NEW YORK, NY – Bill Hodges Gallery is honored to celebrate the decades long contributions to the global art community of Agustín Cárdenas (1927 – 2001). Our exhibition showcases museum caliber masterwork sculptures and works on paper created by the dynamic Afro-Cuban artist.
Agustín Cárdenas (Alfonzo) was born on April 10, 1927, in Matanzas, Cuba. The son of a tailor and the descendant of slaves from Congo and Senegal, Cárdenas became interested in art from an early age. To foster this interest, at the age of 16, Cárdenas moved from his home in Matanzas, a former major port city in the slave and sugar trade, to the bustling capital city, Havana, to attend the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes, San Alejandro. There he studied under celebrated Cuban artist Juan José Sicre, renowned for his monumental marble sculptures.
Post-graduation Cárdenas emerged into the Havana art scene aligning himself with various art groups. With a newfound interest in diverging methods of art making, Cárdenas moved to France, arriving to Paris during the tail end of the French surrealist movement. Once in Paris, he quickly found community with surrealist artists Constantin Brancusi and Salvador Dali and exhibited his work in the same circles as prominent artists Max Ernst, Man Ray, and Meret Oppenheim. Although Cárdenas was welcomed and well regarded in these circles, he has not received the same wide recognition as his peers, hence our exhibition.
Agustín Cárdenas, A Solo Exhibition, magnifies the masterworks of a lesser know yet equally matched member of the abstraction and surrealist movements. In this exhibition we work to unearth and platform the work of, possibly, Cuba’s most important sculptor.
