JESÚS GASTELL is a mid-career artist who lives and works in Cuba. Gastell earned a BFA from Escuela Nacional de Artes (ENA 1983) and graduated from the prestigious Instituto Superior de Artes (ISA 1988) in Havana with a degree in Drawing and Painting.
Instead of only establishing himself as a master of representation, Jesus Gastell uses his extraordinary abilities to reveal the hidden connections between “the real” and our cultural perception of it. His artwork operates as a continuous exercise of questioning models, assuming the nature of intellectual pleasure as an illuminating experience.
JESÚS GASTELL SOTO
Estudio de Arte
Km 8 ½ Carretera a Soroa
Candelaria, Artemisa, Cuba
Solo Exhibitions
2013 Illusionada. Unpack Studio. Toronto, Canada
2007 Poética en el límite. Museo de Arte Pinar del Río (MAPRI). Pinar del Rio, Cuba
2007 El peso de la Isla. Universidad Hermanos Saíz. Pinar del Rio, Cuba
2005 Afinidades electivas. Hotel Armadores de Santander, supported by the Oficina del Historiador. Havana, Cuba
2001 Mundos Paralelos. Provincial Centre of Visual Arts. Pinar del Rio, Cuba
1999 Huellas del alma. Municipal Museum of Candelaria. Pinar del Rio, Cuba
1989 El mito del héroe en que vivo. Cienfuegos Art Gallery, Cuba
1983 Dos Egresados Exponen. Alejo Carpentier Art Gallery. Camaguey, Cuba
Selected Group Exhibition
2012 Pensando desde El Paisaje. Casa Guayasamin. Landscape Contest. Oficina del Historiador. Havana, Cuba
2011 IX Edizione Premio Internazionale di Pittura ISOLE Sardegna-Cuba. Sardinia, Italy
2011 Odiseas y Caminos. Provincial Centre of Visual Arts. Pinar del Rio, Cuba
2011 Parábolas de un sueño Pinareño. Galería L. Havana, Cuba
2010 Landscape Salon: Homage to Esteban Chartrand. San Francisco de Asís Convent. Havana, Cuba
2009 First Show of Contemporary Art. Centre of Visual Art. Pinar del Rio, Cuba
2009 Paisaje a la Vista. 40th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Museum of Colonial Art. Museo de Arte Colonial. Oficina del Historiador. Havana, Cuba
2009 Landscapes. Collateral Project at the XI Havana Biennial. Hotel Habana Libre, Havana. Cuba
2008 Derechos de la naturaleza. Casa Alejandro de Humboldt. Oficina del Historiador. Havana, Cuba
2008 Pinar del Río: Visual Epilogue. Galería Collage, FCBC. Havana, Cuba
2008 Contemporary Cuban Art. Cultural Centre of the City of Essen, Germany
2006 Jet lag. Collateral exhibition at the IX Havana Biennial. Galería Carmen Montilla. Havana, Cuba
2005 2+2, no siempre es paisaje. Galería Villa Manuela. Havana, Cuba
2004 Naturaleza viva. Palacio de Lombillo. Old Havana, Cuba. Presented by Eusebio Leal Spengler. Historian of The City of Havana
2003 Contando a la Izquierda. VIII Havana Biennial. Mariano Rodríguez Gallery, Villa Panamericana. Havana, Cuba
2003 First National Landscape Salon. Víctor Manuel Gallery, Havana, Cuba
2002 National Salon of Award Winners. Centre for the Development of Visual Arts. Havana, Cuba
2002 El Paisaje Pinareño. Antología de 12 paisajistas pinareños. José Martí Memorial, Havana, Cuba
2000 Cuatro entre Paredes. Provincial Centre of Visual Art. Pinar del Rio, Cuba
1997 Haceres. VI Havana Biennial. Revista Tablas Gallery, Havana, Cuba
1995 Ten Cuban Artists. Centro Cultural Ricardo Palma. Lima, Peru
1995 Vestigios. Centre for the Development of Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba
Awards
2008 First Prize. XI Tiburcio Lorenzo Salon. Pinar del Rio, Cuba
2004 First Prize. XI Edition of Winter Salon “Atilano Armenteros”. San Luis, Pinar del Rio, Cuba
2001 Second Prize. XVIII Provincial Salon “20 de Octubre”. Provincial Centre of Visual Art. Pinar del Río, Cuba
1991 Award from Fondo de Bienes Culturales. Provincial Salon ”Fidelio Ponce”, Camaguey, Cuba
1984 Second Prize. Provincial Salon of Visual Arts, Pinar del Rio, Cuba
Collections
USA, Canada, China, Germany, Spain, Holland, Peru, Sardinia, Italy, Japan and Cuba
Education
1988 Instituto Superior de Artes (ISA). Havana, Cuba
Membership
Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC).