SELECTED PROJECTS

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How to Build an Island brings together a series of small-format acrylic paintings and charcoal drawings that approach the island as a symbolic concentration of Creation and, at the same time, as a representation of the artist’s country of origin: Puerto Rico. The works begin with an image of the island in a primordial state, before its transformation by the structures, systems, and human actions that over time alter and deteriorate its nature. The island thus becomes a space where the natural, the imagined, and the constructed coexist.

The series uses fragmentation as both a visual and conceptual device. The paintings incorporate elements of collage through the layering, separation, and reorganization of forms and images, creating compositions in which each fragment contributes to the construction of a whole. The charcoal drawings explore this same idea through a more direct and gestural approach. Together, the works propose different possibilities for constructing and reconstructing the island: a territory that refers to Puerto Rico, but also functions as a symbolic representation of Creation before it is transformed by human societies and their processes of intervention, deterioration, and decline.

La Buena Fortuna is a recent body of work by Puerto Rican artist Fabián Detrés, comprising paintings and installations produced between December 2024 and March 2025. Conceived as a personal reflection on the complex and layered experience of migration, the series spans seven years of the artist’s life, marked by displacement, adaptation, and a persistent search for purpose and belonging.

Within this broader project, the series 4,645 holds a distinct place. Named after the estimated number of deaths—direct and indirect—resulting from Hurricane María’s catastrophic passage through Puerto Rico in 2017, 4,645 addresses one of the most recent and poignant triggers of Puerto Rican migration. Using a mix of spray paint, acrylic, and silkscreen ink on canvas, the works offer fragmented, abstract compositions that evoke the emotional and social ruptures caused by the disaster. Rather than presenting literal scenes, each painting operates as a visual mosaic—an open field for mourning, reflection, and memory.

La Buena Fortuna as a whole moves between irony and invocation. The title references both the randomness of fate and the artist’s belief in proactive resilience—the proverbial “praying to God while swinging the hammer.” It also hints at the magnetic force of desire, echoing the popular understanding of the law of attraction: to visualize, to act, and to move towards prosperity. Through this series, Detrés channels personal narrative into a broader cultural statement, offering a visual testimony to the cycles of departure and return that shape Puerto Rican identity today.

De Verde y Cordillera is a series of small and medium-sized oil paintings on paper, created between 2020 and 2021. This group of paintings was exhibited under the same name at the "Galería Senatorial Antonio Fas Alzamora" in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in mid-2021.

The series explores the various shades and tones of the color green and primarily represents the landscape of the Central Mountain Range in Puerto Rico. Comprising 20 pieces, these paintings are the artist's personal interpretation of how nature astonishingly recovered following the devastation caused by hurricanes and earthquakes on the island between 2017 and 2020.

In 2017, Fabián Detrés emigrated to the United States, specifically settling in the State of Texas. There, he joined the ranks of the petroleum industry, working as an inspector of chemical products and petroleum derivatives alongside his two male siblings, who had emigrated to the United States long before him.

Upon his return to Puerto Rico, he begins a series of studies for the project titled A Shift / C Shift, which emerges as a sincere expression of gratitude and in honor of his brothers. The series portrays both brothers as cowboys, alluding to the ruggedness and danger of their work. The series is also a commentary on migration and all its consequences.

Neon Palm is a photographic series inspired by the late 1980s and early 1990s Miami fashion and trends.

This is a digital photography project that approaches abstraction, light, and color saturation in an uncomplicated manner through broad fields of color and undefined shapes.

Throughout his journey through various facets of the visual arts, the artist Fabián Detrés has recurrently used photography as a creative resource and mode of expression.

Lacking formal education as a photographer, the artist acknowledges his limitations and prefers an intuitive approach to photography, free from heavy editing, relying solely on his knowledge of painting, composition, and color theory.

His photography is generally symbolic and somewhat intimate, which is why he prefers it to be devoid of human presence, except on rare occasions.

Chapa koons is a short series created between 2008 and 2010, during which the artist delves into the distinctive elements of "Pop Art."

These are paintings on both paper and canvas, ranging from small to large formats, in which Detrés appropriates and reinterprets in his own way the foundational and distinctive imagery of the Pop Art movement.

In 2009, the artist Fabián Detrés was granted a scholarship by the "Karrvaz Foundation," based in Valencia, Spain, as well as the "III Millenium Scholarships." These opportunities allowed him to carry out various artistic projects during his residency in Albacete, Spain.

One of these projects was the series of studies conducted for an ongoing and unfinished project titled Papel Tapiz. These works confront taboo subjects, the uncomfortable, and the politically incorrect, boldly presenting them as decorative objects for all to see.

A series of paintings and installations in small, medium, and large formats created throughout the year 2007, briefly revisited in 2010.

This series is an exploration of the human psyche and behavior through the bold colors of a saturated circus. Color, lights, and shadows painted with the freedom of an expressionist hand. It's a very personal work, intended for self-critique.

Circo Lunar is a peculiar bestiary featuring characters somewhere between caricature and the seven deadly sins of Dante's Inferno.

Luz y Reflejos was an exhibition inaugurated on Thursday, September 1st, 2005, at the Art Gallery of the Universidad Sagrado Corazón in Santurce, Puerto Rico. The curatorial  work and room design were overseen by the Puerto Rican architect and collector Octavio "Otto" Reyes Casanova.

This exhibition marked the initial phase of an experimental project of the same title, in which the artist distorted the perception of reality through extensive photographic compositions, lights, and reflections.

Piedra Filosofal a series created between the years 2000 and 2001 at the beginning of the artist's professional career. These are abstract works in small and medium formats that marked a phase of exploration and personal discoveries for the artist, both technically and conceptually.

Through the use of ink, solvents, tar, and other unconventional materials, each piece in this artistic proposal reflects an alchemical transformation, where the raw becomes refined, transmuting into beauty.