Roberto Fabelo Pérez

===BODY===
He was born in Camagüey, on a farm on the outskirts of Guáimaro. From a poor family of tradition. A grandfather on his father's side who came from Spain, or his family who came from Spain trying to make it in the Americas. From the Canaries, people with little education from an educational standpoint, in short, very tough country people, but who were victims of the worst circumstances one can imagine.

Painter, draftsman, engraver, sculptor and illustrator. He studied at the National School of Art and at the Higher Institute of Art in Havana. Professor and member of the jury of important national and international competitions in the plastic arts. Due to his outstanding artistic career, the Cuban state has awarded him the Medal for National Culture and the Alejo Carpentier Medal.

Since childhood he has been addicted to drawing and has not been able to cure himself. Today he paints, makes sculptures, assembles things, but drawing is a daily habit: a lifelong dose. Fortunately, the other vice that competes equally is his family. His wife Suyu, whom he always calls sweetheart or babe, depending on whether the occasion is romantic or carnal; his two sons: Roberto Camilo and Gabriel, angels or little devils, also depending on the occasion, who frolic in or over his drawings or paintings.

He is a watcher and an investigator of people. In their faces is the entire setting of their stories. Even though they think not, he is always observing them. He does it with the same passion and curiosity with which he looks at the fascinating variety of plants, animals and things that populate this strange world.

He buys books about nature and also about art. He is interested in looking at all art, although he inscribed himself early in the figurative tradition: that which comes from Velázquez, Goya, Daumier, Kokusai, Klint, Otto Dix, up to the great Lucian Freud.

All music: Lecuona, Benny, Paco de Lucia, Chucho Valdés, Miguelito Cuni, Silvio, Pablo, Pedro Luis Ferrer, Amaury, Jose Maria Vitier, Keith Jarret... the list could be endless. His stereo is on the verge of burning out every day; he turns it on in the morning and turns it off late at night. He reads voraciously with the anxiety that he will never be able to read everything he would like. While he can listen to music while he paints, reading requires total commitment and books tend to be possessive if they catch you.

Chronology
1972- Graduate of the National School of Art, Havana.
1981- Graduate of the Higher Institute of Art, Havana.
AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS:
1972- Award. Painting. II National Youth Salon of Plastic Arts, Havana.
1973- Award. Painting. National Salon of Art Teachers and Instructors, Havana/Mention. Drawing. National Salon of Art Teachers and Instructors/Mention. Painting. III National Youth Salon.
1974- Grand Prize. Drawing. National Salon of Art Teachers and Instructors.
1976- Award. Drawing. July 26 Contest, Havana/Mention. Engraving. National Salon of Plastic Arts, Matanzas, Cuba.
1977- Mention. National Drawing Salon, Pinar del Río, Cuba.
1978- Acquisition Award. IV Triennial of Contemporary Arts, India/Award. Drawing. National Youth Salon of Plastic Arts/Award. Drawing. July 26 Contest, Havana.
1979- Award. I Triennial of Drawing Arístides Fernández, Havana.
1980- Award. Drawing. UNEAC Salon, Havana/Award. Drawing. Provincial Youth Salon, Havana.
1981- Acquisition Award. Girón Salon, Havana/Award. Hermanos Saíz Brigade. National Salon of Small Format, Havana.
1984- International Drawing Prize Armando Reverón. 1st Havana Biennial/Award. Drawing. Intergraphik-84, Berlin, Germany/Award. IX International Drawing Exhibition, Rijeka, Yugoslavia.
1985- Abel Santamaría Medal. State Council of the Republic of Cuba.
1988- National Prize The White Rose. Best Children's Book Illustration Work, Havana.
1993- First Prize. 11th Drawing Biennial, Cleveland, England.
1996- First Prize. Ibero-American Watercolor Biennial, Viña del Mar, Chile/Promotion of Plastic Arts Prize, UNESCO.
2004- National Prize for Plastic Arts. Cuba.

PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS:
1981- "Drawings". Galería Latina, Stockholm, Sweden/ Nordylland-Bank, Aalborg, Denmark.
1983- "Drawings". Art Gallery, Bayamo, Granma, Cuba.
1985- "Sample Collection". Chopo University Museum, Mexico City/ House of Culture of Oaxaca, Mexico.
1986- Hispanic Center, Athens, Greece/ Galería El Juglar, Mexico City/ Galería Summa Artis, Hotel Presidente, Chapultepec, Mexico City/ Plus Belle Advertising Agency, Mexico City/ Arco-86, Madrid, Spain/"Recent Papers". Galería Habana, Cuba/ El Juglar, Mexico.
1987- "Vital Fragments". Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City.
1988- "Vital Fragments". National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana/"Little Love Stories". Galería OMR, Mexico City.
1994- Galería Xeito, Madrid, Spain/Galería Torres, Bilbao, Spain.
1997- "Works in Process". Galería Acacia, Havana.
1999- "Beyond Paper". Conde Duque Cultural Center, Madrid/ Galería Charlotte Moser, Geneva, Switzerland.
2001- International Art Fair, Santander, Spain.
2002/2003- Arco Fair, Madrid, Spain.
2003- Museum of Fine Arts, Havana.
2005 Worlds. National Museum of Fine Arts. Havana, Cuba.
Masks, simulacra, mirages, disguises. Galería Luis de Soto, Faculty of Arts and Letters, University of Havana. Havana, Cuba.
2006
Worlds. (Sculptures). IX Havana Biennial. National Museum of Fine Arts. Havana, Cuba.
Galería Suyú. Havana, Cuba.

Works in collectionsNational Museum of Fine Arts. Havana, Cuba.
Casa de Las Américas. Havana, Cuba.
Wifredo Lam Center for Contemporary Art. Havana, Cuba.
Museum of Modern Art. New Delhi, India.
Nordilland Kunstmuseum, Aalborg, Denmark
Museum of Modern Art. Mexico City, Mexico.
Chopo University Museum, Mexico City, Mexico.
The Cleveland Gallery. Cleveland, Great Britain.
MOLA. Los Angeles, California.
Gallería degli Uffizi. Florence, Italy.
Yugoslav Portrait Gallery. Tuzla, Yugoslavia.
Finsole Foundation S. P. A. Sicily, Italy
Howard Farber Cuban Art Collection. Harn Museum, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
Cuban Headquarters of the United Nations Organization. New York, United States of America.
Alex and Carole Rosemberg. New York, United States of America.
International Financial Bank. Havana, Cuba.
Office of the Historian of the City. Havana, Cuba.
Miramar Trade Center. Havana, Cuba.
Embassy of Cuba in Mexico. Mexico City.
Paula Church. Havana, Cuba.
Hotel Inglaterra. Havana, Cuba.
Bolivarian Museum of Contemporary Art of Santa Marta, Colombia.
[edit] Awards and mentions2007
Presentation of the candidacy of Roberto Fabelo by the Association of Plastic Arts of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), for the V Edition of the "Velázquez Prize" for Plastic Arts of the General Direction of Fine Arts and Cultural Assets of the Ministry of Culture of Spain.
2004
National Prize for Plastic Arts. Ministry of Culture. Havana, Cuba.
2002
Self-portrait for the permanent collection of Galleria degli Uffizi. Florence, Italy.
1998
The White Rose Prize, for the illustration of the book House in the Clouds, by Ivette Vian. This recognition was awarded by the Children's Literature Section, Association of Writers of UNEAC. Havana, Cuba.
1996
First Prize in the I Ibero-American Watercolor Biennial. Viña del Mar, Chile.
UNESCO Prize Selection, for the promotion of plastic arts. Paris, France.
1995
The White Rose Prize, for the illustration of Matters of the Heart, by Roberto Fernández Retamar. This award was granted by the Children's Literature Section, Association of Writers of UNEAC. Havana, Cuba.
1993
First Prize in the XI International Drawing Biennial of Cleveland, Great Britain.
Prize at the International Crafts Fair, Cuban Fund for Cultural Assets (FCBC). Havana, Cuba.
1989
First Prize for Illustration and Second Prize for Cover for The little chichiricú of the jicara pond, in the VII National Contest The Art of the Book. Havana, Cuba.
1984
International Drawing Prize Armando Reverón at the I Havana Biennial. Havana, Cuba.
Award at the IX Drawing Exhibition. Rijeka, Yugoslavia.
Drawing Prize at Intergraphik´84. Berlin, East Germany.
1981
Prize from the Hermanos Saíz Brigade at the National Salon of Small Format. Havana, Cuba.
1980
First Drawing Prize at the National Salon of Plastic Arts UNEAC´80. Havana, Cuba.
Prize from the Magazine Revolution and Culture at the VII Salon of Plastic Arts. Havana, Cuba.
Drawing Prize at the Provincial Salon of Plastic Arts. Havana, Cuba.
1979
First Prize in the I Drawing Triennial Arístides Fernández. Havana, Cuba.
1978
Acquisition Award III Triennial of Contemporary Art. New Delhi, India.
First Drawing Prize at the National Youth Salon of Plastic Arts. Havana, Cuba
1976
First Drawing Prize at the IV Salon of Plastic Arts, July 26 Contest. Havana, Cuba.
Engraving Mention at the National Salon of Plastic Arts UNEAC´76. Havana, Cuba.
1974
First Drawing Prize at the II National Salon of Teachers and Instructors of Plastic Arts. Havana, Cuba.
1973
First Painting Prize at the I National Salon of Teachers and Instructors of Plastic Arts. Havana, Cuba.
Drawing Mention at the I National Salon of Teachers and Instructors of Plastic Arts. Havana, Cuba.
1972
Painting Prize at the II National Youth Salon of Plastic Arts. Havana, Cuba.
Among his outstanding works are Seashell, Self-portrait. A Little of Me and his portraits of José Martí.