Flora Fong García

Outstanding contemporary visual artist in Cuba, recognized for the way she brings to canvas or cardboard indigenous landscapes in which tropical sensuality and Asian tenacity stand out.

The nature of her Caribbean island, the heritage of Chinese culture, and her passion for her work are relevant ingredients in the work of Flora Fong, one of the great figures in Cuban visual arts.

She is a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) and the International Association of Visual Artists (AIAP). She has been awarded several distinctions, among which stands out the National Culture Distinctions in 1988. In addition to painting and drawing, Flora Fong has ventured into ceramics, stained glass, and textile design. She has created illustrations for various national and international publications.

Simple in everyday life, with immense talent and creativity, she has been forging her own distinctive artistic universe in which very diverse expressions are inscribed, such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, stained glass windows, textile design, book illustrations...

She is also characterized by disciplined work and capacity for observation, which can focus on the flight of birds, ocean waves, or a rainbow, which perhaps she might watch for hours until it fades.

Daughter of a Chinese man and a Cuban woman, she completed her secondary education at the Provincial School of Visual Arts in Camagüey in the specialty of Painting and from 1966 continued her studies at the National School of Art in Cubanacán in Havana, where she graduated in 1970.

She traced her style until finding a visual language that identifies her, with a lyricism that springs from palm trees, banana plantations, the wind and nature, expressed with unusual force and with the presence of the ideographic. From Chinese calligraphy she renewed the freshness of lines and the balance in the composition of her works and words like wind, rain, or forest were transformed into hurricanes, mountain ranges, and living American nature.

Her brushes are recreated in a rich variety of colors, nuanced at the beginning of her artistic career by white color due to its luminosity, and later giving way to a preference for yellow and blue tones.

She has created with equilibrium and harmony sculptural works, ceramic stained glass windows and textile design. She is also recognized for the creation of artistic kites using Oriental technique.

Emotions and recollections are recreated with a charge of virtuosity in each work that comes from the hands of this artist, sensual and tenacious.

At the end of the 1980s she began studying the Chinese language with the intention of delving into that Oriental world, of understanding the meaning of its calligraphy, the calligraphic gesture, landscape painting with a different perspective, and she approached philosophers such as Confucius, Mencius, and Lao-Tse.

Works
Work "Nostalgia"
Among her most interesting works is the creation in 1995 of a collective mural at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana, in 1997 the design of a 150 x 600 cm stained glass window for the Piano-Bar of the Restaurant El Pedregal in the Cuban capital, and in 1999 a sculpture placed at the Bathing Resort of Varadero.
Among her most representative series are Whirlwinds and Cyclones, Tropics, The Caribbean, The Antilles, and Bay, all illustrative of the light, climate, vegetation, and Cuban and regional environment.

In Cuba
She taught classes at the San Alejandro School from 1970 to 1989. She is a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) and the International Association of Visual Artists (AIAP).

The Council of State of the Republic of Cuba granted her the National Culture Distinctions in 1988 and the August 23rd award from the Federation of Cuban Women in 1989. In 1999 the Government of Camagüey granted her the distinction of "Illustrious Son" of the City of Camagüey and months later she received from the Provincial Culture Sector the recognition "Mirror of Patience." In 2002 she received the Diploma for "Artistic Merit" awarded by the Higher Institute of Art.

On April 17, 2017, the Revolutionary Armed Forces granted her the Replica of the Machete Mambí of Generalísimo Máximo Gómez, for being a bearer in her work of the most authentic patriotism and attachment to the Revolution[1].

Personal Exhibitions
2004. Manifestation d´Art Nouveau Internacional et Forum. (MANIF). Seoul, South Korea.
Tribute to the 490th Anniversary of the Founding of the Villa Santa Maria del Puerto del Príncipe. "General Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz" Provincial Museum. Camagüey, Cuba.

2002. "Flora de Playa". Playa Municipality Museum. Havana, Cuba.
2001. The Motives of the Homeland. Cernuda Arte Gallery, Miami, Florida, USA
Between Decades, La Acacia Gallery, Havana, Cuba.

1998 Paintings and Drawings. Flora Fong. Gallery 1, 2, 3, 4. Port of Spain, Trinidad – Tobago.
1997 Paintings and Drawings. Flora Fong. Palace of Culture of the Workers. Forbidden City, Beijing.
China. Paintings and Drawings. Flora Fong. Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, Japan. Paintings Flora Fong. Exhibition Gallery of the Municipal Library of Vila Franca De Xira, Portugal. Paintings Flora Fong. Artela Gallery. Lisbon. Portugal. Tribute 150 Years of Chinese Presence in Cuba. Acacia Gallery, Havana, Cuba.

1995 Paintings and Drawings. Cultural Center Arte A. C. Monterrey, Mexico.
Florasol. Open Space Gallery, Culture and Revolution Magazine, Havana, Cuba.

1993 Epiphany of the Tropics Series. La Florida Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela.
Paintings Flora Fong. Los Teques Athenaeum, Valencia, Venezuela.

1992 Exhibition of Silkscreens. San Agustín Club, Monterrey, Mexico.
The Caribbean. Recent Work. Hotel Fiesta Americana Condesa, Cancún, Mexico.

1991 Flora Fong and Nélida López. Paintings. La Acacia Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
1990 Autumn Cloud. Painting, drawings and installations. Provincial Center for Visual Arts and Design,
Havana, Cuba.

1986 Gardens... and More. Servando Cabrera Moreno Gallery, Havana, Cuba
1985 Paintings and Drawings 1983-1985. Habana Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
1984 Paintings and Drawings. Atlapa Gallery, Panama City, Panama.
1981 International Meeting of Young Artists, Trinidad, Cuba.
Flora Fong and Nelson Domínguez. Paintings and Drawings. Casa de la Cultura de Guanabacoa, Havana, Cuba.

1978 International Meeting of Painters, Lithuania.
1975 Manuel Mendive and Flora Fong. Vystauni sin Vlov, Prague, Czechoslovakia.
1974 Manuel Mendive and Flora Fong. Ateneului Roman Hall, Bucharest, Romania.
1973 Drawings and Paintings. Galiano Gallery, Havana, Cuba.

Group Exhibitions
2004. Miami Art Fair. Miami, Florida, USA.
Exhibition of Cuban Contemporary Art. National Gallery of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia. Cuban Passions. Malaysia. Art America. Miami, Florida USA. Contemporary Latin American Painting. Bellarte Gallery. Seoul. South Korea. Cuban Contemporary Paintings and Prints: Color and Symbolism. City Art Gallery. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

2003. Miami Art Fair, Miami, Florida, USA.
Art America Fair. Miami, Florida, USA. Art Chicago. Chicago, USA. "I Know of a Giant Painter." On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of José Martí. José Martí Memorial. Havana, Cuba. Cuban Painting Today. Guayasamín Foundation. Quito, Ecuador. One Island, Two Versions. Miami Dade University. Miami, Florida. United States. Important Cuban Art Works. Cernuda Arte Gallery. Miami, Florida. United States. Christie's Auction. New York, USA.

2002. Miami Art Fair, Miami, Florida, USA.
75th Art Salon of Lyon. Lyon, France.

2001. International Biennial of Florence, Florence, Italy.
25 Cuban artists from here and there, from yesterday and today, Cernuda Arte Gallery, Miami, Florida, USA.

2000 Warming Up the Engines. Cernuda Arte Gallery. Miami. United States.
Exhibition of Cuban Art. "Here and Now". José Martí Memorial. Havana. Cuba.

1999 Cuban Painters. Gallery of the Municipality of Piraeus. Greece.
Cuban Painters. Cultural Center of the Government. Kephalonia Island. Greece. Exhibition of Cuban Art. Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation. United Arab Emirates. Malecon Cultural Project. Traveling Exhibition. Rooms and Museums: Extremeño and Ibero-American Museum of Contemporary Art, Provincial Museum of Cáceres, San Francisco Cultural Complex, Santa María Cultural Complex, Assembly of Extremadura Courtyard, Pérez Comendador-Lerroux Museum of Hervás, Rooms of the Social Work of Caja de Extremadura. "Beyond Paper". "Conde Duque" Cultural Center. Madrid. Spain.

1998 Contemporary Art of Cuba. Traveling, Urasoe Museum Okinawa, Hillside Forum Daikanyama
Tokyo, Iwaki City Cultural Hall. Japan. Cuba, Four Contemporary Artists. Zeit-Foto Salon Tokyo, Japan. Contemporary Cuban Artists, National Museum of Fine Arts, Sao Paulo, Brazil. V Biennial of Ceramics Amelia Peláez.

1997 Island Light. La Rama Dorada Gallery. Panama.
"Arte BA" Art Fair. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 70 artists, work on paper, Sala Guel, Barcelona, Spain. 3rd International Exhibition of Visual Arts Vendas Novas, Portugal. 1st Alentejo Biennial, Portugal. Hidden Art of the Revolution Contemporary Cuban Art Toronto, Canada.

1996 Cuban Painting. La Sorce, PTT. Orleans, Mail Bank of France.
Art and Nature. Domingo Ravenet Gallery, Havana, Cuba. Teachers' Salon. 178th Anniversary of the San Alejandro Academy. Provincial Center for Visual Arts and Design, Havana, Cuba.

1996. Twelve Pilgrimage Tales, Twelve Cuban Painters. Traveling Exhibition. Latin American Gallery, 1995 Casa de Las Américas, Havana, Cuba and Museum of Contemporary Art, Panama City, Panama.
1995. Nature, Man, and the Gods. Cuban Novecento, Royal Palace, Milano, Italy.
13th Artistic Salon, Circle, Jean Macé, Ingre Loitet, France. Panoramic (Cuban Painting). National Bank of Panama. Panama. First Salon of Contemporary Art. National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba. The Historical Theme in Cuban Painting. National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba. A la carte. Habana Gallery, Havana, Cuba. Cuban Contemporary Art. Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Contemporary Cuban Painting. Hotel Sevilla. Havana. Cuba.

1994. Cuba, the Last 60 Years. Panamerican Gallery, Dallas, Texas, United States.
Names of Cuban Painters. Solidarity Salon, Hotel Habana Libre, Havana, Cuba. Landscapes. La Acacia Gallery, Havana, Cuba. Cuban Painting. Margarita Nelken Cultural Center Municipal Culture Board, Coslada, Spain. 6th Meeting of Mini Expression. DEXA Gallery, University of Panama, Panama City. Cuban Painting. Casa de Cantabria, Madrid, Spain. V Havana Biennial. Provincial Center for Visual Arts and Design of Havana. Cuba.

1993. Rites and Landscapes of the Caribbean. Contemporary Cuban Art. Iztapalapa Art Gallery, Metropolitan Autonomous University, D.F., Mexico.
Consecrated Today. Exhibition of Cuban Painting. La Galería, Santiago, Chile. Silkscreens by Cuban Artists. Martínez Villena Room, UNEAC, Havana, Cuba. Silkscreens by Cuban Artists. Holland. Exhibition of the Chung Wah Group of Visual Artists. International Press Center, Havana, Cuba. Other Colors of the Smile. La Verde Sonrisa Foundation, Managua, Nicaragua.

1992. Exhibition of Paintings. La Acacia Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
Latin American Painters. Latin American Gallery, D.F. Mexico. Cuban Painting. Puerta de Toledo, Madrid, Spain. Cuban Art in Barcelona. Hotel Barcelona Sants, Barcelona, Spain. Anything Goes. Martínez Villena Room, UNEAC, Havana, Cuba. Panorama of Cuban Painting. Cultural Center of the State of Palestine, Tunisia.

1991. 18 Painters from Cuba. Federation of Val-d'Oise. L'Humanité, Paris, France.
Painting and Printmaking. Mella Theater, Havana, Cuba. Third International Biennial of Painting, Cuenca, Ecuador. Cuban Painting. Siqueiros Poliforum, Mexico D.F., Mexico.

1990. An Island Called Cuba. Cuban Culture Day, Rome, Italy.
First International Meeting of Minimal Expression. Artegma Gallery, Panama City, Panama. National Salon of Visual Arts UNEAC. National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba. 7th Salon of Visual Arts. Alyssa Gallery. Tunisia. Cuban Painting Today. Duris de Zamos Gallery, Madrid, Spain. Nine Cuban Artists, Current Cuban Painting. Almirante Gallery, Madrid, Spain.

1989. Painting Exhibition. Alla Torre Gallery, Municipality of Faenza, Italy.
Havana in Madrid. Cultural Center of the Villa, Madrid, Spain.

1988. Exhibition Inner Peace, Peace in the World, Milan, Italy.
Cuban Female Creators. National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts Havana, Cuba. Cuban Culture Day. New Delhi, India. Current Cuban Painting. Palace of the Holy Cross, Barcelona, Spain. Current Cuban Painting. G.S.A. Gallery, Jaume Guasch Foundation, Barcelona, Spain. Exhibition of Drawings. Denmark. Exhibition of Drawings. Managua, Nicaragua.

1987. First Jaume Guasch Biennial. Barcelona, Spain.
FIART '87. National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba. Visual Arts Salon UNEAC '87. Cuba Pavilion, Havana, Cuba.

1986. Traveling Exhibition The Art with a Smile. Italy.
Cuban Graphic Work. Barcelona City Council, Civil Center Latin America, Barcelona, Spain. Cuban Graphic Work. Room S.E. Ateneu de Gracia L'Artesa, Barcelona, Spain. City Salon 86. Provincial Center for Visual Arts and Design, Havana, Cuba. Second Havana Biennial. National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba

1985. National Salon of Visual Arts UNEAC. National Museum, Havana, Cuba
Of Cuban Landscape. Ministry of Culture, Guantánamo, Cuba.

1985. Traveling Exhibition Japan International Artists Society (JIAS). Prefectural Museum of Yamaguchi; Municipal Hall Hakodate, Hokkaido; Urazoe City Hall, Okinawa; Central Museum, Tokyo;
Prefectural Museum of Miyagi, Japan.

1984. First Havana Biennial, National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
International Painting Festival. Cannes-sur-mer, France. National Salon of Visual Arts UNEAC. Havana, Cuba. Contemporary Cuban Painting, Moscow, Soviet Union.

1983. Meeting of Young Latin American Artists. Casa de las Américas, Havana, Cuba.
Salon Playa'83. Servando Cabrera Moreno Gallery, Havana, Cuba. For Freedom. International Exhibition of Painting in Solidarity with Political Prisoners of Uruguay, Genoa, Italy.

1982. Landscape Salon'82. National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
Drawings and Graphics from Cuba. Lalit Kala Gallery, New Delhi, India.

1981. Posters, Drawings & Graphics from Cuba. Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India.
1980. Carlos Enríquez National Painting Salon. National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
Traveling Exhibition. Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaragua.

1979. National Salon of Visual Arts UNEAC. Havana, Cuba.
1978. Joan Miró International Drawing Competition. Joan Miró Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
Exhibition on José Martí. Habana Gallery, Havana, Cuba.

1977. National Youth Salon of Visual Arts. Havana, Cuba.
1976. July 26 Competition. National Museum, Havana, Cuba.
Ten Years of Printmaking. National School of Art, Havana, Cuba. National Youth Salon of Visual Arts. Havana, Cuba. Permanent Youth Salon. National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts. Havana, Cuba. Current Cuban Visual Arts. Modern Art Museum La Tertulia, Cali, Colombia.

1975. Panorama of Cuban Art, from the Colony to Our Days. Museum of Modern Art, D.F., Mexico.
National Salon of Visual Arts Teachers. Habana Gallery, Havana, Cuba. XIII Anniversary of the National School of Art. ENA Gallery, Cubanacán, Havana, Cuba. Tribute to Puerto Rico. Habana Gallery, Havana, Cuba.

1974. National Drawing Salon. Camagüey, Cuba.
IV National Youth Salon of Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba. II National Salon of Visual Arts Teachers, National School of Art, Havana, Cuba.

1973. Tribute to the Founding of the San Alejandro Academy. Havana, Cuba.
Tribute Exhibition to José Martí. United States. I National Salon of Visual Arts Teachers. Havana, Cuba.

1972. II National Youth Salon of Visual Arts. National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
Current Cuban Visual Arts. Canada.

1971. Exhibition in Tribute to International Women's Day. Habana Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
1970. Drawing Competition on Lenin. Havana, Cuba.
Awards and Honors
1990 Painting Mention. National Salon of Visual Arts UNEAC, Havana, Cuba.
1988 Italian Government Scholarship.
Painting Mention. National Salon of Visual Arts UNEAC, Havana, Cuba.

1987 Collective Award for the Cuban group. First Jaume Guasch Biennial, Barcelona, Spain.
1985 Award from the International Association of Visual Arts (AIAP) UNEAC Salon, Havana, Cuba.
1983 Mention. Salon Playa'83, Servando Cabrera Moreno Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
1980 Painting Mention. National Carlos Enríquez Salon. National Museum, Cuba.
1977 First Prize for Drawing. National Youth Salon of Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba.
1976 Painting Mention. July 26 Competition, Havana, Cuba.
Drawing Mention. National Youth Salon of Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba.

1975 First Prize for Drawing. National Salon of Visual Arts Teachers, Havana, Cuba.
1974 Painting Mention. IV National Youth Salon and Provincial Salon of Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba.
1970 First Drawing Mention. Lenin Competition, Havana, Cuba.
2017 Youth Teacher Award
Collections
CUBA: Havana: National Museum, Palace of Fine Arts.
Camagüey, Provincial Museum. Spain: Madrid Royal House

NICARAGUA: Managua: Las Américas Museum.
CHINA: Beijing: National Parliament.
FRANCE: Paris: France Liberttè Foundation.
SWITZERLAND: Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
SOUTH KOREA: Kyongju: Sonje Contemporary Art Museum.
CANADA: Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum.

Other Activities
In addition to painting and drawing, Flora Fong has ventured into ceramics, stained glass, textile design in the Telarte project, and the creation of kites using Oriental technique. During the Fifth Havana Biennial in 1994, she directed a kite workshop in collaboration with two Chinese specialists.

In 1978, she represented Cuba at the International Meeting of Painters in Lithuania. She traveled to China on a cultural exchange mission in 1989. She has also visited numerous countries including the United States, Germany, Russia, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Italy, France, and Japan, among others. During the celebration in Panama of the III Panamanian-Cuban Cultural Meeting in 1984, she gave a series of talks and didactic conferences on Cuban visual arts. She has created illustrations for various national and foreign publications; she designed the cover of the novel The Swing of Roy Spencer by Cuban writer Marta Rojas, published in Chile in 1993; she illustrated the book Next to the Mockingbird Poplar, Casa de las Américas Prize by Cuban writer Emilio de Armas. In 1993, the art video Autumn Cloud was made about the life and work of Flora Fong, directed by Alejandro Gil. In 1995, she participated in an international project for the creation of a collective mural with six Spanish painters at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana. In 1997 Flora Fong designed a 150 x 600 cm stained glass window for the Piano-Bar of the Restaurant El Pedregal in the Cuban capital. In 1999, she created a sculpture placed at the Bathing Resort of Varadero in front of the Hotel "Taíno 5". In 2002 she created a ceramic mural for the elementary school "Cesáreo Fernández" located in the Playa municipality. In 2004 she placed a sculpture at the University of Computer Sciences. Havana, Cuba.