Juan Rosillo is a Colombian artist born to an Italian mother in Neiva, Colombia in 1953. He grew up in Colombia, immigrating to the United States in 1983, and has now been residing in Southern California for over twenty years. The combined influence of these three cultures and their distinct perspectives, have inculcated his rich artistic expression, as well as his deep commitment to rigorous technical skill.
Rosillo’s involvement in fine art dates from his childhood when he participated as a young artist in various local art shows. Studying ceramic, drawing, printmaking, and art history, his first commissioned public artwork was in 1973, when at the age of 20, he was commissioned by his native city to complete a ten foot by twenty foot fresco.
After coming to the United States in 1983, Rosillo began working with Lev Moross at Moross Studios as a fine art printmaker. As an artist with his own ideas and appreciation for art, Rosillo opened American Serigraph, his own fine art printmaking atelier, a year later. Shortly after opening his atelier, he entered into a partnership with Santiago Samper, owner of Samper Silkscreen, which was already one of the most important fine art serigraph printmaking houses in the United States.
American Serigraph and Samper Silkscreen became two of the leading fine art printmaking houses in the United States. American Serigraph produced fine arts limited editions for some of the most prestigious art dealers and art publishing houses worldwide including Martin Lawrence Limited Editions, Disney, and Playboy to name just a few. Rosillo also expanded his printmaking activities into traditional etching and stone lithograph.
Over the years, the artist has won several commissions and has been published repeatedly in books documenting the history of Colombia.
Most recently, Rosillo installed a 10 ft bronze at Riverfront Park, commissioned by the city of Maywood. Recently he created a series of drawings for Mayor Antonio Villarraigosa Million Trees L.A , L.A. the artwork was used throughout the city on posters and bus stops to promote the 2007 Environmental Youth Conference was distributed as educational material for more than 3500 students attending the event. The artist was also was commissioned by Chapman University to design a life size bust of the opera composer Giacomo Puccini.
Rosillo produces the bronzes locally and also has his own facility to produce ceramic tiles where the artist plasm his images using hand printed serigraphy. This allow the artist to have complete control over the production and fabrication process. He prefers bronze, metals and ceramic for art in public places because the materials withstand the exposure to the elements for a long time and are practically maintenance free. In this times of digital printing and instant gratification his love for printmaking and the traditional etching techniques is evident looking at the limited editions he produces.
Rosillo is always exploring and developing new dimensions in his work. Sculpture, Painting, Drawing, Etching, Serigraph, Stone Litho, Tile, Mosaic – this Roman born to Colombia and creating art in the United States is a modern day renaissance man.
