BIOGRAPHY
Cuban, b. 1974
Antonio Espinosa is a Cuban Postwar & Contemporary artist born in Manzanillo, Cuba in 1974. He graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte (University of Arts of Cuba), Havana, in 1997. Espinosa is both a painter and notable cartoonist – his works combine seascapes, photography, and installation, and many of them employ the use of humor and irony to comment on central issues within art, politics, and society.
Espinosa’s approaches do not come directly from the Cuban landscape tradition, rather, far from it. Espinosa understands that the landscape communicates beyond its retinal quality, which is why his work has evolved towards such large seascapes that implement a peculiar symbolism. To him, the sea is the metaphor that he finds to discuss the ambivalence of his home, the island of Cuba. In this sense, Espinosa’s pieces stand out for their technical purity and the absence of color; the artist chooses the gray tones giving the sea an attractive visuality and his almost hyperrealistic recreations are also based on photographic appropriation. But the absence of color is not free, it responds to the aesthetic that has characterized the work of the creator and alludes to a conflictive context, where the dialogue is dramatized and mediated.
Espinosa continues to reside in Cuba, though his works offer a critique and insight into the politics of the island. He has exhibited his works in both group and solo shows around the world. Espinosa’s work can be found the collections of the National Council of Plastic Arts and The Wifredo Lam Center of Contemporary Art in Havana, Cuba as well as in private collections in the US, Europe, and South America.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2016 Antonio Espinosa: Obra Reciente, Art Hamptons, Private Estate, Bridgehampton, NY
2015 Menos Gris, Enlace Arte Contemporáneo, Lima, Peru
2015 Conquista de lo inútil, Zona Franca, 12 Bienal de la Habana, Parque Histórico Militar Morro Cabaña, Havana, Cuba
2014 Antonio Espinosa: Obra Reciente, La Suite Subastas Galería, Barcelona, Spain
2014 Antonio Espinosa: De... volver al tiempo, Galería de Arte “Carlos Enríquez”, Manzanillo, Granma, Cuba
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 Art Marbella, Galería de Arte Gaudí. Madrid, Spain
2019 Art Marbella, Exposición de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, Palacio de Ferias, Congresos y Exposiciones de Marbella, Marbella, Spain
2018 Resilencia y Resistencia en la Diáspora Africana, Museo de las Civilizaciones Negras. Dakar, Senegal
2017 …Se Hace Camino al Andar, Sala Alejo Carpentier, Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso, Havana, Cuba
2017 Memorias – Grebado Cubano ’80 90, Colección Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba
2017 Monstra, Antiguo Hospital Privado de Ortopedia, Lisbon, Portugal
Selected Collections
Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba.
Colección Arte Cubano, Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plásticas (CNAP), Havana, Cuba
Fundación Nicomedes García Gómez, Segovia, Spain
Grafik Museum Stiftung Schreiner, Bad Steben, Germany
CdeCuba Art Collection, Valencia, Spain
AAL (Arte al Límite), Santiago de Chile, Chile
Fundación ArtCuba, Ginebra, Switzerland
Francine Adida Gallery, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Galería Habana México, Ciudad de México, México
La Suite Subastas – Galería, Barcelona, Spain
Enlace Arte Contemporáneo, Lima, Perú
Universidad Instituto Americano Cultural S.C. Ciudad de México, México
Awards
Honorable Mention – Artist of the Year Award, Circle Art Foundation, Lyon, France 2018
First Prize – VI Certamen de Pintura, Fundación Nicomedes García Gómez, Segovia, Spain
Mention – Salón de la Ciudad XI Edición, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba, 1996
Mention – Premio La Joven Estampa, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba, 1995
Mention – Salón Nacional de Artes Plásticas de Alumnos de Nivel Medio, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba 1990
Medal and Diploma – The 8th International Art Exhibition for Children and Young People. Hyvinkaa, Finland 1990