Freddy Rodríguez was born in the Dominican Republic. He migrated to the United States in 1963, at age 18, fearing backlash for his leftist political activity.

Working in geometric abstraction, Rodríguez focused on crisp lines and the two-dimensionality of the canvas. He studied textile design, which shaped his experimentation with bold colors. And he created across media, including painting, collage, and sculpture.

Rodríguez’s art often called out the lack of artists of color in museum collections. Some of his titles reference authors such as Julio Cortázar and Gabriel García Márquez. And some works feature symbols that nod to Latinx and Afro-Caribbean history. In 2006, Rodríguez created a memorial for the victims of a flight that crashed on its way to the Dominican Republic. The outdoor memorial, which faces the Atlantic Ocean, includes the names of the deceased.