Biography:

Jo-El is a New Jersey native who uses the visual storytelling of traditional realism to convey complex commentary on the intersection of faith and modernity, the strength of family, and the multidimensional contemporary urban experience. 

The decades the artist spent under the Pentecostal doctrine, a bold color palette informed by both abstract painting as well as the older traditions of icon-making, all meld to create Lopez’s kaleidoscopic worldview. His collection of artworks reveals a restless, deeply engaged spirit closely observing his immediate environment and the more significant historical trajectory of national news.

Lopez asserts, “Originally, I studied business and fine arts at Kean University and at Montclair State University and was prepared for a life in the corporate arena. However, my life’s journey has led me back to artmaking and my true passion. My work shows my voyage from that life choice to now.” Since leaving the business world to focus on art, Lopez’s work has appeared regularly in tristate art venues. 

His greatest accomplishment thus far is being in the permanent collection of both The Newark Museum of Art  (The Millennial Guardian Angel and The Kiss at the 16th Street Baptist Church) and The Zimmerli Museum of Art (The Stoning of Saint Stephen).