Mariojosé Ángeles

Curator · Researcher · Multidisciplinary Visual Artist · Founder & CEO of MUPALBA

Mariojosé Ángeles is a Dominican curator, researcher, multidisciplinary visual artist, and Founder & CEO of MUPALBA (Regional Museum of PALOblanco), an emerging museum institution based in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. Over a professional career spanning more than three decades, he has established an interdisciplinary practice that integrates artistic production, curatorial research, cultural leadership, museum development, and international cultural cooperation.

His work is distinguished by an ongoing commitment to the relationship between art, architecture, cultural heritage, the humanities, and contemporary thought. Through both artistic and institutional practice, Ángeles has developed projects that promote dialogue between creative production, historical memory, sustainability, and cultural innovation.

A defining milestone in his artistic career was the solo exhibition Caribbean Icons, presented in 1997 at the Regional Archaeological Museum of Altos de Chavón. Following this exhibition, he was selected by the jury of the prestigious Grands et Jeunes d’Aujourd’hui Salon in Paris, initiating a period of sustained international recognition that expanded his presence within the European art scene.

Between the late 1990s and the first decade of the twenty-first century, Ángeles resided in Brussels, Belgium, where he lived and worked for nine years. During this period he developed an extensive artistic and curatorial practice through exhibitions, international collaborations, institutional partnerships, and cultural exchange programmes linking Europe and Latin America. His works are represented in public and private collections in the Dominican Republic, Belgium, France, Italy, Greece, and other countries.

“For Mariojosé, museums are not merely repositories of objects—they are living spaces where research, heritage, creativity, and international collaboration converge to shape the cultural memory of future generations.”

Ángeles initially studied Architecture at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) before dedicating his career fully to the visual arts. He trained in painting under the celebrated Dominican master Guillo Pérez and later pursued sculpture studies at the Jean Jacques Galliard Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels.

His multidisciplinary artistic practice encompasses painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, installation, video, digital art, graphic design, and emerging technologies applied to contemporary artistic production. His work has been presented in major international exhibitions and biennials including the Florence Biennale, Artiade – Athens Olympic Games Cultural Programme, the Arad Biennale, PHOTOimagen, the Dominican National Biennial of Visual Arts, the Photography and Video Biennial, the International Ceramic Tile Triennial, and exhibitions in Rome, Paris, Spain, and Los Angeles.

His institutional leadership extends beyond artistic production. He founded the ARTE TOTAL Festival in 1997, served as Cultural Attaché of the Embassy of the Dominican Republic to Belgium, the Netherlands, and the European Community, and became a founding member of the Ibero-America Forum in Europe, fostering cultural diplomacy and artistic exchange between Europe and Latin America.

Throughout his career, Ángeles has curated landmark projects including ARTE TOTAL, HECHO AQUÍ, IMAGINACIÓN EMPAPELADA, BYBLOS, MASCARILLA, the CROMA Project, #AAPlicados: Innovation Technology Art Exhibit, the ALMAQUAS proposal for the Venice Biennale, and Green Hearts (2025), an exhibition bringing together thirty-nine Dominican artists to explore the relationship between art, sustainability, and environmental awareness.

Today, he leads the conceptual and strategic development of MUPALBA as Founder and Chief Executive Officer, overseeing its international partnerships, curatorial direction, museum vision, and long-term institutional growth. Across more than thirty-nine years of professional practice, Mariojosé Ángeles continues to champion an interdisciplinary vision where museums become essential spaces for knowledge, cultural memory, civic dialogue, and international cooperation.