By Rigoberto Mena
Located in Surfside, FL
"Grey".
Oil/Acrylic on Canvas. Signature lower right
Image: 39.5" x 39.5". Framed: 41" x 41".
Rigoberto Mena Santana (Cuban, born 1961) was born in Artemisia, Havana in 1961, where he currently lives and works. He attended the Instituto Politecnico de Diseno Industrial, La Habana, and continued his studies at San Alejandro Fine Art Academy, Havana. He traveled extensively throughout Europe to study the great masters. Mena has had Solo Exhibitions in China, Germany, Netherlands, Mexico, Cuba, Spain, France, and Holland, and in the U.S. in Miami, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C, and California. Following the inauguration of his exhibition “Hablando en Lenguas”. In 2011, Rigoberto’s work was chosen to be a part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of Fine Art in Havana, Cuba. Through the eyes of an abstract expressionist, he draws inspiration from his home’s urban landscapes and the spirit of the people and the city. The start of the Cuban Abstract movement was through a group called Los Once or The eleven. Though Mena was not an original member the influence by this new outlet began to spread ideals that put his own practice into fashion. Rigoberto is considered an important painter of his generation. He is one of the few artists in Cuba who has to have a private art gallery. Mena's private gallery at the Plaza de Armas is adjacent to the neighboring government art gallery. His work has been exhibited in Mexico, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, and Holland.
Contemporaneous with the controversial, "La Generacion de los 80s" - The 80s Generation of Contemporary Cuban Art also referred to as New Cuban Art. This new Cuban plastic arts movement, with an expression of conceptual and non specific conscience manifestation, addressed many burning issues of the time and unveiled what these artists felt was the true reality of Cuba. It was more than a moment of artistic inspiration; it was a reflection of critical self-awareness and the new social role of art - the fundamental essence of the movement. They included Rubén Torres Llorca, Jose Bedia Valdes, Ricardo Rodriguez Brey, Juan Francisco Elso, Rogelio López Marín (Gory), Gustavo Pérez Monzón, José Manuel Fors, Leandro Soto Ortiz, Israel León, Tomás Sánchez and Carlos Alfonzo. In the second half of the decade, other artistic groups were formed, including 4 x 4, Grupo Hexágono, Arte Calle, Grupo Provisional, the duet René Francisco Rodríguez and Eduardo Ponjuán González and ABTV. Grupo Puré, another new wave of young artists, graduates of the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) included Ana Albertina Delgado Álvarez, Adriano Buergo, Ciro Quintana, Ermi Taño and Lázaro Saavedra, all greatly influenced by the German Kitsch art movement. Additionally, a large number of talented creators excelled independently, such as Florencio Gelabert (sculptor), Arturo Cuenca Sigarreta, Rigoberto Mena, Humberto Castro, Gustavo Acosta, Kcho, Antonio Eligio Fernandez (Tonel), Adriano Buergo, Flavio Garciandía, Tania Bruguera, Juan Francisco Elso, Carlos Rodríguez Cárdenas, Quisqueya Henríquez, Glexis Novoa, José Toirac, Carlos García, Heriberto Mora, Segundo Planes and Pedro Vizcaíno, among others.
Select Personal Exhibitions
2015 RBK 4200 ,La Cabaña,fortress. Bienal de La Habana,
2014 The shape without shape. Visual Arts Development Center, Bayamo, Cuba
2013 Allegro Ma Non Troppo. Lloyd’s Register, Havana.
2012 Spirit. Dennis Rosenthal Gallery, Chicago, U.S.A.
2011 Speaking in languages. Fine Arts National Museum, Havana.
2010 The places of time (with Alan Kleinmann). Orígenes Gallery, Havana’s Great Theater.
2009 The writing and the limit. 23 y 12 Gallery, Havana.
2007 The pleasure of absorb yourself. RAC Gallery, Veracruzan University, Xalapa, México.
2006 Coexistence. Public space, during the Ninth Havana’s Biennale.
2005 Ball change. La Casona Gallery, Havana, Cuba
Das Unbestimmbare Selbst. Refugium Gallery, Berlin.
2004 From the nothing to the infinite. La Casona Gallery, Havana, Cuba
2003 The visual poetry of life. Refugium Gallery, Berlin.
Rigoberto Mena. Recent Work. Habana Gallery, México DF.
Recent graphic work (with Jo Ann Rothschild). Graphic workshop, Havana.
Rigoberto Mena. Recent Work, Boston Art Institute, Lesley Boston University,
2001 Two plus one doesn’t make three (with Julio Girona and Angel Rivero), L Gallery,
2000 Cuba I, Space 12 Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
Three abstract painters (with Jo Ann Rothschild and Julia Valdes...
Category
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
