Carlos MARTIEL, Cuba

Born 1989 in Havana, lives and works in New York.

Carlos Martiel is an emergent artist but has already realized an impressive œuvre, like Asentimiento which covers this editions poster of Live Action. Socially engaged with a direct yet conceptual stance, his work is usually very simple in its appearance. Carrying with it a subject matter and an execution that fuses into pure poetry. It is difficult not to be convinced by his imagery which to a high degree is not only innovative and compelling but consistent. Martiel’s creative palette is vast, with a choice of objects and materials that is never repeated and goes beyond tradition and praxis. If we can state that his work stands out today in performance art, it is because of a fusion of a conceptually profound and aesthetic imagery, executed with an apparent simplicity. A simplicity that we know is very difficult to achieve. His compelling images never stops to astound, and we can only wait and see what he will do for Live Action.

Carlos Martiel graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts “San Alejandro,” Havana in 2009. Between the years of 2008-2010, he studied in the Cátedra Arte de Conducta, directed by the artist Tania Bruguera. Martiel’s works have been included in: Havana Biennial (2009), Pontevedra Biennal (2010), Liverpool Biennial ( 2010), Biennial “La Otra”, Bogota ( 2013), International Performance Art Biennale, Houston (2014). He has had solo exhibitions at the Contemporary Art Center “Wifredo Lam,” Havana (2012); Nitsch Museum, Naples (2013); Axeneo 7, Montreal (2013); Lux Gallery, Guatemala City (2013); and Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles (2014). He has received several awards, including “CIFOS Grants & Commissions Program Award” in Miami, United States, 2014; “Arte Laguna” in Venice, Italy, 2013; “Close Up Award” in Vallarta, Mexico, 2012. His work has been exhibited in Estonian Museum of Art and Design in Tallinn, Estonia; Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires in Argentina; Bellevue Museum of Arts, Washington; Robert Miller Gallery in New York, among others.

Carlos Martiel. Asentamiento (Settlement). 2012. photo : Gustavo Solar.