Mabel Poblet

It is usually said that the world has been aesthetically colonized, that its immediacy has been reduced to the roundness of an image, and that the empirical indices of reality have been replaced by a constant search of holds, bends and life. Frequently, Mabel Poblet’s oeuvre makes explode such paranoia of pretended emptiness.

She uses artistic presumption as a tool; readiness, as the first spring of images; seduction proclamation as order; the construction of a subtle delicacy and the thorough use of a meticulous technique are the roots of her artistic vision and her discourse. That is her sign, and eventually, her speech. Thus, appearance, and its power as a shield, are the core of her artistic procedure.

Her starting point is photographic manipulation. She uses for it the insertion of already printed tiny and polite flowers. As if it were a garden, she covers the surface with them, building an insulating skin for it. This apparently utopic gesture of camouflaging everyday pathetic and painful contents, irresolute contradictions and injuries, with the shining of prompt gardens is actually dystopian. The enunciation of an artificial, sweetened and apparently full world turns to be a horrifying image. Everything is scenically overwhelming in such artificial world of little tiles, mechanical wings and plastic flowers.

Femininity beats in every inch; it is felt as a presentiment. And it is not because Poblet’s objective is to exorcize gender issues or to vindicate silences. She projects herself emotionally over the world to unfold the inner consciousness of things, so her discourse is, over all, self-referential.

We will also find her resolute in the practice of installation. In this field, she makes possible for the audience to interact with the artwork, as well as she enables the violation of the limits between art and man, the relationship between public and private spaces, and between what is allowable and politically correct. She has been greatly influenced by the procedure of Fluxus: interaction and diversion are the springs to make possible a renewed experience about the world from the spaces offered by art.

Photography slips between painting and installation, while installation is related to happening and sculpture. Mabel Poblet sticks to the postmodern politics of extending artistic practices and works in the search for effective instrumentation.



  • Mabel Poblet has captivated the most diverse collectors and art dealers of the world, thus positioning herself as an artist of great value within Cuban art. She mixes artistic languages from pop art to kitsch; an authentic re-appropriation she makes in order to enrich both the visual elements and the meaning of the artworks.
  • Fall out of sky, like an angel Mabel Poblet seduces us with her work which is enormously enjoyable and becomes a considerable sign of value in the contemporary art world. As the director and main character of her scenes, Mabel Poblet transmutes the codes of photography as they are traditionally understood in order to exploit the expressive possibilities of photo-installation.
  • Gorgeous, isn't it? This artwork is a different animal from most other of her time. Seductive in her discourse, Mabel Poblet explores the feminine universe with the suspicion of a person that hushes and shouts a truth at the same time.
  • The work of the young Cuban artist Mabel Poblet quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon.
  • Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann and other American pop artists appear in her pieces with the insertion and repetition of elements of mass media.
  • Musing on self-exploration, Mabel Poblet is one of the most exciting young visual artists to emerge from Cuba.
  • The pop artist Tom Wesselmann’s eroticism and the grandiloquence of his work still resound in generations of artists like Mabel Poblet.
  • Widely known as one of the best contemporary Cuban female artists, Mabel Poblet has reached a great international impact by the staging of personal shows in countries like USA, Chile, Peru, Portugal and Russia.
  • El erotismo que hizo grande a Tom Wesselmann y lo grandilocuente de su obra aun retumban en generaciones de artistas como Mabel Poblet. Pese a su ya probada trayectoria, Mabel Poblet prefiere apostar por la experimentación, por el ensayo artístico, por el trabajo activo, por la investigación incansable, soló así fortalecerá su discurso y consolidará su lenguaje.
  • Su espíritu es el de Amelia Peláez, Antonia Eiriz, Ana Mendieta. En ella va la esencia de estas grandes artistas cubanas.
  • One of Cuba's present-day most successful representation in the plastic arts is the work of Mabel Poblet.
  • Tom Wesselmann, Andy Warhol, entre otros grandes del arte pop norteamericano hacen aparición en sus piezas desde la inserción y repetición de elementos protagonistas de los mass media. La artista contemporánea cubana se aprovecha de signos estereotipados, para articular su lenguaje. Desapariencia es una de sus series más antiguas, pero con ella conquistó la fama y se consagró como reconocida artista visual pese a su declarada juventud.
  • Un cuidadoso tecnicismo es otra de las herramientas empleadas por la artista contemporánea.
  • Her work quickly consecrated her in the contemporary art market as a renowned Cuban artist despite her declared youth. The optical effect in her work is extraordinary: color liveliness, impeccable technical execution, illusion between visual image and tridimensional construction, and the artist’s performance, her corporal beauty and the mystery of her gestures and poses.
  • Quattrocento’s master Botticelli’s Venus was born –poetically– from the voluptuous blow transformed into life. Instead, in this work Mabel outlines the woman, not as a result of divine puff but as an effluvium, a spring, and therefore an exercise of instructing power. Cool and beautifully done as her work is, it quickly consecrated her in the contemporary art market as a renowned Cuban artist despite her declared youth. Her performances are theatrical, but not narrative, and they rather invite to contemplation.
  • Like Marina Abramovic, Mabel Poblet has been able to create a discourse in tune with the problems that concern her generation.
  • Al igual que los artistas viajeros llegaban a América y realizaban libros de dibujos y grabados, Mabel prefiere plasmar sus impresiones a través de la fotografía.
  • Cuban art has become noticeable internationally at the hands of several artists like Kcho, JEFF, Yoan Capote and our younger Warhol Mabel Poblet. Mabel Poblet found a personal speech, her own mark of national and international success.
  • La artista contemporánea ha decidido contar sus travesías, sus experiencias, sus percepciones del universo.
  • Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski presents work of arts of prominent Cuban artists like Mabel Poblet, Duvier del Dago and The Merger. Unlike anything you’ve ever seen in any art exhibition in Havana, the work of Mabel Poblet is riveting.
  • En la obra de la artista se advierte una fuerte raigambre con grandes maestros del arte pop norteamericano como Tom Wesselmann y Andy Warhol.
  • Pese a su ya probada trayectoria, Mabel Poblet prefiere apostar por la experimentación, por el ensayo artístico, por el trabajo activo, por la investigación incansable, soló así fortalecerá su discurso y consolidará su lenguaje.
  • Riveting, unlike anything you’ve ever seen in the Island, this work is. Taken at its face value, it is a masterly piece of art.
  • Collectors, increasingly interested in Cuban art and Mabel's pieces are the most sought after.
  • Art collectors are increasingly interested in Cuban art and Mabel’s pieces are the most sought after of all.
  • In the work of the artist there’s a strong heritage of great masters of North American pop art like Tom Wesselmann and Andy Warhol. Of great international prestige, Mabel Poblet prefers to bet on experimentation, tireless work and active research.
  • Estos planteamientos de carácter universal para todo ser humano tienen en la obra de la artista Mabel Poblet una de las representaciones más poéticas con las que cuenta el arte cubano contemporáneo.