Aldo Menéndez González

Menéndez (Cienfuegos, 1948), is considered one of the renovators of the visual arts on the island during the 1970s. His pictorial work has been exhibited in Latin America, Europe and the United States and is part of important collections around the world, such as the Museum of Latin American Art in California and the Casa de América in Madrid.

Son of poet and painter Aldo Menéndez Pared (1901-2001), he was a great promoter of the island's literary and artistic scene. He studied at the National School of Art of Cubanacán (ENA), where he met artists of the caliber of Roberto Matta (1911-2002), Fayad Jamis (1930-1988) and, above all, Servando Cabrera (1923-1981), his "best teacher and intellectual mentor," according to his own words.

In the early 1980s he held the position of promotion director of the Cuban Cultural Assets Fund, where he founded the mythical René Portocarrero Screen Printing Workshop. During that time he also developed intense work as a promoter of contemporary Cuban art.

From 1991 he resided in Madrid, Spain until in 1994 he moved to Miami, Florida in the United States. He distinguished himself, above all, in artistic manifestations of painting and performance.

He wrote numerous art reviews in the pages of Nuevo Herald and in 2017 published his autobiography "Aldo Menéndez".

Personal Exhibitions
2019 Retratos en Chino,1 Kendall Art Center, Miami, Fl

In the period 1989-1990 he created La Escuelita. Artistic Experimentation Workshop in Havana, Cuba, a collective work project with young artists and adolescents sponsored by the Center for Development of the Visual Arts. In 1997 he presented Trinomio Cubano. Aldo Menéndez, Ivonne Ferrer, Aldo Damián at the Botello Gallery in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He also performed some performances such as "Ransom" which took place on Ponce de León Street in front of the gallery during the opening of an exhibition of the same name, La Boheme Fine Art, Coral Gables, Florida, United States in 1995. Back in 1988 he had performed "El indio," at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba. "The last work of art," at the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), Havana, Cuba and in 1989 "Cuban visual art is dedicated to baseball" collective performance at the Social Workers' Circle (CSO) "José Antonio Echevarría" in Havana, Cuba.

Group Exhibitions
He participated in several group exhibitions. In 1988, in the exhibition-performance Ojo, pinta by the Calle Art Group in January at Gallery L and 23, Havana, Cuba which also included Rock Campesino, a performance by the Provisional Group made up of Glexis Novoa, Carlos Rodríguez Cárdenas, Francisco Lastra and Alejandro. Also It's not just what you see, was carried out by them, in March, at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Havana. MADEENCUBA took place in 1991, at the Tate Gallery in Madrid, Spain; and also in October, Masters of Cuban Painting at the Provincial Center of Plastic Arts and Design, Havana, Cuba. Three years later, he participated in the International Art Esposition Art Miami'94 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, United States, represented by the Heller Gallery of Madrid. And in March 1995 he was invited to Children Without A Country, a project of the Willy Chirino Foundation March held at the Fredrick Snitzer Gallery in Coral Gables, Florida, United States.

Residencies
1976 -International Painting Symposium Theme Kosmos, Apollo-Soyuz flight, USSR.

1976 -International Painting Symposium of Piestany Czechoslovakia.

1983 -Prográfica Workshop in Cali, Colombia.

1985 -Sexto Sol, Mexico City

1986 -Julio Le-Parc Workshop, Havana, Cuba.

1987 -Arcay Workshop, Paris, France.

1987 -John Phillip Workshop, Art Council, London

1989 -Aplanadora Project sponsored by the Massachusetts College of Art.

1989 -Picasso Gallery Workshop, Barcelona, Spain.

1992 -Spanish International Cooperation Agency. Grant for cultural research, Spain.

2003 -Fuera de Serie Workshop, Madrid, Spain.

2004-2008 -Pepe Herrera Workshop, Madrid, Spain.

Public Collections
National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana. La Tertulia Museum of Cali, Colombia. Permanent Collection of the Cultural Center of the City of Madrid, Spain. Museum of Latin American Art (Molaa), California, USA. María Zambrano Museum, Málaga, Spain. Cristóbal Gabarron Foundation, Valladolid, Spain. La Cartuja Thematic Park, Expo 92 collection, Seville, Spain. Contemporary Art Museum of Salamanca, Spain. Casa de América, Madrid, Spain. Sicilia Serón Spa, Jaraba de Aragón, Spain. Ernest Museum, Budapest, Hungary. Ministry of the Sugar Industry of Cuba. Historical Museum of Cienfuegos, Cuba. Ministry of Culture of Nicaragua. Graphics Museum of Krakow, Poland. Atlantic Bank, Miami, USA. Government Palace of Santi Espíritu, Cuba. Hotel Jagua, Cienfuegos, Cuba. Cabo Cañaveral Library, Florida, USA. Grupo Pilot Building, Madrid, Spain. Contemporary Art Museum of Piestany, Slovakia. State Council of the Republic of Cuba. State Finance Board of Cuba. Hermanos Almejeiras Hospital, Havana, Cuba. Oslo Museum, Norway. CIMEX Corporation, Madrid, Spain.

Private Collections
Alejo Carpentier / Pura and Rafael Canogar / Doron Shmueli / Bebita and Frank Mestre / Lisa and Arturo Mosquera / Marta and Carlos M. Luís / Niurka and Norberto Fuentes / Kathy and Jose A. Perez-Gurri / William Kennedy / Truly and Richard J. Burton / Marilyn and Baruj Salinas / Luís Palomo / Maritza and Pedro Carrillo / Lucia and Sergio Bofill / Guillermo del Toro / Gerardo Mosquera / Marta and Jorge Valdés / Mela and Fidel Sendagorta / Lola and Agustín Santos / Elena and Osvaldo Navarro / Lucia, Gory, Thelvia, Thelvita and Eduardo Rubén / Carlos Varela / Jon de la Riva / Mario and Clara del Valle / José Veigas / Silvia Dorfsman / Rufino de Mingo / Mercedes Escandel / Rafael and Lourdes Sánchez / Mayta Carbonell / Lily Litvak / Maggie Hollands and José Luís Llovio / Elizabeth Cerejido / Grissel Hart / Carlos García / Georgina Colina and Balary / Army and Yolanda Ríos / Mercedes and Domingo Abreu / Julia Kefalinos and Wilfredo O. Allen / Eliseo Diego / María José and Luís Moreno / Pomy and Richard Lewis / Lourdes and Raúl Cremata / Rafael Arango / Orlando Blanco / Elisa and Aurelio García / Patty and José Pérez / Ixia and Zamlud / Helga and Paul Colina / Marcel Deray / Marilee and Edy Camejo / Nora and Ivan Hanuszkuiewicz / Marta and Pedro Peláez / Dolores and Víctor Delgado / Yovani Bauta / Judithy and Eduardo Colina / Ana and Hugo Velasco / Paco Cano / Blanca and Edgar Lara / Olga and Luís Bustos / Paul and Berthy Quaedvlieg Jongen / Christina and Markus Peter / Tony Morales / Cristina and Jorge Sotolongo / Fátima and Benito Lamas / May and Ramón Giraldes / Juan Carlos Mayol / Roxi and Fernando Hubert / Elena and Mario García / Aida and Leo Posada / Joaquín del Olmo / Miriam and Esteban García / Eloisa Sobrino / Maica and Miguel Ángel Carrasco / José and Vivian Ramos / Alcibíades Hidalgo / Javier Brizuela / Diego Rodríguez / Rolando Valdés / Lucia and José Antonio / Gabriel and Nora Müller / Gregorio Escagedo / Alfredo Tamayo / Manuel Delgado / Carlos Salvador / Ricardo Colina / Kendall Art Center/Rodríguez Collection / Mundo and Ana / Denis Cuan / Leon Petrosjan / José Félix / Patty and Jorge Reynradus / Victoria Saladrigas.

Awards
1969 -Mention in the poster category, National Exhibition of Graphic Propaganda, Cuba/Havana Pavilion, Cuba

1970 -Mention in the poster category, National Exhibition of Graphic Propaganda, Cuba/Havana Pavilion, Cuba.

1971 -Third Prize, National Exhibition of Young Artists/Havana, Cuba.

1973 -Special Mention in painting at the National Exhibition of the FAR/Havana, Cuba.

1975 -First Prize of the National Journalism Contest of the UPEC/Havana, Cuba.

1976 -Most Outstanding Artist of the International Painting Symposium of Piestany/Slovakia.

1977-1978 -First Prize in the Magazine Cover category of the National Exhibition of Graphic Propaganda/Havana, Cuba.

1984 -Mention in the Printmaking section at the National Exhibition of Plastic Arts of the UNEAC/Havana, Cuba.

1985 -Mention in the Installation section at the National Exhibition of Plastic Arts of the UNEAC/Havana, Cuba.

1987 -Receives the National Order of Cuban Culture.

1987 -Prize "I don't exist, only my intention", Provisional Group, for his support of young artists UNEAC/Havana, Cuba.

1987 -Prize for Cuban submission First Jaume Guasch Biennial/Barcelona, Spain.

1990 - Mention for the Project "La Escuelita". Experimental artistic project" at the First National Meeting of Young Artists of the Hermanos Saíz Association in Pinar del Río, Cuba.