Luis Alberto Ruiz Saavedra

Cuban painter and draftsman residing in Ecuador, whose works reveal a profound Cubanness and contain traits of Yoruba religion, the African heritage established in the Caribbean archipelago and its orishas.

A native of Sagua la Grande, Villaclara, Luis Alberto has held more than 55 individual exhibitions and has participated in more than 60 collective shows inside and outside his native country. Some of his works have been acquired by public and private collectors from different parts of the world.

He is the author of the sculptures to Eloy Alfaro and José Martí in the City of Loja and of the large-format three-dimensional Mural in tribute to Master Oswaldo Guayasamín at the entrance of the tunnel bearing his name (Ecuador).

Ruiz Saavedra is a self-taught painter, with Wifredo Lam, Pablo Picasso, and Oswaldo Guayasamin as references for his inspiration and creation. His collections are characterized—among others: "Musigallos", "The Other Jungle", "Presence", "Love in High Relief", "Signals of Silence", "Always With You Guayasamin", "Expressions", "Musigallos in Quito". His work "Obi Kue" (coconut speaks clearly) constitutes ancestral spiritual heritage, currently in the Museum of Playing Cards in Havana.

He resides in Quito where he works as a Visual Arts Artist and provides his services as a University Professor in the courses of Social Psychology, Sociology, Ethics, and Leadership.

Some of his works are permanently exhibited in the Museum of Playing Cards in Old Havana, Cuba, in the Cuban Art Cultural Center in Harlem and likewise one of his works, "The Chair Work" in the African Diaspora Room in the Museum of Contemporary Art in New York.

Dedicated to Latin American and Caribbean women, 20 pieces, acrylics on large-format canvas, make up the exhibition, which will not only remain in the Joan Miró Hall, but is expected to tour other spaces in the European country where UNESCO headquarters is located. In his paintings there are always Yoruba details, in the forms, in the color, in the lines, 'because it is part of what I am, Cuban, Latin American. But what joy it is to be Cuban'!

Among his most relevant works are The Other Chair, The Other Guernica, The Other Scream, The Other Jungle, and Challenge to Injustice, are some of the titles that were exhibited at the Alianza Francesa in Ecuador, Chair for Eleguá.

In 2020 he held an exhibition in the Joan Miró Hall of UNESCO in Paris.

- Member of the Caguayo Foundation since November/2002, presided over by Painter and Sculptor Alberto Lescay.
- Affiliated with the Creator Registry (R-13 No.13488) Center for the Development of Visual Arts.

He has obtained 18 Awards at provincial and National levels. He has held 29 personal exhibitions, of which 4 were outside the country, and has participated in 45 collective exhibitions, of these 6 abroad.

He participated with the installation exhibition titled PRESENCE at the UNESCO house in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on the occasion of the 8th Festival EL CIMARRÓN and in the collective exhibition NEW YORK, WE ARE HERE in Oswego, State University.

He worked on the realization of the OBI KUÉ project with the Mixed Art group and the Folkloric Ensemble of Cienfuegos to celebrate the Declaration of the Historic Center of Cienfuegos as a World Heritage Site and likewise with electroacoustic musician Yoni Alma in the Animation of a group of his works related to music and syncretism.