis Rafael Cancel

This work originates from a series of experiments I undertook in 2003 called “Electronic Paintings” where I was seeking to include the element of time in a two-dimensional surface. The Towers image is the result of having lived through the trauma of 9/11.

About the artist

Luis Rafael Cancel

Luis R. Cancel – artist, arts administrator, and distinguished public servant – is the only person in the country to serve as the head of Cultural Affairs for two major cities: New York (1991-1994) and San Francisco (2008-2011). He is an international Curator of Latino and Latin American art and has served as a consultant to foundations, private corporations and non-profit groups in the areas of strategic planning, institutional development and cultural facilities planning.

In 2009 Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Mr. Cancel to the federal National Museum of the American Latino Commission (2009-2011), established by Congress and the President to study the potential creation of such a museum as part of the Smithsonian Institution. He continues to champion the creation of the museum.

For fourteen years he was the Director of The Bronx Museum of the Arts, completed a major capital campaign and secured and renovated a 56,000 sq. ft. permanent home for the Museum on the famous Grand Concourse.

He has advanced degrees from Harvard University (MPA), New York University (MA) and Pratt Institute (BFA) and is a native son of the South Bronx.