José Manuel Fors

José Manuel Fors (Havana, 1956) is one of the most respected names in the Cuban artistic panorama. Fors graduated from San Alejandro National Academy of Fine Arts in 1976 and the Institute of Museology of Havana in 1986, and he owns a poetry that oscillates between the great history and the individual’s daily life. There is in his artworks the anthropological vocation of understanding human nature, of reconstructing humanity’s resume beginning from the smallest fragments. Look for him in the effort to be placed in the cracks –perhaps dismissed–, of human nature. Member of the “Cuban art Renaissance” generation, this artist has appeared since the 80’s and until today, in numerous personal and group exhibitions, reaching our days with an unquestionable intergenerational influence and a creative prosperity still in full splendor. The dissimilar awards he has deserved throughout his career are evidence of it. His artworks are included in important collections in Cuba and abroad, among which it is essential to mention the Cuban National Museum of Fine Arts.

 

EDUCATION

  • 1983 – 1986   Museology Institute, Havana
  • 1972 – 1976   San Alejandro National Academy of Fine Arts, Havana

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2017

  • Palimpsesto, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana

2016  

  • Wide Shadow, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles

2015    

  • El peso leve de todo lo creado, Collateral to the 11th Havana Biennial, Fortress San Carlos de la Cabaña, Havana

2014   

  • Entre la sombra y en la pared, Villa Manuela Gallery, Havana

2013

  • Ciudad fragmentada, Museo del Ron, Havana

2012

  • Pormenores, Collateral to the 11th Havana Biennial, Fortress San Carlos de la Cabaña, Havana
  • Ciudad fragmentada, Krause Gallery, Foothill College, California

2011

  • Fragments, PanAmerican ArtProjects, Miami

2008

  • Objetos, La Casona Gallery, Havana

2006

  • Objetos fotográficos, Galicia Auditorium, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
  • Historias circulares, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana
  • Círculos, Fototeca de Cuba, Havana

2004

  • Las cartas, Latin American Gallery, Casa de las Américas, Havana
  • Long Letters, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles

2003

  • Los objetos, Geukens & De ViI Contemporary Art Center, Belgium

2002

  • Fallen Leaves, Galería Couturier, Los Angeles

2001

  • Beyond Cuba, Mirages of Absence, José Manuel Fors and Rogelio López Marín (Gory), Beadleston Gallery, New York

1999

  • Salón Nacional de Fotografía, Center for the Development of Visual Arts (CDAV), Havana
  • José Manuel Fors, Cuban Photographer, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles

1998

  • Foto-Installatles, Geukens & De ViI Contemporary Art Center, Belgium

1997

  • Las ventanas, La Acacia Gallery, Havana
  • Los retratos, Collateral to the 6th Havana Biennial, Fortress San Carlos de la Cabaña, Havana

1996

  • Hojarasca (Project El voluble rostro de la realidad), Fototeca de Cuba, Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, Havana

1995

  • El paso del tiempo (Project Naturalezas conjuradas), Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center, Havana

1993

  • Desde la tierra, La Otra Banda Gallery, Merida, Venezuela
  • Terra mater, French Alliance, Chacaito Center, Caracas

1992

  • Trabajos fotográficos, Fototeca de Cuba, Havana

1988

  • La tierra, Plastic Arts and Design Provincial Center, Havana
  • Golpes de vista, Provincial Museum, Villa Clara, Cuba

1983

  • Acumulaciones, Culture House of Plaza, Havana

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2018

  • La imagen sin límites, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana

2015    

  • Contaminación, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana
  • Photography in Cuba Today, Chazen Museum, Madison, Wisconsin
  • Lens Work: Celebrating LACMA’s Experimental Photography at 50, LACMA, Los Angeles

2013

  • Slick Art Fair, Uprising Art, Paris
  • ARTHOUSTON, PanAmerican ArtProjects, Houston
  • Lima Photo, Villa Manuela Gallery, Lima, Peru
  • Almacenes afuera, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana
  • Argentine Photography, PanAmerican ArtProjects, Miami
  • Del otro lado del espejo, Servando Gallery, Havana
  • Cubart: Contemporary Cuban Art, PanAmerican ArtProjects, New York
  • Art Wynwood, PanAmerican ArtProjects, Miami

2012

  • Estado Actual. Muestra colectiva de las vanguardias cubanas, La Acacia Gallery, Havana
  • Las metáforas del cambio, Collateral to the 11th Havana Biennial, Factoría Habana, Havana
  • HB, Collateral to the 11th Havana Biennial, Pabexpo, Havana

2011

  • 50 en los 50 [Tribute to the 50th anniversary of the foundation of The Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC)], La Acacia Gallery, Havana
  • Urbanitas, PanAmerican ArtProjects, Miami
  • ARTMIAMI, PanAmerican ArtProjects, Miami
  • Bienal de la Vasija 2011, Hispano American Culture Center, Havana
  • PINTA, PanAmerican ArtProjects, London
  • Cuban Vision, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York
  • ARTLA, Los Angeles

2010

  • Madrid mirada, 14 artistas latinoamericanos, Fototeca de Cuba, Havana
  • Portugal Arte 10, 1st Art Biennial, Lisbon
  • Feria Arte Contemporáneo del Rhur (CAR), Germany
  • Art Basel, Claramatte Parkhaus, Basel
  • Alicia Alonso Dances Here Tonight, Magnanmetz Gallery, New York
  • Cuba Avant-Garde: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Farber Collection, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Miami
  • Encuentros, Sala Retiro, Caja Madrid, Madrid
  • ARTLA, Los Angeles

2009

  • Cronos, La Casona Gallery, Havana
  • Madrid mirada, 14 artistas latinoamericanos, Cuenca Museum of Modern Art, Ecuador
  • HB. Muestra de arte cubano contemporáneo, Collateral to the 10th Havana Biennial, Pabexpo, Havana

2008

  • Subasta Habana, Galería Habana, Havana
  • Madrid mirada, 14 artistas latinoamericanos, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid; Contemporary Art and Design Museum of San Jose, Costa Rica; Contemporary Art Museum, Panama; Juan Vasconcelos National Library, Mexico D. F.; Visual Art Museum, Santiago de Chile
  • ARCO’08, Madrid
  • Cuban Art History from 1868 to Today, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal
  • Isla in continente. Arte cubano contemporáneo, Tegucigalpa Central American Biennial, Fundarte National Art Gallery, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
  • Surrounded by Water: Expressions of Freedom and Isolation in Contemporary Cuban Art, Boston University Art Gallery, Boston

2007

  • Cuba Avant-Garde: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Farber Collection, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida
  • Habanart à Québec, Quebec
  • Homing Devices, Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa

2006

  • Show & Tell: The Art of Time, Zimmer Children’s Museum, Los Angeles
  • ARTEAMERICAS, Miami
  • Arte de Cuba, Cultural Center of Brazil, Sao Paulo
  • Subasta Habana, Galería Habana, Havana

2005

  • Documenting Poetry: Contemporary Latin American Photography, Maier Museum of Art, Virginia
  • En blanco y negro. Fotografía cubana contemporánea, San Lucas Gallery, Madrid
  • Proyecto Espacios, Espacios Gallery, Madrid
  • Subasta Habana, Galería Habana, Havana
  • Juannio. Subasta de Arte Latinoamericano, National Museum of Modern Art, Merida, Guatemala

2004

  • No Island is an Island: Contemporary Cuban Art, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia
  • Subasta Habana, Galería Habana, Havana

2003

  • Contemporary Art and the Art of Survival, Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery, San Jose University, San Jose, California
  • Subasta Habana, Galería Habana, Havana
  • Subasta humanitaria, Casa de las Américas, Havana

2002

  • Shifting Tides: Cuban Photography after the Revolution, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago
  • Subasta Habana, Galería Habana, Havana

2001

  • Four Cuban Photographers, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles
  • Shifting Tides: Cuban Photography after the Revolution, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Grey Gallery, New York

2000

  • Vigovisións, 9th Photo Biennial, Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain
  • Subasta humanitaria, Casa de las Américas, Havana

1999

  • La huella múltiple, Center for the Development of Visual Arts (CDAV), Havana
  • Metáforas / Comentarios. Artistas de Cuba, State University of San Francisco, San Francisco
  • Lo real infatigable, Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, Center for the Development of Visual Arts (CDAV), Havana

1998

  • ¿Cómo es posible ser cubano?, La Maison de l’Amérique Latine, Paris
  • Fragmentos a su imán, Casa de las Américas, Havana
  • Empreintes Cubaines, Chaillot National Theatre, Paris
  • 20 Festival des 3 Continents, Oratory Chapel, Nantes

1997

  • Contemporary Cuban Art, 33 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto

1996

  • Fotografía cubana, Journalist Union of Russia, Moscow
  • I Salón Nacional de Arte Ecológico, Varadero, Matanzas, Cuba

1995

  • Relaciones peligrosas, Center for the Development of Visual Arts (CDAV), Havana
  • Vestigios. Ego: un retrato posible, Center for the Development of Visual Arts (CDAV), Havana
  • Naturaleza vive, Lost Steps Hall, National Capitol, Havana
  • I Feria internacional de arte, Art Center, Mexico D. F.
  • I Salón de Arte Cubano Contemporáneo (SACC), National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana
  • Visioni, fotografía cubana de los 90, Spazio Italia, Milan

1994

  • X Abril. Mes de la fotografía, Merida, Mexico

1993

  • La nube en pantalones, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana
  • Plástica cubana contemporánea de los ochenta, Chopo University Museum, Mexico D. F.

1992

  • Fotografía cubana contemporánea, Florence, Italy

1991

  • Nuevas adquisiciones contemporáneas, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana

1988

  • Jóvenes fotógrafos, Plastic Arts and Design Provincial Center, Havana
  • Pintura cubana contemporánea, Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow

1987

  • El árbol y la vida, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana
  • Visiones del paisaje, Gallery of The Andes University, Merida, Venezuela

1986

  • Pintura cubana actual, National Gallery of Contemporary Art, San Jose, Costa Rica

1985

  • De lo contemporáneo, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana

1984

  • Manipulación y alteración de la imagen fotográfica, Mexican Council of the Photography, Mexico D. F.
  • Concurso internacional de carteles de cine, 23 y M Gallery, Havana

1983

  • Encuentro de jóvenes artistas latinoamericanos, Casa de las Américas, Havana

1982

  • Premio de fotografía cubana, 23 y M Gallery, Havana

1981

  • Volumen I, International Art Center, Havana
  • Trece artistas jóvenes, Galería Habana, Havana
  • Sano y sabroso, 23 y M Gallery, Havana
  • Cuban Posters, Drawing and Graphics from Cuba, New Delhi

1980

  • I Salón de pintura Carlos Enríquez, International Art Center, Havana

1979

  • Pintura fresca, Artist Residence, Havana; Art Gallery of Cienfuegos, Cienfuegos, Cuba

1978

  • Exposición colectiva de dibujos, Galería Habana, Havana

 

AWARDS

2016

  • National Award of Plastic Arts, Havana

2011

  • Award, Bienal de la Vasija 2011, Havana

2007

  • Special Docent Category of Consulting Professor in the Superior Institute of Art (ISA), Havana

2001

  • Diploma for Artistic Merit, Superior Institute of Art (ISA), Havana

1999

  • Distinction for the National Culture, Culture Ministry, Havana

1996

  • Mention, I Ecologic Art National Salon, Varadero, Matanzas, Cuba

1989

  • Gold Medal, 49th International Photographic Salon of Japan, Tokyo

1988

  • Mention, 13 de Marzo Contest, L Gallery, Havana

1985

  • Mention, 13 de Marzo Contest, L Gallery, Havana

 

COLLECTIONS

  • The Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), Los Angeles
  • Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Oregon
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Caracas
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
  • Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
  • The Americas Museum, Managua, Nicaragua
  • National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana
  • The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
  • University of Virginia Art Museum, Virginia
  • Avistamientos Collection, Havana
  • Vigo Council, Vigo, Spain
  • Casa de las Américas, Havana
  • Fototeca de Cuba, Havana
  • Fototeca de Pachuca, Pachuca, Mexico
  • National Council of Plastic Arts (CNAP), Havana
  • The Pilara Foundation, California