Jose Baez

Jose-Aurelio (b.1986)is a visual artist and native New Yorker. In 2008, after finishing the BFA program at Carnegie Mellon, he returned to New York to begin a collective called TryHarderNYC. The collective focused around making art accessible to the public, curating art experiences, including an interactive disposable camera archive, video projects and group shows. In 2013 he turned his art towards social service by contributing work to non-profit organizations including Sing for Hope and Creative Youthink. Today Jose Aurelio is Co-Director on the advisory panel for Creative Youthink, a nonprofit creative-arts social justice youth development organization. Along with fellow Puerto Rican artist Sofia Maldonado the program initiates learning experiences in the arts for young underprivileged artists of color. His work has shown at galleries including Lazy Susan Gallery, Brecht Forum, ConArtist, Magnan Metz, Site:Brooklyn, and PS109 Artspace. Commissions include work with Droga5, VH1, Soho Hospitality Group and SpinNYC. In the past three years his work has been highlighted in several interviews with Vice Creators, Logui Projects and the JCrew blog.