Eduardo Ponjuán

Eduardo Ponjuán, born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba in 1956, is a vital artist within the historical narrative of Cuban art. Emerging during the 1980s, his work has the unique ability to push the limits of certain truths and continue to evolve as a discursive generator, leaving a profound impact that forces us to observe it with intensity. What seems to be the key to his success is his unlimited talent for evoking what is vital to humanity, resulting in his most productive and ambiguous works. Ponjuán's artistic approach moves in different directions, supported by the reinvention of conceptualism. His voice can vary from slight and monosyllabic to sharp and uninhibited, making it impossible to categorize him precisely, as any taxonomy would limit his art. He is a painter, installationist, draftsman, conceptual artist, and inexhaustible thinker, using all forms of art as a starting point to explore and interrogate the world.

After more than three decades of sustained work, he has developed several personal and collective exhibitions, both inside and outside the island. Notable projects include Scratch (2016) at the Museo de las Culturas del Mundo (MUDEC), Milano, Italy; Bésame mucho (2014) and Lo tengo en la punta de la lengua (2004) at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA) in Cuba; Wild Noise (2017) at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, USA, and Adiós Utopía: Dreams and Deceptions in Cuban Art since 1950 (2017) at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, USA.

Ponjuán has also participated in significant events such as the Venice Biennial (2011), the Havana Biennial (2015, 2012, 2009, 2006, 1997, and 1994), the South Biennial of Panama (2013), the Cuenca Painting Biennial (2009, 1999), and the Malta International Biennial (1999). Ponjuán's work has earned numerous local and international awards, including the National Prize for Visual Arts (2013) and the National Prize of Curatorship (2007), both granted by the Consejo Nacional de Artes Plásticas de Cuba (CNAP). Other accolades include the First Prize of Collage at the International Biennial of Malta (1999) and the grant awarded by the Browstone Foundation of France (2005).

His work has been included in prestigious collections, such as the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA) in Havana, the Daros-Latin America Collection in Switzerland, the Collection of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Italy, and the Farber Collection, the Blanton Museum of Art, and the ASU Art Museum collections in the United States.