Printmaker José Armando Medina Sanabia, who often goes by José A. Medina, was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on June 21, 1977. He attended the Academia Profesional de Artes Plásticas, José Jaoquin Tejada where he received a degree in Advanced Studies in Visual Arts, emphasis on printmaking and drawing, 1996. He would later became Head of the Printmakers Board (2000 - 2008), and in 2003 he obtained his Bachelors in Education of Visual Arts from the Frank País Garcia University of Pedagogical Sciences, Santiago de Cuba. Additional training included courses in artistic stained glass with Maestro Juan Ros Mary; papermaking with Argentine papermaker Ricardo Crivelli; drypoint printmaking with Italian engraver Angelo Di Garbo; aquatint workshop with Belle Benfield; and digital graphic design.

His specialty is 'collagraph,' a print technique that he learned from the first Print Masters that introduced it in Cuba. He was a practicing visual artist and a printmaking professor at Luis Diaz Oduardo Cultural Workshop and the Fine Arts Academy in Santiago de Cuba for 12 years. At present, he is a member and practicing visual artist of  CRAM Gallery and Collective in St. Catharines, Ontario. In 2009 he became the Print Master and Coordinator of CRAMpress, the CRAM International Print Studio.

In addition to teaching engraving at the Academia Profesional de Bellas Artes, Sanabia is currently associated with the Luis Diaz Oduardo Cultural Workshop in Santiago de Cuba, and is a member of the Hermanos Saiz Association. His work has been shown internationally, including in the U.S., Canada, England, Spain, Italy, Australia, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, and more, and is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Maria, Colombia; Center of Visual Arts Development, Santiago de Cuba; Cultural Workshop, Santiago de Cuba; and the Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota. Sanabia currently lives and works in Ontario, Canada.

Selected solo exhibitions:
2010 CRAM Gallery, St. Catharines, Canada, “Transitions”
2008 Francoise Sullivan ́s Studio. Montreal, Canada, “Vibrations”
2008 Niagara Artists ́ Centre. St. Catharines, Canada, “Vibrations”
2008 Gallery of Universal Art. Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, “Vibraciones”
1997 Cultural Workshop. Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, "Two realities and a truth”

Selected group exhibitions:
2012 St. Catharines Museum, Ontario, Canada. Travelling museum exhibit “Art-of-Fact” (Commissioned
artwork for bicentennial celebration of the War of 1812.)
2011 Qijiang. China. 3rd Qijiang International Print Festival.
2011 Benedicto Calixto Art Gallery. Sao Paulo, Brazil. First International Print Biennial “Santos 2011”
2011 Centre Culturel l’Ermitage at Rueil-Malmaison, FRANCE. 27th Salon de l’Estampe Contemporaine.
2011 Trois-Rivieres, Canada. 7th Biennale internationale d'estampe contemporaine
2011 CRAM International. St. Catharines, Ontario. The littlest print exchange
2011 Spark Box Studio. Picton, Ontario. The littlest print exchange
2010 Penang State Art Gallery, Penang, MALAYSIA. 2nd. Penang International Print Exhibition 2010
2010 CRAM Gallery, St. Catharines, Canada, “The Best of CRAM”
2009 Chateau Park Museum & Art Centre - Niagara Falls, Canada, “Dos Grupos de Siete (+2) / Two Groups
of Seven (+2)”
2008 R Gallery, Niagara Falls, Canada, “Terra Incógnita”
2008 Caixanova, Ourense. Spain, 10th International Biennial of Printmaking
2008 Art Gallery Brock University. St. Catharines, Canada, “Exhibition of Cuban artists”
2007 Niagara Artists ́ Centre. St. Catharines, Canada, “Cuban Art”
2007 Centres of Visual Arts Development, Santiago de Cuba and Havana, Cuba, 7th National Event of
Printmaking
2007 Museum of Anthropology “José María Luis Mora”, Ocoyoacac, Mexico, “Under the Mexican sun: Cuba”
2006 Collateral to the Biennial of Havana, Cuba, National Event of Printmaking “The multiple trace”
2005 Experimental Centre of Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba, 3rd National Festival of Ephemeral Sculpture
2005 Exhibition Hall, National Theatre of Cuba, Havana, Cuba, “No contrapositions, no distances”
2004 Oriente Gallery, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, International exhibition of the Caribbean
2004 National Exhibition of Printmaking, Havana, Cuba
2001 Germany, “Kubanische Kunst”
2000 Estampa Artística Gallery, Madrid, Spain
1999 Cultural Workshop, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, “Collographic matrix”
1998 Group shows, United States, Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, and Australia.
1997 Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Marta, Colombia,”Expressions of Cuba”
1996 Mont Falcon Gallery, Barcelona, Spain, “Printmaking and drawing”

Selected awards:
2011 Honorable Mention. 7th Biennale internationale d'estampe contemporaine. Trois-Rivieres, Canada.
2007 National Mention of Printmaking. 7th National Event of Printmaking. Center of Visual Arts. Havana, Cuba.
2005 Religious Art Exhibition Award from the Claret Association of the Antilles. Cultural and Missionary Promotional Centre Art Gallery, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
2005 First Award. National Festival of Ephemeral Sculpture, Experimental Centre of Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba
2004 First Award from the Cultural and Missionary Promotional Centre, Christmas Art Exhibition, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
2002 Award “Salón de la Ciudad 2002”, Oriente Gallery, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
2001 Award from the Centre of Visual Arts Development for the Contribution to the Cultural Development of the City. Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
1997 Decoration “Guest of Honor of Santa Marta City”, Santa Marta, Colombia