Flavio garciandía

Flavio Garciandía
Flavio

Caibarién, Cuba, 1954

Flavio Garciandía is one of the most relevant figures of Postconceptual Art in the Caribbean. He is considered a key figure in the vibrant Cuban art scene of the late seventies and eighties. In addition to his importance as a professor at the Instituto Superior del Arte, his participation in the founding of the Havana Biennial stands out. He defines his work as New Tropical Abstraction, thus playing with the meteorological term Tropical Depre- sion, a type of thunderstorm very characteristic of the Caribbean. The starting point of his imaginary is the research on kitsch and other expressions of popular culture in Latin America. His painting, lucid, sophisticated, erudite, is a very detailed analysis of the history of modern art; of popular strategies of resistance to the normative discourse in the field of the politics of representation; of contemporary social utopias. His taste for appropriation, irony, paradox, humor, carnivalization of style, tautology and self-referentiality make his imaginary inescapable when it comes to enunciating the keys to postmodern art in Latin America.

Flavio

curriculum

studies

1976-1981
Higher Institute of Art, Havana, Cuba.
1969-1973
National School of Art, Havana, Cuba.

personal exhibitions

2024 
Flavio Garciandía y Flavio Garciandía exhiben juntos (otra vez)
El Apartamento, Madrid, Spain.
2022 
The best and worst of Flavio Garciandía
Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland.
2019 
10 years (2009 - 2019)
Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland.
2018
Another Time / Another Thing
El Apartamento, Havana, Cuba.
2016 
Flavio Garciandía
Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland.
2014 
I would like to be Wifredo LAM
Wilfredo Lam Contemporary Art Center, Havana, Cuba.
2013 
On Painting
CAAM, Los Balcones, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain.
2012
NO MAN IS A BRUSH
Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.
2010 
I WAS GOING TO SAY SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT (but I forgot...),
Villa Manuela Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
2009
N'a que ver. Morelos Center for the Arts, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
2006 
Rise or Decline of Cuban Art
National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
2004 
I insulted John Baldessari in... Havana
Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.
I insulted Clement Greenberg in Havana.KBK Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico.
2003 
Flavio Garciandía
Luis Adelantado Gallery, Valencia, Spain.
2002
Flavio Garciandía, Paintings
Georgia State University, School of Art/ Design Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
2001 
I insulted Brice Marden in Havana. New paintings by Flavio Garciandía
Ramis Barquet Gallery, New York, USA.
2000 
Did Not Have the Right to Color
Habana Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
Clifford Still picking mangoes in my backyardMuseum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
1999
Flavio Garciandía,
Habana Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
1997
Flavio Garciandía
Rachel Harris Gallery, Fort Worth, Texas, USA.
Flavio Garciandía, Who's Afraid of Barnett NewmanRamis Barquet Gallery, San Pedro Garza García, Monterrey, Mexico.
Flavio Garciandía - Abstraction (tropical)), La Acacia Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
1995
Flavio Garciandía - A visit to the Museum of Tropical Art
Ramis Barquet Gallery, San Pedro Garza García, Monterrey, Mexico.
1994 
Flavio Garciandía
National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
1992 
Flavio Garciandía
Galerie El Patio, Bremen, Germany.
1989 
Flavio Garciandía - Tropicalia I
The Central Space, Faroe Road Studios, London, UK.
1986 
Venice Biennale
Corderie dell' Arsenale, Venice, Italy.
1983 
Flavio Garciandía
Provincial Museum of Villa Clara, Santa Clara, Cuba.
1982
Flavio Garciandía
- Vereda Tropical, Galería Habana, Havana, Cuba.
1981 
Flavio Garciandía
José Martí Cultural Center, Mexico City, Mexico.
1979 
Flavio Garciandía - Painting
Casa de la Cultura de Plaza, Havana, Cuba.
1976,
Flavio Garciandía, PAINTINGS
. Gallery L, Havana, Cuba.
1973 
Flavio Garciandía
Gallery L, Havana, Cuba.
1972 
Cubanacán 70, From the students of plastic arts
Art Center, Havana, Cuba.

collective exhibitions

2020 
Group Exhibition
Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland.
2019
ABUC - Eleven Cuban artists
Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland.
2017 
On the Horizon: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection
Pérez Art Museum, Miami, USA.
Art x Cuba - Contemporary Perspectives since 1989Forum Ludwig, Aachen, Germany.
Adiós Utopia: Dreams and Deception in Cuban Art Since 1950Walker Art Center, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA (traveling exhibition presented by Fundación Cisneros Fontanals para Las Artes, CIFO Europe)
2013 
On Painting
CAAM, Los Balcones, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain.
2012 
IB6621 - Raúl Cordero, Flavio Garciandía, Michel Pérez Pollo
Mai 36 Galerie Zurich, Switzerland.
2009
Revolution I, Center for the Development of Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba.
2008 Cuba.
Art and History from 1868 to Today, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada.
2006,
Cuban Art
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2005 
Latin American Exploration. The Expression of Identity in Latin American Art.
Brea Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.
Three generations: Jesús Soto, Magdalena Fernández, Flavio GarciandíaDurban Segnini Gallery, Miami, USA.
2003
The Three Wise Mongos: Flavio Garciandía / Lázaro Saavedra / José Toirac, Galería Habana, Havana, Cuba.
2002 
Marta María Pérez Bravo / Flavio Garciandía
TEOR/éTica San José, Costa Rica.
2001 
Manolo Rivero Collection
Museo Arte Contemporáneo Ateneo de Yucatan, Merida, Mexico.
1999
Museum of New Mexico Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
1998
 The Contemporary Cuban Art Salon
Center for the Development of Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba.
1996 
Cuba 20th Century. Modernity and Syncretism
Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
1993 
Art from Latin America, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia.
1992 
Von dort aus: Kuba, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany.
1991 
Ostkunst-Westkunst
Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany.
1990
Aktuelle Kunst aus Kuba
Städtische Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Contemporary Art from HavanaMuseum of Contemporary Art of Seville, Seville, Spain.
1988
Signs of Transition: 80's Art from Cuba
Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, New York, USA.
Made in Havana. Contemporary Art from CubaArt Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australian and Center for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia.
1987 
New art from Cuba
Museo de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, USA.
1986, Künstler aus KubaGalerie Junge Künstler, Berlin, Germany.
1985 
New Art from Cuba
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, USA.
1984 
Kunst aus Kuba
Forum für Kulturaustausch, Stuttgart, Germany.
Cuban paintingHermitage Museum, Leningrad, Russia.
1983
7 Contemporary Cuban artists
s, Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art, Madrid, Spain.
1982,
5 Kubaner
Sällskapet Maneten, Gothenburg, Germany.
1981,
5 Artisti Cubani,
Instituto Italo-latinoamerikanico, Rome, Italy.
First Look: 10 Young Artists from Today's CubaWestbeth Gallery, New York, USA.
1980 
Inter.-Grafik '80
Ausstellungszentrum am Fernsehturm, Berlin, Germany.
Women through artNational Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
1979 
Bu/Flavio/Orbeín
Santiago de Cuba Gallery, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.
Young Cuban Painting, Neue Berliner Galerie, Berlin, Germany.
1978 
4th International Biennale of Painting Kosice
The East Slovak Gallery, Kosice, Slovakia.
1977
Permanent Youth Salon, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
National Drawing Salon 1977, Art Gallery, Pinar del Rio, Cuba.
1976 
Cubansk Natidskunst (Contemporary Cuban Art), Kunstnernes Hus, Stockholm.
1974
Cubansk Nutidskunst (Cuban contemporary art)
Odd-Fellow Palaeet, Copenhagen or Dreissig siegreiche Jahre. Internationale Kunstausstellung, Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany.
1973
III National Youth Plastic Arts Salon, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.

Collections (Selection)

Buffalo AKG Art Museum, New York, USA.
Perez Art Museum (PAM), Miami, USA.
National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
Historical Museum, Santa Clara, Cuba.
Museum of Modern Art, Lodz, Poland.
La Tertulia Museum, Cali, Columbia.
Porintaidemuseum, Pori, Finland.
Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany.
Bank of America, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Law Firm of Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Fairmont Hotel, San Jose, CA, USA.
Sharon Heights Country Club, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Pacific Bell Telephone, San Francisco, CA, USA.

works

Flavio Garciandía
Neither North Nor South, Neither East Nor West, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
189 x 280 cm (74.4 x 110.2 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
50 x 40 cm (19.7 x 15.7 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2019
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 cm (15.7 x 11.8 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Neither North Nor South, Neither East Nor West, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
189 x 280 cm (74.4 x 110.2 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
50 x 40 cm (19.7 x 15.7 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2019
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 cm (15.7 x 11.8 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Malevich and Ryman return to Havana, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
185 x 237 cm (72.8 x 107.5 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
123 x 89 cm (48.4 x 35 in)

Flavio Garciandía
From the series Ad Reinhardt in Havana, No.18, 2003-2004 Acrylic on canvas
118 x 118 cm (46.5 x 46.5 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Malevich and Ryman return to Havana, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
185 x 237 cm (72.8 x 107.5 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
123 x 89 cm (48.4 x 35 in)

Flavio Garciandía
From the series Ad Reinhardt in Havana, No.18, 2003-2004 Acrylic on canvas
118 x 118 cm (46.5 x 46.5 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
100 x 70 cm (39.4 x 27.6 in)

Flavio Garciandía
From the series Ad Reinhardt in Havana, No.15, 2023
Diptych/Acrylic on canvas
189 x 280 cm (74.4 x 110.2 in) ea.
189 x 560 cm (74.4 x 220.5 in) total

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 cm (15.7 x 11.8 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
100 x 70 cm (39.4 x 27.6 in)

Flavio Garciandía
From the series Ad Reinhardt in Havana, No.15, 2023
Diptych/Acrylic on canvas
189 x 280 cm (74.4 x 110.2 in) ea.
189 x 560 cm (74.4 x 220.5 in) total

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 cm (15.7 x 11.8 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
230 x 190 cm (90.5 x 74.8 in)

Flavio Garciandía
The day before, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
187 x 278 cm (73.6 x 109.4 in)

Flavio Garciandía
No place, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
190 x 333 cm (74.8 x 131.1 in)

Flavio Garciandía
Untitled, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
230 x 190 cm (90.5 x 74.8 in)
Flavio Garciandía
The day before, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
187 x 278 cm (73.6 x 109.4 in)
Flavio Garciandía
No place, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
190 x 333 cm (74.8 x 131.1 in)

video

Through the insistence on the forms of submerged urban culture, decorative perversion and the distortion of cultural identities in the "global village", Flavio draws attention to the importance of popular absurdity as an exercise of resistance to the dominant discourses. 

Luis Sicre