CONDUCTOR: Juan José Barboza-Gubo

April 29 – May 3, 2026
  • CONDUCTOR

    CONDUCTOR

    Praise Shadows presents a solo booth by Peruvian artist Juan José Barboza-Gubo, featuring the large-scale installation: Desborde. The multiple acrylic segments, each containing brilliant flashes of neon orange and yellow, deep blue, and a jungle’s worth of greens, are inspired by mosaic tiles the artist discovered in the remnants of a burned-out building in Iquitos, a city fringed by the Amazon rainforest in Peru.  “This building was a heritage site that caught on fire five years ago,” he has said. “It faced the Amazon River and when it caught on fire only the external structure survived. I’m using the imagery of the tiles in the building, the geometry and the structure of those tiles, how they’re literally falling apart.”  This work was originally on view at Boston University Art Galleries in the exhibition Trasluz / Translucent (2025), organized by Sarah Montross, Museum Director and Chief Curator, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum/The Trustees. Barboza-Gubo’s work is the result of layering bright oil paints within a thick, frosted acrylic medium, which is meant to dissolve the piece’s borders and “allow you to see the interior of the [work].” Unlike with a canvas, light is able penetrate the material he uses, creating a dimensional effect on the paints trapped within. 

    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Retorno, 2022
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Retorno, 2022
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece A1), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece A1), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece A2), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece A2), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece A3), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece A3), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece A4), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece A4), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece A6), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece A6), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece A8), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece A8), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece A9), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece A9), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece B3), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece B3), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece B4), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece B4), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece B5), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece B5), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece B6), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece B6), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece B7), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece B7), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece B8), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece B8), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece B9), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece B9), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece B11), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece B11), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece B12), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece B12), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece B13), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece B13), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece C1), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece C1), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece C2), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece C2), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece C3), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece C3), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece C4), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece C4), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece C5), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece C5), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece C6), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece C6), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece C8), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece C8), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece C9), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece C9), 2024
    • Juan José Barboza-Gubo Desborde (Mural Piece C11), 2024
      Juan José Barboza-Gubo
      Desborde (Mural Piece C11), 2024

  • Juan José Barboza-Gubo

    Juan José Barboza-Gubo

    Juan Jose Barboza-Gubo (Peru, 1976) received his Bachelor’s Degree at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (graduating with honors). He received MFA degrees in Painting and in Sculpture, both from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Solo exhibitions include: Museum of Contemporary Art, Peru; Memory Museum, Peru; The Museum of Sex, New York; Inter Kultur Foto Art; Instituto Francés de Stuttgart; Museo Colonia Bogota Colombia; Galeria German Kruger Espantoso ICPNA-Peru; The Fitchburg Museum; among others. Recent awards of note include the 2019 Fellowship in Photography from the Mass Cultural Council, 2019 Icpna arte contemporaneo second award, 2018 Photolucida Critical Mass: Top 50, 2016 Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture, 2015 Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fellowship in Painting, and others. In 2014 he was named the Breakout Artist of the Year by Artscope Magazine. His exhibitions have been reviewed in publications such as The Boston Globe, Artscope Magazine, Artsy, PRI’s The World, The Huffington Post, The Advocate, The Houston Press, El Comercio (Peru), and Lenscratch. Barboza-Gubo currently teaches at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.