Bruno Casiano is a Puerto Rican painter based in Cleveland Ohio who combines traditional and contemporary art. He is on the one hand rooted in forms and themes inspired in traditional Puerto Rican silk screens, with characteristic solid colors, imagery and shapes from his native Island and on the other hand free to explore innovative collage, stencil, pyrography and other non-traditional mixed media techniques. In the end, despite the artistic departures, the flavor of Casiano’s work remains strongly Puerto Rican in essence.
Born in Gary, Indiana, the son of a steel worker, Bruno’s family moved back to their hometown, Juana Diaz, a rural community in Puerto Rico, when he was 10 years old. Young Casiano developed an interest in art awakened by these rural surroundings and by the awareness of living in an Island, which made an impression on him. In his present work, regardless of the technique he chooses, from a traditional perspective he emulates the look and feel of silk screens, which are important in Puerto Rican tradition. In addition to that, the imagery of mountains, mangos, ceiba trees, caves, leaves, branches and water, and colors and forms in high contrast are common themes in Casiano’s work.
In Puerto Rico, he studied painting at the School of Plastic Arts in Old San Juan in the early 1980s. He pursued further studies in illustration at The School of Design, Altos de Chavon in La Romana, Dominican Republic and, in the mid-1990s, at the Cleveland Institute of Art in Ohio. For a few years he owned and curated the Bruno Casiano Gallery in the West side of Cleveland. The Gallery eventually became unviable, but Bruno Casiano continues know and be known by most artists in the area.
One distinct innovation in some of his work features the decoration of the frames he uses for his art. Not wanting to stop at the edge of the canvas, Casiano paints, wraps, stains and engraves the pine wood frames he uses with written text and poetry of his own authorship, carved with a nail or pyrograph, or wrapped with vintage magazine cutouts, creating a literally expressive frame for his artwork. Casiano receives regular commissions and his work is frequently on exhibit.
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COMISSIONS:
Cleveland Museum of Art
Commissioned Artist
Official Poster Design for Parade the Circle Celebration: 1999, 2003 and 2014.
Cleveland Museum of Art
Commissioned: Featured Artist
Chalk Festival: 90'-2002
Fort Wayne Museum of Art
Commissioned Artist
Official Logo and Chalk Workshop: 1999 & 2002
Clark-Metro Development
Commissioned Artist
Design street banner for local community development center: 2001
Julia De Burgos Cultural Art Center & Clark Elementary
Commissioned Artist
ICARE Program: Development of Cultural Mask Making Workshop: 1997
Hispanic Business Association
Design program brochure for Annual Fundraiser: 1996 -2001
Westside Ecumenical Ministry
Commissioned Artist
Fine Arts Painting for a social service agency: 1997
SHPE National Convention Logo Design 2018
ART SHOWS:
2014 GROUP SHOW, Bruno Casiano Gallery Cleveland, Ohio
2014 GROUP SHOW, "NEW NOW" TRI-C COLLEGE Cleveland, Ohio
2014 GROUP SHOW, Beck Center, Lakewood, Ohio
2013 SOLO SHOW, Gene Brandt Gallery Cleveland, Ohio
2012 GROUP SHOW, HECTOR VEGA STUDIO, KIRTLAND,
2012 CAIN PARK ART FESTIVAL, CLEVELAND HTS. OHIO
2011 SOLO SHOW, JEAN BRANDT GALLERY, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2009 GROUP SHOW, NATIONAL PUERTO RICAN CONTEMPORARY ART SHOW, SAN JUAN, PR
2009 GROUP SHOW, “HISPANIC HERITAGE CELEBRATION”, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2009 ONE MAN SHOW, MASTR0IANNI GALLERY, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2009 GROUP SHOW TRI-C COMMUNITY COLLEGE, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2008 GROUPS HOW, “BILINGUAL” SPACES GALLERY, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2008 GROUP SHOW, “CLEVELAND” ASTERICK GALLERY, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2008 GROUP SHOW, WEST SIDE COMMUNITY HOUSE, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2008 GROUP SHOW, “THE 19 SHOW” ASTERICK GALLERY, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2007 GROUP SHOW, “HISPANIC HERTIAGE MONTH” CITY HALL, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2007 GROUP SHOW, CURATOR AND ARTIST, COLUMBUS LATINO ARTS FESTIVAL COLUMBUS, OHIO
2006 GROUP SHOW, ASTERICK GALLERY, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2005 GROUP SHOW, CENTER FOR THE ARTS, COLUMBUS, OHIO
2004 GROUP SHOW BRUNO CASIANO GALLERY, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2003 GROUP SHOW ASTERICK GALLERY, CLEVELAND, OHIO
2002 GROUP SHOW, BECK ARTS CENTER, LAKEWOOD OHIO
2001 GROUP SHOW, DEAD HORSE GALLERY, LAKEWOOD, OHIO
2000 GROUP SHOW, HISPANIC AWARNESS, BOWLING AND GREEN UNIVERSTY, TOLEDO, OHIO
2000 GROUP SHOW, OHIO LATINO ARTS ASSOCIATION, TOLEDO, OHIO
1999 GROUP SHOW, JULIA DE BURGOS ARTS CENTER, CLEVELAND, OHIO
1999 GROUP OHIO LATINO ARTS ASSOCIATION, LORAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE, LORAIN, OHIO
1999 SOLO SHOW, CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO
1999 GROUP SHOW, CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY, CLEVELAND, OHIO
1998 GROUP SHOW, KEITH RANDALL GALLERY, CLEVELAND, OHIO
1998 GROUP SHOW, JULIA DE BURGOS ARTS CENTER, CLEVELAND, OHIO
1998 GROUP SHOW, CUYAHOGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, CLEVELAND, OHIO
1998 GROUP SHOW, OHIO COMMISSION ON LATINO AFFAIRS, COLUMBUS, OHIO
1997 GROUP SHOW, WINDHAM HOTEL CLEVELAND, OHIO
1996 SOLO SHOW, FOLK ART GALLERY, CLEVELAND HEIGHTS OHIO
1995 GROUP SHOW, ANNUAL LATINO SHOW, FOLK ART GALLERY, CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO
1995 GROUP SHOW, ART AT THE POWER HOUSE GALLERY, CLEVELAND, OHIO
1994 GROUP SHOW, MIDWEST NATIONAL CONFERENCE, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS