Glexis Novoa

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He desarrollado mi práctica en diversos medios y cuerpos de trabajo paralelos. En cuanto al contenido, analizo repetidamente la estética del poder, tomando la historia social y la política como los principales fenómenos-sujetos, donde convergen la modernidad y el totalitarismo. Colecciono representaciones emblemáticas de la arquitectura, tipografía y diseño, con el objetivo de destilar códigos que, en consecuencia, se fusionan en una iconografía abstracta personal que apunta a de-construir la vacuidad de la retórica ideológica. He desarrollado un vocabulario extenso y maleable que finalmente se materializa en artefactos pictóricos y tridimensionales tradicionales. El grafito sobre mármol ha sido una investigación exclusiva ya que este particular soporte está relacionado con la historia y arquitectura del poder; aprovechando su atractiva apariencia, como un señuelo burgués, para introducir -a partes iguales- propósitos prácticos y radicales. También he incorporado a mi práctica una serie de dibujos en grafito en lugares específicos, que existen en la frontera entre el arte efímero y la arquitectura, estimulando una conexión con la audiencia; participando de la dinámica entre espectadores y espacios arquitectónicos, introduciendo alternativas para activar procesos. Intento persuadir nuestra obsesión por los artefactos, hacia una contemplación de los espacios vacíos y lo que allí sucede. Mi trabajo resulta ser un instrumento de análisis social, que intentar evelar estrategias y convergencias, en una disposición única de lenguaje subliminal. Mis intereses especulan sobre discursos ideológicos entre la utopía y los postulados futuristas.

I have developed my practice in diverse media and parallel bodies of work. In content, I repeatedly survey the aesthetics of power, taking social history and politics as the main subject-phenomena, where modernity and totalitarianism converge. I collect emblematic representations of architecture, typography and design, aiming to distill codes that consequently merge into a personal abstract iconography that targets to deconstruct empty ideological rhetoric.

I have developed an extensive malleable vocabulary that ultimately materializes into traditional pictorial and three-dimensional artifacts. Graphite on marble has been an exclusive investigation since this particular support is related to the history and architecture of power; taking advantage of its attractive appearance, as a bourgeois decoy, to introduce -in equal parts, practical and radical purposes. I have also incorporated into my practice a series of site-specific graphite wall drawings, which exist on the border between ephemeral art and architecture, increasing my involvement with the audience; participating in the dynamics between spectators and architectural spaces, introducing alternatives to activate processes.

Persuading our obsession for artifacts, towards the contemplation of empty spaces and actions. My work turns out to be an instrument of social analysis, revealing strategies and convergences, in a unique arrangement of subliminal language. My interests speculate on ideological discourses between utopia and futuristic postulates.

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Curriculum

Glexis Novoa was born in Holguín, Cuba, in 1964 into a mulatto-mestizo household. His family moved to Havana before he was one-year-old, where he was exposed to the arts from an early age through his maternal family’s extensive artistic heritage. His father, although with a short career, influenced by Clyfford Still, was an innovator of abstract art in Cuba in the early 60s. His mother and main role model is a renowned Cuban writer.

In 1983, while still a student, Novoa won a national honor in a competition among wellknown professional artists. In 1984 he attained his Bachelor of Fine Arts’ degree as engraver and draftsman at the National School of Art in Havana. In 1987 he held his first solo exhibition at the legendary Galería Habana and also exhibited the first kinetic and sonorous engraving in the history of Cuban art. By the second half of the 1980s, Novoa had developed an articulated professional career, becoming one of the most radical influences on the vibrant local art scene known as “The 1980s Cuban Art Revival.” He was invited to the III Havana Biennial in 1989 with a conceptual pictorial installation. He was one of the founders of the Provisional group, pioneers of performance, political activism and collectivist strategies.

After experiencing a period of institutional tensions during the first half of the 1990s, Novoa began to extend periods in Mexico. In 1995 he moved with his family to Miami, where he currently lives and works. He has been sharing his time working in Havana and Miami since 2013, as well as producing site-specific wall drawings and ephemeral projects around the world that exist on the border between ephemeral art and architecture. Recurrently focusing on architecture of power and social politics as the main subject.

Novoa has had solo shows at, Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables; Cheekwood Museum, Nashville; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester; Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, Indiana; National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, among others. His works have been included in group exhibitions at the Today Art Museum, Beijing; Queens Museum, New York; Art Museum of the Americas, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Ludwig Forum für International Kunst, Aachen; Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, Trento; Reina Sofía National Museum, Madrid; Perez Art Museum in Miami; El Museo del Barrio, New York; Museum of the Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City; Center for Contemporary Culture, Barcelona; Center d’art Contemporary Passerelle, Brest; Musée des Beaux-arts de Rennes among many others. Novoa has been honored with awards including Creator Award Winner, Oolite Arts, Miami; Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, New York; Grant from the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami; Cintas Fellowship Award, New York among others. He has completed residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture; Unlimited Residency, New York; McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Charlotte, among others. Novoa’s work has been acquired by prestigious collections, including: Adrastus, Arévalo; American Express, Minneapolis; Wilfredo Lam Center, Havana; Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami; Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Atlanta; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem; Lowe Museum, Coral Gables; Ludwig Forum Fur Internationale Kunst, Aachen; National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana; Museum of Fine Art, Houston; Nassau County Museum of Art, Long Island; Perez Art Museum, Miami; Rockefeller Brothers Fund, New York, among many others.