Artist Name: José Manuel Mesías
Residency Dates: October – November 2023
Born: 1990
Hometown: Havana, Cuba
Lives & Works: Havana, Cuba
URL: http://josemanuelmesias.com/ | Instagram: @jose.manuel.mesias
Gallery: El Apartamento | Galleria Continua
Education: Escuela de Bellas Artes San Alejandro
Bio/Statement:
José Manuel Mesías is a Cuban artist who specializes in painting, drawing, video and installation. The latter being a medium for which he often focuses his practice on the object, its found status and its story. His work roots itself in both the past history and contemporary context of Cuba. It often looks back to the time of the Independence wars in Cuba in the late 1800s, a rare theme in contemporary Cuban art. His work reveals both personal and collective histories. It demonstrates the fundamental principles of the universe that can be manifested in the most insignificant objects and the most ordinary crafts.
Selected solo exhibitions include: Sala del Tiempo, a project presented as part of the official program of the 13th Havana Biennial, at Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales (2019); Sinsontes en perseverancia, a happening held at Calle Bernal y Águila, Havana (2019); Metáfora del crepúsculo árabe, Art Dubai, as a result of the residency period in the United Arab Emirates (2019); Image Index, Factoría Habana, Havana (2017); Acerca de la verdad absoluta and The Binary Show, Mindy Solomon Gallery (2016, 2015); El origen de la simetría, Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas y Diseño Luz y Oficios, Havana (2012).
His work has been part of the following collective exhibitions: Más allá de la utopía. Las relecturas de la historia, National Museum of Fine Arts, collateral to the 13th Havana Biennial (2019); Pouvoir & Pouvoir, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins (2019); Going away closer, Spiral Garden, Tokyo, Japan and Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam (2018); La línea recta no es la más corta, Azkuna Zentroa, Bilbao, Spain (2018); 7th Salon of Contemporary Cuban Art, Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales (2017); Cuba mi amor, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins (2017); Registro Incompleto, Habana Gallery (2017); Nido sin árbol, exhibition organized by Galleria Continua at Colegio de Arquitectos (UNAICC) (2016); Comercio de rescate, Servando Gallery, Havana (2016); La utilidad de la historia, Factoría Habana, Havana (2014); Cuban Video (MoCA), Cleveland, USA (2010); among others.
He has obtained residency scholarships in Japan, sponsored by the Akita Art Institute (2018); in Bilbao, Spain, as part of the Azkuna Zentroa – Artist x Artist Residency Program (2017); in Colombia, from the exchange project between the Instituto Superior de Arte and the Universidad de los Andes (2013), among others.
Support: José Manuel Mesías’ residency is made possible with support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Cuban Artists Fund.
