Labiosa Retrospective Wows at CMC Arts

M.A. Dworkin

ST. Croix - Wilfred Labiosa is an artist who has tasted life in a myriad of ways. He is the epitome of the street-raised craftsman, plying his trade in every imaginable manner. He has taken it upon himself to wrestle with the canvas to make a living and support his family. He has also allowed his patrons to take a peek inside his mind and try to unearth the mysteries and secrets of the intimate visions of his multi-layered private world. By forcing us to look deep into his art, we recognize that here lived a great man who left giant footsteps. Here lived an important man that in many ways transcended his world of art, to become a man for all seasons who fought the good fight and won.

In his Labiosa: A Retrospective, curated by his son Wilfred Labiosa, a posthumous show that opened recently at CMCArts in Frederiksted, we see an artist who is at home with almost any type of setting, any scene, any vision. He travels with such ease from the streets of New York, to textile patterns, to the waters of the Caribbean, that one could almost wonder if it is possible for all his creations to be contained in the vision of just one artist.

By viewing this vast collection of his work, that covers a great deal of the wall space at the ever-enchanting second floor gallery of CMCArts, his history seems to shanghai us without the hope of ever letting  go. Through his art, we find out much of what there is to know about this man whose life seems to have been filled with hard-fought decisions, the excitement of hair-pin career turns, and more than a dab of glamour, all that sprouted from his rough and tumble beginnings as a garment and textile designer in the New York Garment District.

Early on, he was commissioned by the great retail giant Lord & Taylor to design a blouse that showcased the many sites of New York. The blouse was a component of the uniform used in the New York pavilion during the 1964-65 World’s Fair held in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. 

Mr. Labiosa also designed covers for books and music records, as well as advertising campaigns. He worked in animation projects for television while living in his adopted home of Puerto Rico. 

Wilfred Labiosa was a well-versed artist, working with sculptures, and silk-screens to fine china, from textiles to modern art. His scenes of Puerto Rico, from the countryside to Old San Juan, explore the beauty that enticed him to move to the island in the late 1960’s and establish Galeria W. Labiosa, in Old San Juan, an extremely influential gathering of artists, for many years, among the oldest art galleries in Puerto Rico.

In his Self-portrait rolling textiles, 1961, acrylic on canvas, we recognize the unmistakable feel of New York, of his early days making his way in the garment world. As he pushes the racks of clothing through the streets of Manhattan we can feel the grit and power of the man. He has already decided he will be a force no matter what path he takes.

Yet, in Mr. Labiosa’s Self-portrait, 1962, acrylic and oil on wood panel, it is almost like a veil has been lifted from this extraordinarily talented man. The blotched colors that surround his figure only act to emphasize his presence. He has arrived. He walks firmly into the world. He knows the path he must take. He knows the mark he will make.

In his Impulsivismo Series, a collection of modern art paintings from around 1990, Mr. Labiosa blasts away at the interiors of the viewer’s mind. He challenges the senses, plays with our imagination, celebrates the universe as an unimaginable invention. He has taken the gloves off here, a far distance from the streets of New York. 

Renacimiento, acrylic on paper, 1990, there is no doubt we are entering the mind of a master artist. He explodes on the canvas with a torrent of energy that could have occurred during the early days of creation, the spark that ignited all of life. It calls out to the viewer: This is our world! It is alive! 

We are alive! And so it begins!

Free Spirits, acrylic, 1989, again a scorching connection to the early days of man. The advancement of civilization. Birds in flight. Ships at sea. Here cometh all the wonders of creation. Here cometh all the colors and beauty that make life grand.  

His career spanned five decades. He was a pioneering Nuyorican artist, educator and cultural visionary who was born on the impressionable streets of Harlem to Puerto Rican parents. Throughout his life, he has  carved a wide swatch of artistic excellence in the Caribbean and Puerto Rican worlds of art. 

It is said by his son that he loved jazz. And in his honor, CMCArts presented St. Croix’s best of jazz. The cooler-than-cool “We 3” trio of Marsvyn David, Dimitri “Pikey” Copeman and Elvis Pietro could not have played homage to this great artist in any more classy fashion. They served up the cool feel of the old days of Havana and Old San Juan. The soft, sweet sounds of Cuban- Puerto Rican music captured the night in the CMCArts courtyard. Are you listening, Wilfred? 

Barb’s Bites, dished out the Eastern Caribbean flavor, with ridiculously delicious coconut rum cakes, a refreshing black bean and corn salad, and a Cubano Slider that “Papa Hem” probably couldn’t have gotten enough of at his Havana hangouts.

His son Wilfred, who serves on the CMCArts Board of Directors, carries his father’s torch with the love a son has for his father, a man that showed him the way life can be lived with style and dignity. 

The showcase at CMCArts is the first venue on a worldwide tour. Labiosa: A Retrospective closes November 8, 2025.