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Jo-El Lopez is a painter from Paterson, NJ. He uses the visual storytelling of traditional realism to convey complex commentary on the intersection of faith and modernity.

The decades the artist spent under the Pentecostal doctrine informs his bold color palette and abstract approach, as well as older traditions of icon-making. These all meld together to create Lopez’s kaleidoscopic worldview. His collection of artworks reveals a restless and deeply engaged spirit that closely observes his immediate environment, but also the larger historical trajectory of national news.

Lopez’s work has been exhibited national and internationally, including exhibition at Gallery Aferro (Newark, NJ), BRIC (Brooklyn, NY), Bronx River Art Center (Bronx, NY), Celemente-Soto-Velez Center (NY), EFA Blackburn Print Center (NY), Union City Art Museum (NJ), Taller Boriqua (NY), and Casa de Cultura (San Juan, PR). He is the recipient of several local grants and awards, and his works are also featured in the permanent collection of the Newark Museum, El Museo Del Barrio, and the HELP USA organization. He has also created several large murals in Newark, NJ

Lopez is an artists-in-residence at Gallery Aferro Studios in Newark NJ.