Alexis Esquivel Bermúdez

Alexis Esquivel is one of contemporary Cuban artists who conceives of creation as an exercise in visual memory. A follower of the national portraiture tradition, this painter chooses historical portraiture as his fundamental theme. However, the image he presents to us is not the one we are accustomed to, but rather he transforms it into a visual game of great conceptual significance.

Native of La Palma, Pinar del Río. Cuban citizen
- Bachelor's degree in Visual Education. Instituto Superior Pedagógico "Enrique José Varona", City of Havana, 1991.
- Member of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.
- Member of the National Association of Young Artists Hermanos Saíz.
- Independent artist with the Cuban Fund for Cultural Assets since 1994.
- Visiting Fellow, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 2000
- Visiting Fellow, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 2001
- Professor at the San Alejandro School of Art, City of Havana, Cuba 2000-2002
- Creation Grant from the Hermanos Saiz Association (AHS) 1999
- Creation Grant, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.A., 2001
- Creation Grant for young Ibero-American artists, Carolina Foundation, Madrid, Spain, 2002

His pieces have a testimonial character in various senses. Alexis Esquivel seeks in the past and relates history to the present. His protagonists are heroes, political or cultural personalities, and society itself. His work is framed in a context from which it does not detach itself, and breathes an indisputable social character. Nevertheless, despite the respect with which he does it, the author works situations that he ridicules, makes them laughable and absurd, yet at the same time timeless and allegorical. With this he leads to a multiplicity of readings that constantly overflow from his work.

The language this painter employs is perspicacious and singular in its aesthetics. Alexis uses images superimposed in the manner of a palimpsest. Thus, the work becomes a platform for debate about the different readings of the present and the past, and becomes a space where identities are combined.

His work is not limited to painting. He has also created installations and video art. Among his best-known works are Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and the Freedom of Blacks (1993), National Picnic (1996), Independence Day (1998), Winter Market or More Was Lost in Baghdad (2008), Family Tree (2008), Mitochondrial Future Citizen (2009), Democracy (2009), Postcolonial Hero (2010), Smile You Won! (2010), Republic Light (2011), and Live President Subtitled in Chinese (2011). Some of his installations include Pianissimo Concert in Key-es of I-fa (1997), Urban Sarayeye, VAPROR-2059. Automated Vehicle for the Collection of Religious Offerings (2010), and Autopsy (1998). In 2010 he created the digital animation video The Tree of Science in the Garden of the Republic.

Since 1987, he has participated in numerous collective and individual exhibitions. His pieces have been exhibited in countries such as Canada, Spain, United States, Philippines, France, Portugal, and Puerto Rico. In them, important institutions such as Harvard University (United States); Tufts University (United States); Stanford University (United States); the Larouche International Exhibition Center (Canada); and the Ponce Art Museum (Puerto Rico); among others, lent their spaces to appreciate this artist's work.

Collections such as that of Tufts University, the Howard Farber Collection, the Ignacio de Lasaletta Collection, the Ferrero Collection, and others, private and public, in Cuba, United States, Canada, Italy, Brazil, Spain, and Mexico, hold his paintings, installations, and video art. He has participated in important events such as the Havana Biennales, the National Photography Salon (Cuba), the II Contemporary Art Salon (Cuba), and the I and II Ana Mendieta Performance Festival (Cuba).

From the early Historical Portraits (1989-1997) to the Creole Remix series (2003-2008). Precisely, with that first series of portraits his work became known in Spain, almost twenty years ago, through the magazine Atlántica and the collective exhibition The Heroes of Cuban Visual Arts (1996), in the art halls of CAAM-San Antonio Abad in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. There, the artist showed his interest in the construction of historical discourse as narratives in which the problem of racism and the absences or manipulations of the Black body in the narratives of Western Art History become evident. These ideas, present in two individual exhibitions that have also been seen on the Peninsula in nearby dates: 'Latest News from the Ingenuity' (2010) and 'The Next Heroes' (2012), reappear in 'Memorial Garden', where the artist returns with maturity to the play with a genre like History Painting. Furthermore, his pictorial work has been recently seen in the exhibitions 'From Madonna to Madonna. (De)constructions of the Feminine in Contemporary Society' (DA2, Salamanca, 2013), 'The End of History…and the Return of History Painting' (DA2, Salamanca 2011).

Alexis Esquivel has developed his work through painting, installation, performance, and video, critically addressing different perspectives of the historical representation of society, culture, and politics in Cuba. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Visual Education from the Instituto Superior Pedagógico Enrique José Varona (Havana, 1991). He was a professor at the San Alejandro School of Fine Arts (Havana, 2000-2002) and taught courses as a visiting professor at Tufts University (2000-2001). His works have been exhibited in numerous personal and collective exhibitions both within and outside the island. He has obtained several grants and residencies including the Creation Grant for Young Ibero-American Artists from the Carolina Foundation (Madrid, 2002), the artistic residency at Mattress Factory Art Museum in Pittsburgh (2010), and the Brownstone Foundation artistic residency (Paris, 2011). He has taught courses and given lectures at various universities and cultural centers in the United States and Europe such as: Harvard University (2000), Stanford University (2003), Massachusetts College of Art (2001), University of Alicante (2002), and Miguel Hernández University (2005), as well as at Casa de América in Madrid (2002 and 2005) and the University of Havana (2004). His works have been exhibited in multiple exhibitions in various countries and are part of private and public collections in Germany, Brazil, Cuba, Spain, United States, France, England, Italy, and Mexico.

PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS

2006

"Creole Remix", Habana Club Gallery, Rum Museum, City of Havana, Cuba

2001

"The Moon is Looking at Me", Harvard University (Dudley House) Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

1998

"RECENT PAINTING" Provincial Center for Visual Arts and Design, City of Havana, Cuba.
"Looking Forward Through the Past" M.A.R.S. Art Space, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A.
"Frittata di Cipolla". Performance, Pinar del Río, Cuba.

1997

"Fragments of Oblivion". Art Center 23 and 12, City of Havana, Cuba.

1996

"The Prejudices of Understanding". René Portocarrero Silk-Screen Workshop Gallery, City of Havana, Cuba.

1995

"Universal Hysteria (Another Neurosis of Being)". Espacio Estudio Gallery, Old Havana, Cuba.

1994

"Historical Portraits", Casa del Joven Creador, City of Havana, Cuba.

MAIN COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS

2008

"Group Therapy", Fernando Pradilla Gallery, Madrid, Spain

2007

"Speculations. Intrinsically Subversive", La Alhóndiga Exhibition Hall and La Casa Del Siglo XV, Segovia, Spain.
"Cuba Avant Garde: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Farber Collection", Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

2005

"Living for the City", Centre International d'exposition de Larouche (CIEL), Quebec, Canada.
"Living for the City", Jack Shainman Gallery, NY, NY
"Afrocuba Work on Paper", 1968-2003, International Center for the Arts, San Francisco State University, SF, CA.
"ADN, AGM, Transgenic Guarapo", José Esquirol Gallery, Altea, Valencia, Spain.

2004

"Memory, Present and Utopia: Havana 485 Years Later". Convento San Francisco de Asís, City of Havana, Cuba
"NEVERTHELESS", Contemporary Cuban Art, Fluid Espace de Creation Contemporaine, L'École Supérieure d'Art de Grenoble, Grenoble, France.
"The Columbia School", Mariano Rodríguez Gallery, Villa Panamericana, City of Havana, Cuba.
"Domestic Labors", Center for the Development of Visual Arts, City of Havana, Cuba.

2003

"Domestic Labors", Provincial Center for Visual Arts, Pinar del Río, Pinar del Río, Cuba.
"Counting to the Left", Eighth Havana Biennial, Mariano Rodríguez Gallery, City of Havana, Cuba

2002

"Thanks for Coming", Fábrica de Pan, Madrid, Spain.

2001

"III Salon of Contemporary Cuban Art", Wifredo Lam Center, City of Havana, Cuba
"Tufts University Collections Selections", Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

2000

"Up the Tent" Collateral to VII Havana Biennial, Plaza Vieja, City of Havana, Cuba.
"Interfaces", Collateral, VII Havana Biennial, C.L.I. Leonor Pérez, City of Havana, Cuba.
"Adults Only" Hall Space Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
"Transfhorma", Casa de la Cultura Carmen Montilla de Tinoco, City of Havana, Cuba.
"Transfhorma". La Ciudadela, Mixed Rooms Hall, Pamplona, Spain.
"98' One Hundred Years Later" Museo Extremeño Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo de Badajoz, Spain

1999

"98 One Hundred Years Later" Ponce Art Museum, Puerto Rico Morro-Cabañas Park, Havana, Cuba.
"National Photography Salon. Cuba Photography Archive. City of Havana, Cuba.
"II Festival of Performance 'Ana Mendieta'. Cuba Pavilion. City of Havana, Cuba.
"Keloids" Center for the Development of Visual Arts, City of Havana, Cuba.
"Dance My Son". La Acacia Gallery, City of Havana, Cuba.
"I Saw You First". Villena Hall, UNEAC, City of Havana, Cuba.

1998

"98 One Hundred Years Later". Cultural Center of the Philippines, Pasay City, Philippines.
"II Salon of Contemporary Cuban Art". National Center for Conservation, Restoration and Museology, (CENCREM) City of Havana, Cuba.
"I Festival of Performance Ana Mendieta". UNEAC, City of Havana, Cuba.

1997

"Untitled". VI Havana Biennial (Collateral Exhibition). Faculty of Arts and Letters, University of Havana, Cuba.
"Ars Moriendi". Art Center 23 and 12, City of Havana, Cuba.
"Neither Musicians Nor Athletes". Provincial Center for Visual Arts and Design, City of Havana, Cuba.
"The Concealment of Souls". Center for the Development of Visual Arts, City of Havana, Cuba.
"Keloids Part I". Meeting of Anthropology of Transculturation. Casa de Africa, City of Havana, Cuba.
"Che Guevara: Icon, Myth, and Message". UCLA, Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles, USA.
"Perspectives on Che. Twelve Contemporary Cuban Artists". Koldo Mitxelena Kulturunea, Donostia, Spain. Hika Ateneo, Bilbao, Spain.

1996

"Almendares River. Neither Strawberry Nor Chocolate". National Center for Conservation, Restoration and Museology, (CENCREM) City of Havana, Cuba.
"The Heroes of Cuban Visual Arts". San Antonio Abad Hall, Canary Islands, Spain.
"Tightening the Screws". René Portocarrero Artistic Silk-Screen Workshop Gallery, City of Havana, Cuba.
"Green but Sweet". Center for the Development of Visual Arts, City of Havana, Cuba.

1995

"Vestiges". Center for the Development of Visual Arts, City of Havana, Cuba.
"From P to P and Vice Versa". International Press Center, City of Havana, Cuba.
"Contemporary Cuban Art", Belém Cultural Center, Lisbon, Portugal.

1994

"Local Artists". Art Gallery, La Palma, Pinar del Río, Cuba.

1993

"The Magic Eye". Art Gallery, La Palma, Pinar del Río, Cuba.

1989

"Young Art". National Museum of Fine Arts, City of Havana, Cuba.

1987

"It's Not Just What Was". Estudiante House Gallery, ISPEJV, City of Havana, Cuba.

WORKSHOPS AND VIDEO AND SLIDE PRESENTATIONS

Augusto Monterroso Hall, Casa de América, Madrid, Spain, 2005
Colegio Mayor Rector Peset, Valencia, Spain, 2005
Faculty of Fine Arts, Miguel Hernández, Altea, Valencia, Spain, 2005
Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Havana, City of Havana, Cuba, 2004
Faculty of Philosophy and History of the University of Havana, City of Havana, Cuba, 2004
Casa Simón Bolívar, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA, 2003
Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, USA, 2003
Faculty of Romance Languages, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA, 2003
Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 2003
Student Center of the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA, 2003
Center for Latin American Studies of the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA, 2003
Casa de América, Madrid, Spain, 2002
University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain, 2002
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 2001
University at Buffalo, State University of New York, USA, 2001
Onyx, "Vision on Blackness," Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA, 2001
EPIIC International Symposium, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA, 2001
International House, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA, 2001
Latino Center, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA, 2001
Faculty of Romance Languages, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 2000
Latino Center, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA, 2000
Lectures Series, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA, 2000
Leslie College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 2000
Salem State University, Salem, Massachusetts, USA, 2000

CURATIONS COMPLETED

2004

"The Columbia School", Mariano Rodríguez Gallery, Villa Panamericana, City of Havana, Cuba.

1997

"Keloids Part I". Meeting of Anthropology of Transculturation. Casa de Africa, City of Havana, Cuba.

1995

"Vestiges". Center for the Development of Visual Arts, City of Havana, Cuba.

EDITORIAL COLLABORATIONS

Magazine La Gaceta de Cuba; Caimán Barbudo; Cover illustrations in various editorial productions by Letras Cubanas Publishing House.
- Algebraic Melody, Benjamin Friedlander. La Laguna: Zasterle, 1998, Cover
- The Tale in Reverse, History Nationalism and Power in Cuba (1902-1930), Ricardo Quiza, Unicornio Publishing House, 2003, Cover.
- CHASQUI, JOURNAL OF LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE, Volume 32, Number 2, November 2003, Cover.
- Cuban Zarzuela, Performing Race and Gender on Havana's Lyric Stage, Susan Thomas, University of Illinois Press, 2009

THEORETICAL EVENTS

2002

I Conference-Forum of Visual Arts Casa de América, Madrid, Spain

2001

NAFSA Association of International Educators Country/Culture Workshop, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1997

Meeting of Anthropology of Transculturation. Casa de Africa, City of Havana, Cuba.

1996

II National Colloquium of Visual Arts, Las Tunas, Cuba.

1995

I Salon of Contemporary Cuban Art, National Museum of Fine Arts, City of Havana, Cuba.

1995

II International Meeting of Contemporary Art. Wifredo Lam Center, City of Havana, Cuba.

COLLECTIONS

The von Christierson Collection, London, England
David R. Bailey. England
Howard Farber, U.S.A.
Giovanni Ferrero and Carey Ferrero
Ignacio de Lasaletta, Spain
Tufts University Collection, U.S.A.
Works in other private collections in Cuba, United States, Canada, Italy, Brazil, Spain, and Mexico.