Acrylic on Canvas
64 x 62 inches
Jorge Luis Santos
Biography
Jorge Luis Santos was born in Quivicán, Cuba in 1973. Santos creates visceral, abstract works. He tends to work in a monumental scale in order for his works to be understood. Throughout his long and celebrated career, he has continued to experiment with materials like acrylic, oil, mixed media, iron, wood, and found objects in forms such as painting, sculpture, and installation. In Santos’s process, using a brush taped to a long pole, a palette knife, his hands, and the sole of his shoe as tools for painting. Jorge is considered Cuba’s foremost abstractionist.
Jorge Luis Santos has exhibited his works extensively in solo and group exhibitions at institutions, galleries, and art fairs internationally since 1994. His work has been written about and discussed by prominent Cuban scholars and critics, including Rafael Acosta de Arriba, Elivia Rosa Castro, Nelson Herrera Ysla, Elsa Vega Dopico and Jose Manuel Noceda, and so on. Jorge’s artworks are represented in the collections of major institutions such as Perez Art Museum in Miami, the Museum of Cuban Art in Vienna, among others.
Throughout his career, Jorge Luis Santos has proven to himself something of an anomaly; within Cuba’s predominantly figurative art landscape, he developed an early and enduring commitment to abstraction. On the one hand, this has allowed Santos to subvert the aesthetic expectations of politicization so often imposed on art coming out of Cuba. At the same time, if every creative act is inherently political, perhaps none is more radical than abstraction––an artistic register that injects the individual with all the emotional and psychological complexities therein into every mark on the canvas. Working on multiple pieces simultaneously- arranged sometimes on the floor, other times on the wall, Santos wields paint like an extension of himself. It is common to find handmade gestures, shoe prints, or stains alongside the brushstrokes in his work.
“My work was intentionally accepting and incorporating abstraction as a language, with the occasional hint of abstract expressionism and informalism. I feel that it sympathizes more with my spirit and my way of living. As Willem de Kooning said in an interview: “I’m not interested in ‘abstracting’ or taking things out or reducing painting to design, form, line, and color. “I paint this way because I can keep putting more and more things in—drama, anger, pain, love, a figure, a horse, my ideas about space.”
CV
Solo Exhibitions:
1994
“From Stain to Print,” Municipal Museum, Quivican, Havana Province, Cuba
1999
“La ciudad,” Creative Gallery, Rome, Italy
2000
“A Play of Colors,” Tholos, International Meter of Graphic Art, Venice, Italy
2001
“From paradise…,” Galleria Palazzo Palmieri, Trani, Italy
“Behind the Window,” Casa Guayasamin, Havana, Cuba
“Santos,” Tempo & Arte Gallery, Andria, Italy
Gallery 3.14, Petruzzelli Theatre, Bari, Italy
2004
“Abstracto, y…,” Bona Sforza Gallery, Palazzo Colavecchio, Bari, Italy / Palazzo Tanzarella Gallery, Ostuni, Italy / Mastrovito Expressions Art Gallery, Taranto, Italy
2005
“Of Matter and Time,” Havana Club Foundation, Havana Club Rum Museum, Havana, Cuba
“Erosions,” Small Space Gallery, National Council of Plastic Arts, Havana, Cuba
2008
“The Bill Doesn’t Give,” Collateral to the X Havana Biennial, Convent of San Francisco de Asis, Havana, Cuba
“The Whites Move,” El Template Restaurant, Havana, Cuba
2009
“The Bill Doesn’t Give,” Collateral to the X Havana Biennial, Convent of San Francisco de Asis, Havana, Cuba,
2012
“DNA,” Collateral 11th Havana Biennial, Morro-Cabana Cultural Complex, Havana, Cuba
2013
“Dreams,” 1st Panama Biennial (guest artist), Panama City, Panama
2015
“Work in Progress,” Collateral 12th Havana Biennial, Morro-Cabana Cultural Complex, Havana, Cuba
2021
“Shoe Stains,” Lowell Ryan Projects, Los Angeles California, United States
2022
“Light and Eye,” Art Evey, Palm Beach, Miami, Florida, United States
2025
“Dilatation,” Square One gallery, St, Louis, Missouri, United States
Group Exhibitions:
2025
Gallery Red, Mallorca, Spain
Breirbard Williams Fine Art, Houston, Texas, United States
L&GProjects, LaJolla, California, United States
2024
Carousel Gallery, Chicago, United States
2019
Art Miami with Cernuda Arte, Miami, Florida, United States
2018
Expo Chicago Art Fair, with Cernuda Arte, Chicago, United States
Art New York, with Cernuda Arte, New York, United States
Dallas Fair, with Cernuda Arte, Texas, United States
Art Wynwood, with Cernuda Arte, Miami, Florida, United States
Fair West Palm Beach, with Cernuda Arte, Florida, United States
2017
Art Miami, with Cernuda Arte, Florida, United States
Expo Chicago Art Fair, with Cernuda Arte, Chicago, United States
Art New York, with Cernuda Arte, New York, United States
Dallas Fair, with Cernuda Arte, Miami, Florida, United States
Art Wynwood, with Cernuda Arte, Miami, Florida, United States
Fair West Palm Beach, with Cernuda Arte, Florida, United States
2016
Art Miami, Florida, with Cernuda Arte
Strength and Blood: Imaginaries of the Flag in Cuban Art, Cuba Pavilion, Havana, Cuba
Strength and Blood: Imaginaries of the Flag in Cuban Art, Gran Teatro de La Habana, Havana, Cuba
2013
Expoarte, 30th International Contemporary Art Fair, Bari, Italy
AA Afordable Art Fair, Milan, Italy
PRESS, Miami, Florida, United States
2012
Expoarte, 29th International Fair of Modern and Contemporary Art, Bari, Italy
Mastrovito expressioni d’Arte, Centro Designer, Martina Franca, Taranto, Italy
Visionaire, Centro Designer, Bari, Italy
AA Afordable Art Fair, Milan, Italy
2011
Permanent exhibition, Museum of Cuban Art, Vienna, Austria
Pinacoteca Palazzo, Beltrani Museum, Trani, Italy
The Templars Hall, Molfetta, Italy
Centro Studi Bona Sforza, Bari, Italy
2010
The other reality, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba
Informal Cuba, Santa Croce Monastery, Bisceglie, Italy
Beyond the Mediterranean, Latin American Paintings, Galleria Biblioteca
Comunale-Museo Pino Pascali, Polignano, Italy
2009
24 Cuban artist, Collateral to the Tenth Havana Biennial, International Press Center, Havana, Cuba
Wings with Points, Itinerant exhibition in 13 Cuban provinces
Insular footprint, Traveling exhibition in Germany and Holland
2008
Wings with tips, Exhibition in homage to Jose Marti, Jose Marti Memorial, Havana, Cuba
Mark Art Malaga, IV International Contemporary Art Fair, Marbella, Spain
ARTBO, International Contemporary Art Fair, Bogota, Colombia
Identity, Perspective of the National, Exhibition of Cuban contemporary art
Hotel Habana Riviera, Havana, Cuba
2007
International Fair of Modern and Contemporary Art, Udine, Italy
Pint, The Contemporary Latin American Art Fair, New York, United States
Cuba-Africa, Hotel Bellevue, Cortina D’Ampezzo Italy
2006
5×5=25, Homage to the 5th Anniversary of La Jiribilla, Jose Marti Memorial, Havana, Cuba
2004
Expo Padova, Fiera Internazionale de Arte Contemporaneo, Padua, Italy
Cuba-Puerto Rico Project, Caribbean Art Auction, Centro de Bellas Artes, Puerto Rico
Hermanos Saiz Room, Provincial Council of Plastic Arts, Havana, Cuba
2003
Expoarte, 22 International Fair of Contemporary Art, Bari, Italy
A ride to Cuba, Monasterio Santa Croce, Bisceglie, Italy
Artists of the Americas, New York, United States
Art Event, Palazzo Palmieri, Trani, Italy / Palazzo Colavecchio, Modugno, Italy
2002
Expoarte, 21st International Fair of Contemporary Art, Bari, Italy
Cubart Expolevante, Fiera dei Levante, Bari, Italy
Artistika, International Art Fair, Lecce, Italy
Colors under the stars, Fortino, Bari, Italy
2001
Photographic and contemporary Cuban art exhibition, La Renascent, Italy
Expoarte, 20th International Fair of Modern and Contemporary Art, Bari, Italy
Arteexpo Udine 2001, International Market Exhibition of Modern and Contemporary Art, Udine Fair, Udine, Italy
Expo Padova, International Contemporary Art Fair, Padua, Italy
2000
Padua 2000, 1 ra Contemporary Art Market Exhibition, Padova Fiera, Padua, Italy
1999
Presentation, I Volume Cubait-Nouvelles Frontières, Rome Italy
1998
Salon Territorial Eduardo Abela, San Antonio de los Banos, Havana Province, Cuba
Colavecchio, Bari, Italy
1996
Eduardo Abela Room, San Antonio de los Banos, Havana Province, Cuba
1995
Malecon, Cultural Project, Spain
1994
Meeting of landscapes in Cajio, Guira de Melena, Havana Province, Cuba
Awards:
1999
Prize in the Landscape Encounter, Guira de Melena, Havana Province, Cuba
1998
Prize for the set of works, XIII Eduardo Abela Territorial Plastic Arts Salon, San Antonio de los Banos, Havana Province, Cuba
Institutional Projects:
In the 1990’s, Jorge Luis Santos began participating in various exhibitions in Cuba organized by the National Council of Visual Arts (CNAP) and the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). He stood out for his repeated participation in the Eduardo Abela Salon in 1996 and 1997, one of the country’s most important art events, where he was awarded in the 1998 edition.
Between 2000 and 2020, Santos took part in several institutional projects, and from this period onward, his career gained international recognition following his first exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, titled The Other Reality (2010) . The selection includes:
Eventi d’Arte Latinita, Palazzo Palmieri, Trani, Italia/Palazzo Colavecchio, Modugno, Italy, 2013
Permanent exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba in Vienne, Austria, Maximilian Reiss Collection, 2010-present
Handmade Technology, Galleria Orizzonti Arte, Ostuni, Italy, 2012
Visionaire, Centro Designer, Bari, Italy, 2012
Afuera. Art and Arts, Project Galatina, Lecce, Italia/Galleria Catapano, Bari, Italy, 2012
Pinacoteca Palazzo, Museo Beltrani, Trani, Italy, 2010
Oltre il Mediterraneo, Latin American Paintings, Galleria Biblioteca Comunale-Museo Pino Pascali, Polignano, Italy, 2012
Huella insular / Island Footprint, traveling exhibition though Germany and the Netherlands, 2009
Abstracto, y… Broderick Gallery, Portland, Oregon, United Stated, 2005
Marea, pero me encanta / Tide, but I love it, Group Exhibition of 32 Cuban abstract painters, Oswaldo Guayassamin Gallery, Havana, Cuba, 2004
Cuba-Puerto Rico Project, Carretean Art Auction, Fine Arts Center, Puerto Rico, 2004
Artists of the Americas, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, United States, 2003
Biennials:
Jorge Luis Santos has participated in several editions of the Havana Biennial with the projects ADN, Work in Progress, La cuenta no dam and 24 Cuban Artists- the latter presented during the tench Biennial, titled Integration and Resistance in the Global Era, at the International Press Center (2009)
In 2013, he was invited to take part in the first edition of the Panama Biennial, under the theme Placing Words
Publications:
Jorge Luis Santos, Monograph, CA, Private Edition, 2018
Volume Cubart, Nouvelles Frontières, Roma Italy, 1999