• Submitted by: admin
• Paint and Sculpture
• 01 / 30 / 2007

Graduated as a Master of Fine Arts from the Fine Arts Institute of Kiev, Ukraine, Proenza (Holguín, 1948) has had already around thirty personal shows in Cuba and abroad.

His pieces form part of the collections from the National Fine Arts Museum in Havana and the Vatican Museum in Rome.
Part of his prolific creation may also be observed in private collections in Mexico, the United States, Panama, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Austria, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Laos and Vietnam.

Under the title of Pequeña antología (Small anthology), the exhibition is made up by 43 pieces of medium and large size that cover the different stages from the artist, from 1970 to the date.

Inaugurated last December 29th at the Art Center from that Northeastern province, the sample includes pieces that have never been published yet, three oil paintings from the series Las Islas Náufragas (The Shipwrecked Islands) (from a total of ten) and even a painting still on its easel that gets the spectator closer to the intimacy of the artist.

In his career stands out the lyric expressionism, from the times when he was still studying at the National Art School; the photo-realism and the speculations-known as the stage of the care- and the neo-expressionism with the object paintings.

Also a post-modern stage that observes manipulations, Boscomanía and more recently "a nameless critical world."
In exclusive declarations to Prensa Latina, the man who is also an illustrator and former professor did not hide his surprise for the massive acceptance enjoyed by the sample, "just the tip of the iceberg of what I collect, because I have so many pieces as to fill every gallery in Holguín," he pointed out.

Convinced that his city has everything it needs: magic, tragedy and drama-in a Macondo style-Proenza admitted that he conserves a good deal of his production because he lives in the so called City of the Parks.

"It is not because I want to collect it, but because it belongs to me, I dont want to get rid of it," he pointed out.
Apart from a personal galery in the coastal city of Gibara-which is currently undergoing restoration-the artist will have available soon afterwards another bigger building in the central part of that city. There he will show all of his aspects and themes.

Even though in certain way my art is elitist and I work with codes that are not popular, it is very pretty and it is very singular that people who know less of art may respect and applaud my work; you may never underestimate nobodys sensibility, he concluded.

The Pequeña antología by Cosme Proenza will close its doors next January 30th.

Source: Cubarte