Studio Space: Jorge Blanco

Though Jorge Blanco is known for his bright, vibrant sculptures scattered throughout Sarasota and multiple countries, his studio tells a different story. Tucked away on Irving Street in the Alta Vista neighborhood, his workspace is like the offspring of an auto body shop and architect’s office.

The space is a mix of a roar of saws and power tools combined with the fresh smell of pencil shavings and metallic notes. This stark space is where he creates colorful images of people on bicycles and roller skates and lounging and even schnauzer dogs.

“My passion is creating public art,” says Blanco. “I feel it’s a direct communication with the people. I also just like having more people enjoying and talking about my art. The more people that see my work the better.”

Blanco fell in love with art when he was just 12 years old in his hometown of Caracas, Venezuela. He was smitten with a painting by French abstract artist Auguste Herbin. The painter’s geometric and colorful design clearly influenced Blanco. He went on to study at the Neumann Institute of Design in Caracas under such influential European artists and designers as Gego and Cornelis Zitman. In between graduating in 1971 and moving to Sarasota in 1999, Blanco studied in Rome at the Academy of Fine Arts and worked as a graphic designer, sculptor, cartoonist and as a creative director at El Museo de los Niños (the Children’s Museum) in Caracas.

“I keep asking myself the same question all the time: Where did I find this style?” says Blanco. “But I think it’s a mix. I was working in illustration, graphic design and a center for children. I think I just mixed everything in the blender and this is the result.”

Mouse over the image below to explore Blanco's studio space.