Soraida Martinez

Who is Soraida Martinez?

Soraida Martinez is a contemporary abstract expressionist artist who creates hard-edge paintings, which she calls Verdadism. She was born in Harlem, New York City, USA on July 30, 1956, to parents born in San Germán, Puerto Rico, one of the oldest Spanish settlements in the Americas, founded in 1511.

Since 1992 Soraida Martinez has been known as the creator of Verdadism, a form of hard-edge abstraction where each painting is accompanied by a written social commentary. Viewers are drawn to both the artist's abstract paintings and her commentaries on humanity and the universal human condition. According to Martinez' artist's statement, "My art reflects the essence of my true self and the truth within me...My struggle is for recognition, acceptance and inclusion; and, against racism, sexism and the dominant eurocentric male society, which never expected much from me but still did not allow my voice to be heard. My belief is that one must empower oneself with one's own truth...".