Florencio Gelabert

Biography

­Florencio Gelabert’s thought-provoking­ sculptures and installations stem from a rigorous conceptual and formal training in the language of sculpture. Such language is expanded, deconstructed and dematerialized in the work of this Cuban born artist who has resided in the US since 1990. Gelabert is recognized as one of Cuba’s principal contemporary sculptors, trained at the legendary art school, San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts in Havana at the age of thirteen and subsequently at the pioneering Higher Institute of Art (ISA). He received an MA ISA in Havana, Cuba (1989) and an MFA from the University of Miami (1998).

In Gelabert’s work, the “natural” is re-contextualized and re-constructed as a simulacrum – using man-made materials such as Aqua Resin®, Plexiglas®, drywall, PVC® pipes and tiles, as well as artificial plants and meal leftovers, to create imaginary landscapes and architectural remains that evoke real environmental concerns. These works evoke grotesque themes with reference to baroque aesthetics, and despite the powerful message about pollution and the effect of humanity on the environment, they maintain a level of aesthetic value that celebrate the beauty of our surroundings. In a formal aspect, Gelabert’s work also expands upon canonical movements such as post-minimalism and Arte Povera, combining instead a minimalist language that dialogues with quasi-baroque characteristics.

At the beginning of the 80s, Gelabert’s work received recognition from Cuban art critics, and he began to gain international attention in the 90s, when he presented his solo exhibition “Sound of the Forest” at the Jacobo Borges Contemporary Art Museum in Caracas, Venezuela, and at the Contemporary Art Museum of Panama. He has also participated in the Barro de América Biennial (1998, 2001); Uppsala Biennial, Sweden (2000); the Bienal del Barrio, New York (2007), the XXXI Pontevedra Biennial, Spain (2010) and the 11th Havana Biennial (2012).

Gelabert has received many awards, including the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, New York (2008), the Urban Artist Initiative Fellowship 2009/10, NoMAA Grant 2010/11, the Vermont Studio Center Fellowship (2005/1995), the CAF Award (2005) and the Socrates Sculpture Park Artist in Residency Program (1988-89).

His work is included in several public and private collections: Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA), Long Beach, CA; Vin & Sprithistoriska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College SUNY, NY; The Goldberg Collection at Nassau County Museum, Roslyn Harbor, NY; MOCA, North Miami, FL; The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, FIU, Miami; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach; the Santa Fe Museum of Art, New Mexico, The Cisneros Collection in Caracas, Venezuela, and the National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.

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