Imagecity
29 Sep 2011 - 22 Jan 2012
IMAGECITY
Selections from Video Cubano
29 September, 2011 – 22 January, 2012
A compilation of recent videos from The 8th Floor, featuring established and emerging artists based in Cuba that explores a dynamic contemporary world through the lens of Cuban culture. These videos treat a range of subjects, from politics and the Castro regime to more lyrical concerns involving symphonic cityscapes and shifting skyscapes. Artists include Jeosviel Abstengo-Chaviano, Analía Amaya, Adonis Flores, Luis Gárciga, Ricardo Miguel Hernández, Hamlet Lavastida, Ernesto Leal, Glenda León, and Lázaro Saavedra.
Jeosviel Abstengo-Chaviano
Currently living and working in the province of Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, Jeosviel Abstengo-Chaviano graduated from the Oscar Fernandez Morera Academy in 2002. Abstengo-Chaviano has won several awards, among them the Grand Prix at the second and third Espacio Cero Young Art Exhibition, and the Grand Prix at the XXII Provincial Plastic Arts Exhibition in Ciego de Ávila.
Analía Amaya
Born in Matanzas, Cuba, Analía Amaya lives and works in Santiago, Chile. Amaya graduated in 2004 from the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. She has been awarded the 2005 National Prize of Curatorship by Havana's National Council of Plastic Arts and first prize (audiovisual) in the VIII Salon of Digital Art, Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau, Havana (2006). Amaya is a member of the UNEAC (National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba), and has had work included in numerous international solo and group exhibitions that include Contemporary Art Ruhr, Festival of Contemporary Art in Essen, Germany (2010), the New England Festival of Ibero American Cinema in Providence, Rhode Island (2010), Making Connections: Contemporary Cuban Printmakers, Laconia Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts (2009), and the 2nd International Festival of Video Art in Camaguey, Cuba (2009), among others.
Adonis Flores
Adonis Flores is a multidisciplinary artist born in Sancti Spiritu, Cuba, and currently living in Havana. After studying in a military school and being sent to Angola to complete his military service in 1989, he entered the Universidad Central de Las Villas, Cuba, in 1992, and graduated as an architect in 1997. He has presented solo exhibitions including Memorial in 2010, Deeper Touch in 2009 and Cannon Fodder in 2007, all in Havana; Camouflages in Montreal, Canada (2008) and Mexico DF, Mexico (2007); and performed in Cuba, Canada, Colombia and United Kingdom. Group shows he has participated in are Complement Polarity, at Newcomb Art Gallery and New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 2010; Camouflages at Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain, 2009; VIVA! Art Action, Performance Art Festival, Montreal, Canada, 2009; Fotologia 6, International Festival of Photography, Bogota, Colombia, 2008, among other exhibitions and internationals fairs and festivals. His works are included in the collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba and the Gilbert Brownstone Foundation in France.
Luis Gárciga
Based in Havana, Luis Gárciga works in the field of video art, relational art and performance art. He graduated in 2001 from Academia Nacional de Artes Plásticas in San Alejandro, Cuba and later attended the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana's Arte de Conducta program, the first performance studies program in Latin America founded and directed by artist Tania Bruguera. In 2005, Gárciga was awarded the Spanish Agency for International Co-operation Curators' Prize for his “Bueno, Bonito y Barato” exhibition. Gárciga has taught at several institutions, and has been the artist in residence on projects in Havana and Madrid. Gárciga's works have been included in numerous international exhibitions and festivals including ¡Siempre en la lucha! Festival Loop, Mediateca de Caiza Forum, in Barcelona, Spain (2009), Video Experimental y Videoarte Cubano. Artistas Cubanos, Casa del Encuentro, Museo de Antiquia in Columbia (2009). Gárciga's work is included in the Cuban Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes collection.
Ricardo Miguel Hernández
Currently living in Havana, Ricardo Miguel Hernández graduated in 2009 from the Instituto Superior de Arte's Arte de Conducta program, founded and directed by artist Tania Bruguera. Hernández's video work has been shown extensively throughout Cuba in festivals and exhibitions that include the 8th International Film Festival in Holguín, Cuba (2010), World One Minutes at the Strawberry and Chocolate Film Centre in Havana (2010), the 9th Exhibition of New Filmmakers in Havana (2009) and the 2nd International Festival of Video Art in Camaguey, Cuba (2009), among many others. Hernández has received awards and special recognitions from the 9th Exhibition of New Filmmakers in Havana, Cuba (2009 and 2010), the National Photography Biennial IV in Pinar del Rio, Cuba (2009), and the 2nd International Festival of Video Art in Camaguey, Cuba (2009).
Hamlet Lavastida
Hamlet Lavastida is an interdisciplinary artist and performer based in Cuba. Lavastida studied at the Academia Nacional de Artes Plásticas in San Alejandro, Cuba and later attended the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana's Arte de Conducta program. Lavastida's site-specific installations are situated at the border between ephemeral art and social activism, often exploring the re-contextualization of the language and recent history of autocratic societies. Lavastida's performances and videos have been included in global exhibitions including the Liverpool Biennial, The Gwangju Biennale, Pontevedra Biennial, Nippon International Performance Art Festival, Caribean Contemporary Art VII, Espacio Aglutinador and 10th Havana Biennial.
Ernesto Leal
Born in Havana, Ernesto Leal graduated from the Art Academy of San Alejandro, Havana, Cuba in 1990. Leal's work has been exhibited at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the 7th Istanbul Biennial, National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo (MADC), San Jose, Costa Rica; Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New York; Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo (MEIAC), Badajoz; University of Salamanca, Spain; Museum of Modern Art (MAM), Mexico; D.F, Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museum of Contemporary Art (MARCO), Monterrey, Mexico; headquarters of the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IFA), Germany; and the Havana Biennial.
Glenda León
Glenda León graduated with a degree in Art History from the Havana University in 1999, and received her masters degree in New Media Arts at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany in 2007. She is currently based in Havana and Madrid. León has received the National Council of Visual Arts of The Cuban Ministry of Culture’s National Curatorship Award, and the UNESCO Art Award at the 7th Havana Biennial Exhibition. She has been an artist in residence at various international institutions. Her works in the collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana; George Pompidou Center, Paris; Rhode Island School of Design Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others.
Lázaro Saavedra
Lázaro Saavedra was born in Havana, Cuba graduating from the Instituto Superior de Arte in 1988 where he currently serves as a lecturer. Saavedra is the creator of Galerìa I-MEIL, a contemporary electronic art activism project. A former member of the Puré (Purée) group, and participant in the Pilón and ENEMA projects, Saavedra's recent exhibitions include the solo En una noche de terror cualquiera comete un crimen, CCCICAIC (2006) and the group exhibitions The Hours, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2006) and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2007); Killing Time, Exit Art, New York (2007); Turbulence, 3rd Triennial, Auckland Art Gallery (2007); Cuban Avant-Garde, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, Florida (2007); Regarding Fear and Hope, University of Art, Melbourne (2007). Saavedra has held residencies in the US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Cuba and the UK.
Selections from Video Cubano
29 September, 2011 – 22 January, 2012
A compilation of recent videos from The 8th Floor, featuring established and emerging artists based in Cuba that explores a dynamic contemporary world through the lens of Cuban culture. These videos treat a range of subjects, from politics and the Castro regime to more lyrical concerns involving symphonic cityscapes and shifting skyscapes. Artists include Jeosviel Abstengo-Chaviano, Analía Amaya, Adonis Flores, Luis Gárciga, Ricardo Miguel Hernández, Hamlet Lavastida, Ernesto Leal, Glenda León, and Lázaro Saavedra.
Jeosviel Abstengo-Chaviano
Currently living and working in the province of Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, Jeosviel Abstengo-Chaviano graduated from the Oscar Fernandez Morera Academy in 2002. Abstengo-Chaviano has won several awards, among them the Grand Prix at the second and third Espacio Cero Young Art Exhibition, and the Grand Prix at the XXII Provincial Plastic Arts Exhibition in Ciego de Ávila.
Analía Amaya
Born in Matanzas, Cuba, Analía Amaya lives and works in Santiago, Chile. Amaya graduated in 2004 from the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. She has been awarded the 2005 National Prize of Curatorship by Havana's National Council of Plastic Arts and first prize (audiovisual) in the VIII Salon of Digital Art, Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau, Havana (2006). Amaya is a member of the UNEAC (National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba), and has had work included in numerous international solo and group exhibitions that include Contemporary Art Ruhr, Festival of Contemporary Art in Essen, Germany (2010), the New England Festival of Ibero American Cinema in Providence, Rhode Island (2010), Making Connections: Contemporary Cuban Printmakers, Laconia Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts (2009), and the 2nd International Festival of Video Art in Camaguey, Cuba (2009), among others.
Adonis Flores
Adonis Flores is a multidisciplinary artist born in Sancti Spiritu, Cuba, and currently living in Havana. After studying in a military school and being sent to Angola to complete his military service in 1989, he entered the Universidad Central de Las Villas, Cuba, in 1992, and graduated as an architect in 1997. He has presented solo exhibitions including Memorial in 2010, Deeper Touch in 2009 and Cannon Fodder in 2007, all in Havana; Camouflages in Montreal, Canada (2008) and Mexico DF, Mexico (2007); and performed in Cuba, Canada, Colombia and United Kingdom. Group shows he has participated in are Complement Polarity, at Newcomb Art Gallery and New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 2010; Camouflages at Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain, 2009; VIVA! Art Action, Performance Art Festival, Montreal, Canada, 2009; Fotologia 6, International Festival of Photography, Bogota, Colombia, 2008, among other exhibitions and internationals fairs and festivals. His works are included in the collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba and the Gilbert Brownstone Foundation in France.
Luis Gárciga
Based in Havana, Luis Gárciga works in the field of video art, relational art and performance art. He graduated in 2001 from Academia Nacional de Artes Plásticas in San Alejandro, Cuba and later attended the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana's Arte de Conducta program, the first performance studies program in Latin America founded and directed by artist Tania Bruguera. In 2005, Gárciga was awarded the Spanish Agency for International Co-operation Curators' Prize for his “Bueno, Bonito y Barato” exhibition. Gárciga has taught at several institutions, and has been the artist in residence on projects in Havana and Madrid. Gárciga's works have been included in numerous international exhibitions and festivals including ¡Siempre en la lucha! Festival Loop, Mediateca de Caiza Forum, in Barcelona, Spain (2009), Video Experimental y Videoarte Cubano. Artistas Cubanos, Casa del Encuentro, Museo de Antiquia in Columbia (2009). Gárciga's work is included in the Cuban Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes collection.
Ricardo Miguel Hernández
Currently living in Havana, Ricardo Miguel Hernández graduated in 2009 from the Instituto Superior de Arte's Arte de Conducta program, founded and directed by artist Tania Bruguera. Hernández's video work has been shown extensively throughout Cuba in festivals and exhibitions that include the 8th International Film Festival in Holguín, Cuba (2010), World One Minutes at the Strawberry and Chocolate Film Centre in Havana (2010), the 9th Exhibition of New Filmmakers in Havana (2009) and the 2nd International Festival of Video Art in Camaguey, Cuba (2009), among many others. Hernández has received awards and special recognitions from the 9th Exhibition of New Filmmakers in Havana, Cuba (2009 and 2010), the National Photography Biennial IV in Pinar del Rio, Cuba (2009), and the 2nd International Festival of Video Art in Camaguey, Cuba (2009).
Hamlet Lavastida
Hamlet Lavastida is an interdisciplinary artist and performer based in Cuba. Lavastida studied at the Academia Nacional de Artes Plásticas in San Alejandro, Cuba and later attended the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana's Arte de Conducta program. Lavastida's site-specific installations are situated at the border between ephemeral art and social activism, often exploring the re-contextualization of the language and recent history of autocratic societies. Lavastida's performances and videos have been included in global exhibitions including the Liverpool Biennial, The Gwangju Biennale, Pontevedra Biennial, Nippon International Performance Art Festival, Caribean Contemporary Art VII, Espacio Aglutinador and 10th Havana Biennial.
Ernesto Leal
Born in Havana, Ernesto Leal graduated from the Art Academy of San Alejandro, Havana, Cuba in 1990. Leal's work has been exhibited at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the 7th Istanbul Biennial, National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo (MADC), San Jose, Costa Rica; Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New York; Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo (MEIAC), Badajoz; University of Salamanca, Spain; Museum of Modern Art (MAM), Mexico; D.F, Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museum of Contemporary Art (MARCO), Monterrey, Mexico; headquarters of the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IFA), Germany; and the Havana Biennial.
Glenda León
Glenda León graduated with a degree in Art History from the Havana University in 1999, and received her masters degree in New Media Arts at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany in 2007. She is currently based in Havana and Madrid. León has received the National Council of Visual Arts of The Cuban Ministry of Culture’s National Curatorship Award, and the UNESCO Art Award at the 7th Havana Biennial Exhibition. She has been an artist in residence at various international institutions. Her works in the collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana; George Pompidou Center, Paris; Rhode Island School of Design Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others.
Lázaro Saavedra
Lázaro Saavedra was born in Havana, Cuba graduating from the Instituto Superior de Arte in 1988 where he currently serves as a lecturer. Saavedra is the creator of Galerìa I-MEIL, a contemporary electronic art activism project. A former member of the Puré (Purée) group, and participant in the Pilón and ENEMA projects, Saavedra's recent exhibitions include the solo En una noche de terror cualquiera comete un crimen, CCCICAIC (2006) and the group exhibitions The Hours, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2006) and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2007); Killing Time, Exit Art, New York (2007); Turbulence, 3rd Triennial, Auckland Art Gallery (2007); Cuban Avant-Garde, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, Florida (2007); Regarding Fear and Hope, University of Art, Melbourne (2007). Saavedra has held residencies in the US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Cuba and the UK.