Rolando Estévez Jordán

Rolando Estévez is a painter, poet, and designer. He was awarded the National Book Design Prize 2010 and the Distinction for National Culture.

Rolando is one of the most restless and adventurous artists of contemporary Cuban visual art. Poet, draftsman, painter, set designer, editor, he never stopped surprising with the overflow of an imagination that he expressed in exhibitions, performances, theatrical productions, and books.

His scenic designs have received several national recognitions, and his work was fundamental in giving Ediciones Vigía the visual identity and prestige that characterize it worldwide. Until his death, he directed the artisanal publishing house El Fortín, which he founded.

In 1972 he received the "Mention in Graphic Design" from the National Youth Salon. He has participated in thirty collective salons within and outside of Cuba, and more than thirty solo exhibitions.

In 1985, in collaboration with Alfredo Zaldívar, he founded Ediciones Vigía in Matanzas.

His work encompasses drawing, installation and performance, scenic design, and he works as principal designer of Ediciones Vigía (of Matanzas).

He holds several national distinctions. He is a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac) and an honorary member of the Hermanos Saíz Association, which brings together artists from the region.

Critical works and other studies of his work have appeared in the most important art and literature publications in Cuba and in magazines from the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

On February 13, 2011, at the XX International Book Fair of Havana, the Cuban Book Institute conferred the National Book Design Prize 2010 on Estévez Jordán. The jury was presided over by Roberto Artemio Iglesias (National Book Design Prize) and included Ana María Muñoz Bachs (National Publishing Prize), José Alberto Menéndez, Sigfredo Ariel, and Lourdes González Casas. The jury highlighted, in particular, his work in Ediciones Vigía: books, parchments, magazines, small publications, and loose items. Estévez created the design line that distinguishes this publishing house since its founding in 1985: the publication of only two hundred copies entirely handmade and illustrated with original drawings, poor and natural materials, and a wide variety of papers and artisanal techniques.

Ediciones Vigía are part of the collections of the Library of Congress (in Washington) and the Atlantic Art Museum, and of several universities in the United States, Canada, and other countries in the Americas. In 2002 the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MOMA) acquired the first collection of these books and has continued to expand it to the present.

Estévez's work is multifaceted: it encompassed drawing, installation and manipulated photography, art-objects and art-books; scenic design (with groups such as Mirón Cubano, D'Sur, Buendía, and Icarón, fundamentally), and teaching, as he gives workshops on scenic design techniques and a Free Course in Basic Design.

He is the author of the poetry collections:
The Late God (Letras Cubanas, 1990);
The Deep Shell (Ediciones Vigía 1991);
Suite for Voice and Heart in Black Suit (Ediciones de La Ciudad 1997);
By Way of the Sea (Ediciones Vigía, 2007); and
The Broken Vein (Ediciones Aldabón, 2010).

He has won three times the book design prize from the National Graphics Salon. On two occasions the Art of the Book Prize, as well as the Grand Fayad Jamís Prize for a collection of books designed for Vigía.

His plastic work has been displayed in collective and solo exhibitions (about twenty-seven) in Cuba, the United States, Mexico, France, Venezuela, and Martinique. Some of his titles are:
Thought, Tell Fragrance (1990, drawings);
Song to Myself and Other Guayaberas (1992, installations and drawings);
The Lone Ranger's Display Cases (1995, objects and installations);
The Seventhweek (1999, manipulated photos and installations and objects);
Drawings to Scratch Your Head (2000, drawings);
Spotlights First Half (2005, drawings);
Spotlights Second Half (2006, drawings and small installations);
The Books of the Soul (2007, retrospective exhibition of books designed for Vigía);
Grains of Fear (2008, small-format drawings).

Main National Collective Exhibitions
1972 and 1974: Youth Salon of Visual Arts, Havana.
1987, 1995, 1997, 1999: National Graphics Salon, Havana.
1988 and 1990: Art Salon, A Weapon of the Revolution, Matanzas.
1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999: Roberto Diago Salon, Matanzas.
1998: First Contemporary Art Salon, Havana.
1998: Second Contemporary Art Salon, Havana.
1999: Four from Matanzas, Lobby of the National Theater, Havana.

Main International Collective Exhibitions
1993: Contemporary Cuban Art, Martinique and Guadeloupe (sponsored by the National Center for Development of Visual Arts).
1994: Matanzas Painting, Jamaica (organized by the Cuban Cultural Assets Fund).
1995: Exhibition of Cuban Painting, France (organized by the Cuban Cultural Assets Fund).

Main Solo Exhibitions
1989: Unknown (large-format installation) House of the Writer, Matanzas.
1992: Thought, Tell Fragrance. Art Center of Matanzas.
1992: Thought, Tell Fragrance. Art Center of Holguín.
1993: Small Exhibition of Drawings. El hijo del Cuervo Cultural Center, Mexico City.
1995: Drawings. Vigía Editorial Workshop, Matanzas.
1995: The Lone Ranger's Display Cases. Art Center of Matanzas.
1996: Pornographic and Philosophical Postcards. Art Center of Matanzas.
1997: Estévez for Vigía. House of the Americas, Havana.
1998: I Wait Trusting. Gallery of the University of Michigan (United States).
1999: Song to Myself and Other Guayaberas. Art Center of Matanzas.

Performances
1999: Epiphany (large-format street performance) Calle del Medio, Matanzas.
1999: Land Hung from the Sky. Art Gallery of Matanzas.

Curations
1998, 1999, 2000: The Shortest Path. Art Center of Matanzas.
1999: My Head and I. Art Museum of Matanzas.
2000: The Song of the 20th Century. Art Center of Matanzas.

Main International Presentations of His Work
1996: Banff Centre of the Arts, in Alberta (Canada).
1998: Faculty of Art at the University of Michigan (United States).
1998: The Paul University, in Chicago (United States).
1998: International University of Florida, in Miami (United States).
2000: University of Boston (United States).
2000: School of Art affiliated with the Museum of Fine Art, in Boston (United States).

Some Awards and Mentions
1973: First Mention and Mention from the International Together We Create Competition, called for by the magazine Polonia.
1992, 1993, 1994, 1995: Roberto Diago Salon Prize
1994: Grand Fayad Jamís Prize for the body of works created for Ediciones Vigía, in Matanzas.
1995, 1997, 1999: National Graphics Salon Prize, in Havana.
1990 and 2000: National Avellaneda Prize, for Scenic Design, in Camagüey.
1990 and 2000: National Rubén Vigón Prize, for Scenic Design, in Havana.
2000: Abril Prize, for the exhibition Song to Myself and Other Guayaberas.
2010: National Book Design Prize for lifetime achievement
2018: Vitral Prize of My City

Books
1988: Cowbells of the Night. Matanzas: Vigía, 1988.
1989: Suite for Voice and Heart in Black Suit. Matanzas: Ediciones Matanzas, 1989.
1989: If You Forgive the Tree. Matanzas: Ediciones de la Ciudad, 1989.
1994: The Late God. Havana: Cuba-Argentina (New Pines Collection), 1994.
1994: The Deep Shell. Matanzas: Vigía, 1994.