Carlos Llanes
Melena del Sur, Cuba
12 Works exhibited on Kooness
Current location
Miami, United States
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Works by Carlos Llanes
In 1981 he graduated from the University of Havana with a degree in architecture. His brain tumor diagnosis led him to immigrate to the United States to seek treatment, shifting his focus to themes of family, immigration, and cultural identity. He has participated in more than 100 solo and group exhibitions in Cuba, Italy, Sweden, and the United States. His work is part of the permanent collection at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, and he is recognized as one of the most important Cuban painters of his generation.
Artist statement:
"I paint out of conviction, I do it spontaneously, and I work on several pieces simultaneously. Although I change my process with each new piece and enjoy working with different materials and mediums, I usually start on a large canvas with a reduced color palette.
I superimpose layers upon layers, scrape, scratch, draw with my left and right, rotate the work, and repeat these actions until it settles.
I then return, observe it, and continue the process.
Acknowledging the end of this struggle is one of the most important steps for me, and although I have ignored good results in some of these stages, achieving it in the end with full awareness is what challenges me the most.
I may not always be pleased with the result, but then I keep the canvas with me, and I watch it over time, searching for its essence until perhaps I notice a way to interact with it using other techniques and formats.
I paint out of an innate and involuntary need to constantly create works and express something through forms and symbols. I do it perennially, inside and outside the workshop. I consciously enter into a dialogue between the process of creating and its final culmination incorporating the changes within the painting over time, and I encourage viewers to interact with my work by partaking in that process."
2016 "Coloquio de Ron”, Hotel Arenas Blanca, Varadero, Cuba
2015 "THRUS (A través), 12th Havana Biennial, Cuba
2014 "A Diestra y Siniestra”, Melena del Sur, Cuba
2014 "100 años de Abstracciones”, Casa del Alba, Havana, Cuba
2012 "Sabor y Arte”, Casa de México, Havana, Cuba
2012 "De lo Real a lo Pintado”, 11th Havana Biennal, Cuba
2010 "La Otra Realidad”, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba
2010 "Nada que decir”, Matanzas, Cuba
2010 "Expo Colectiva”, Museum of Contemporary Art Pino Pascali, Porticato, Italy.
2010 "Expo Colectiva”, Museo Casa D' Amore, Alberobello, Italy
2009 “Equilátero", C. Cultural Yara, 10th Havana Biennial, Cuba
2008 "Ambiente Citadino”, Galería Conrado W. Massaguer, Matanzas, Cuba
2007 "Carlos Llanes", Galleria Bona Sforza, Palazzo Colavecchio, Modugno, Italy.
2006 "Mastrovito Espressioni", Bari, Italy
2006 "La Natura Altra", Palazzo Eventos, Bari, Italy
2006 "Bianco Nero”, Studio D’Arte Fedele, Bari, Italy
2004 "Entre Malezas”, Galería Provincial Eduardo Abela, Artemisa, Cuba
2004 "En Pirámides” & "Confesiones de Paisajes", National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), Mayabeque, Cuba
2003 "Paisajes por Carlos”, Museum Hurón Azul, Havana, Cuba
2003 “Invitación", Centro Provincial del Libro, Havana, Cuba
2002 “Escondrijos”, Galería Luz y Oficios, Havana, Cuba
2000 "Urbanismo Campestre”, Galería de Arte, San José, Mayabeque