With the support of the Gómez-Mena family Jorge furthered his own personal studies in the arts with frequent visits to Paris, Madrid, Rome, and New York City.
[6][7][4] Their group was considered more informal and eccentric though also a significant force in Miami's early art scene with each going on to win awards and critical recognition.
[8] Jorge was a neighbor of famed Cuban artist Juan González while they resided within the main business and cultural hub of Coral Gables, Florida during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
[5][10] This led to Jorge, Gomez Franca, and Perkins quickly becoming frequent fixtures of the Permuys' popular “Fridays” event series of weekly exhibition openings followed by evening salon gatherings.
[5][10] As their visibility increased, Jorge further immersed himself in the gallery's growing network and social orbit, which included business, cultural, and political figures in the greater South Florida area.
[4][3] Over the ensuing decade Jorge would build on this exposure with increased media interviews, public engagements, and exhibitions in numerous locations throughout South Florida (Coral Gables, Miami, Coconut Grove), Detroit, and Spain (Madrid, Malaga)[1] and remained close with Gomez Franca and Perkins, maintaining weekly meetings.
[6] A year after his Bacardi exhibition Jorge appeared on Enfoque, a popular Spanish-language television program, where he was interviewed to discuss his views on contemporary art.
[2] That same year, Jorge was commissioned to design the event logo for the inaugural Re-Encuentro Cubano exhibition series, held in June, which would run annually until 1980.
[8] On February 2, 1977 he gave a high-profile lecture on the art of Amelia Peláez, a major influence of his, and the Cubist movement sponsored by the Miami-Dade Public Library System.
[14] In October of that year he also organized and led the illustrated conference "Jose Miguel Rodriguez: A Caribbean Painter in the Middle of Castille" in Miami.
[1] In addition to architecture, Jorge also drew influence from the art of Amelia Peláez as well as Cubist approaches and themes rooted in psychological introspection, spirituality, and his Cuban cultural heritage.
[1] Like his close associates Lourdes Gomez Franca and Dionisio Perkins, Jorge - the oldest of the three - is considered part of the modernist Vieja Guardia of Cuban Art that followed the Vanguardia movement.
[6] Showing the influence of architecture, Jorge often used color to highlight and draw contrast to form, figures, and patterns in order to keep these elements at the forefront.
[1] He is credited as founding member Miami’s Latin American art market and became closely associated with other leading participants, including the Grupo GALA, Juan González, the Permuys, and particularly Dionisio Perkins and Lourdes Gomez Franca.
[5] Notable examples include Humberto Calzada, who Jorge mentored, and Pablo Cano, who would eventually collaborate extensively with Gomez Franca beginning in the 1980s and 1990s.
The exhibition was held from January 24 - February 24 of 1985 and featured painted works from his Profeta series, ceramics, and Jorge’s portrait series of notable figures in his circle including: Dennis Perkins, Lourdes Gomez Franca, Marta Permuy, Juan Gonzalez, Jose Mijares, Baruj Salinas, Humberto Calzada, Rafael Consuegra, art critic Lillian Dobbs, as well as Cuban socialite and Vanguardia patron Maria Luisa Gomez Mena.