Angel A. Alfonso Castillo (1947)
Angel A. Alfonso Castillo
KubaBiographical information
Angel A. Alfonso Castillo was born in 1947 in the City of Havana, Cuba.
Linked to a universe of arts for more than 30 years and holding various positions through his career, including Deputy Director of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Center of Development for Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba, Angel Alfonso initiated his career in the plastic arts at the Lenin Park in his home city. Angel Alfonso has done more than 50 exhibitions from which 29 are solo.
Angel Alfonso is a genuine artist. His art is not compromised or biased, it is free and spontaneous. In his art colors flow and gradate, leaving the observer to discover on his own, what is hidden behind the lines, strokes and shadows. Each painting is an invitation to think and reflect, but more than anything, it is a spectacle of intertwined lights and shadows that capture both experts and novices in its colorful nets. Alfonso’s art is a celebration where colors dance. Sometimes with soft steps as a ballerina, sometimes energetic as a tango and others frenetic as an African dance. But beyond its colors, hidden behind the strokes, a message lays waiting to be discovered. Once this occurs, magic is produced between the art and its spectator, who is now captivated forever.
Theoretical foundation:
Project: Plural Glance.
Diversity as the main objective.
I depart from the utilization of colors, gradating them in all their shades. Then, visualizing man in his environment as my plot, nature becomes a stage where the fauna instead of being real, appears as a product of the imagination and sometimes occupies a leading role. Other times it combines with various geometric elements to allow us to submerge ourselves in the depths of a world of fantasy that comes to life from a stain or a stroke at the moment of creation. My work is not intended to present a point of view or an idea that should be accepted. I just present an idea and its title. From there a necessary dialog is established between the observer and my composition.
I have tried to maintain diversity in the composition and treatment of texture. Every time I initiate a creative cycle I find support on the elements chosen to that purpose. These elements allow me to work on a group of related paintings keeping the principles on which I have found my theory. However, sometimes it appears as though a distinctive seal is not followed between them.
It is obvious that the human being as an image does not occupy space in my work. It’s all about identifying the problems and dreams we all have. I avoid the calamities that unfortunately grow everywhere. This misfortune is fueled by many factors that can’t be resolved by men on an individual basis.
In my work I want to accomplish the concept as argument, everything justified by color and lines and leaning on decorative tools, such as symbols that always appear within lines and soften the visual message.
Linked to a universe of arts for more than 30 years and holding various positions through his career, including Deputy Director of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Center of Development for Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba, Angel Alfonso initiated his career in the plastic arts at the Lenin Park in his home city. Angel Alfonso has done more than 50 exhibitions from which 29 are solo.
Angel Alfonso is a genuine artist. His art is not compromised or biased, it is free and spontaneous. In his art colors flow and gradate, leaving the observer to discover on his own, what is hidden behind the lines, strokes and shadows. Each painting is an invitation to think and reflect, but more than anything, it is a spectacle of intertwined lights and shadows that capture both experts and novices in its colorful nets. Alfonso’s art is a celebration where colors dance. Sometimes with soft steps as a ballerina, sometimes energetic as a tango and others frenetic as an African dance. But beyond its colors, hidden behind the strokes, a message lays waiting to be discovered. Once this occurs, magic is produced between the art and its spectator, who is now captivated forever.
Theoretical foundation:
Project: Plural Glance.
Diversity as the main objective.
I depart from the utilization of colors, gradating them in all their shades. Then, visualizing man in his environment as my plot, nature becomes a stage where the fauna instead of being real, appears as a product of the imagination and sometimes occupies a leading role. Other times it combines with various geometric elements to allow us to submerge ourselves in the depths of a world of fantasy that comes to life from a stain or a stroke at the moment of creation. My work is not intended to present a point of view or an idea that should be accepted. I just present an idea and its title. From there a necessary dialog is established between the observer and my composition.
I have tried to maintain diversity in the composition and treatment of texture. Every time I initiate a creative cycle I find support on the elements chosen to that purpose. These elements allow me to work on a group of related paintings keeping the principles on which I have found my theory. However, sometimes it appears as though a distinctive seal is not followed between them.
It is obvious that the human being as an image does not occupy space in my work. It’s all about identifying the problems and dreams we all have. I avoid the calamities that unfortunately grow everywhere. This misfortune is fueled by many factors that can’t be resolved by men on an individual basis.
In my work I want to accomplish the concept as argument, everything justified by color and lines and leaning on decorative tools, such as symbols that always appear within lines and soften the visual message.
Evaluation of creation
Angel A. Alfonso Castillo
Ángel Alfonso, s obratnou rukou a neobmedzenou imaginárnosťou, presahuje hranice reality, transformuje plochy svojich plátien na veľký kreatívny priestor. Kresba sa tam voľne pohybuje, eskoltovaná štruktúrami expandujúcimi do mnohých kútov obrazu; tajný dialóg medzi tvarom a farbou, ktorý vytvára vizuálny labyrint, provokujúci diváka k hlbšiemu citovému vnímaniu. Magický priestor, na ktorom sa odráža čas. Sú to kompozície parafované moderným svetom, technickými prvkami, originálnymi strojmi, rôznymi, futuristickými, pohybujúcimi sa v tom momente v priestore...Ale zrazu si tykajú v tej istej dimenzii ako v extrémnom dialógu, so spomienkami z dávnych čias. Sú to „svetlá“ času, osvetľujúce zóny v rovnováhe , kde vznikajú črty a symboly iných kultúr latinskoamerického kontinentu, ako fosílie pamäti, ktorá je tam a akoby čakala na to, aby nám pripomenula, čo bolo. Ozveny včerajška, ktoré rámujú , zvláštnym dotykom, jeho elegantné a tajomné obrazy. Tie, ktoré sú vytvára machuľami, ale ktoré zrazu zobrazujú zrozumiteľné posolstvo. Je to mágia autora, ktorý vytvára paralelné svety.
Práve preto je možné objaviť v jeho obrazoch siluety, dvojité tváre vecí, a vlastnej existencie.
kurátor Toni Pinera, Havana, Kuba, september 2014
Ángel Alfonso, s obratnou rukou a neobmedzenou imaginárnosťou, presahuje hranice reality, transformuje plochy svojich plátien na veľký kreatívny priestor. Kresba sa tam voľne pohybuje, eskoltovaná štruktúrami expandujúcimi do mnohých kútov obrazu; tajný dialóg medzi tvarom a farbou, ktorý vytvára vizuálny labyrint, provokujúci diváka k hlbšiemu citovému vnímaniu. Magický priestor, na ktorom sa odráža čas. Sú to kompozície parafované moderným svetom, technickými prvkami, originálnymi strojmi, rôznymi, futuristickými, pohybujúcimi sa v tom momente v priestore...Ale zrazu si tykajú v tej istej dimenzii ako v extrémnom dialógu, so spomienkami z dávnych čias. Sú to „svetlá“ času, osvetľujúce zóny v rovnováhe , kde vznikajú črty a symboly iných kultúr latinskoamerického kontinentu, ako fosílie pamäti, ktorá je tam a akoby čakala na to, aby nám pripomenula, čo bolo. Ozveny včerajška, ktoré rámujú , zvláštnym dotykom, jeho elegantné a tajomné obrazy. Tie, ktoré sú vytvára machuľami, ale ktoré zrazu zobrazujú zrozumiteľné posolstvo. Je to mágia autora, ktorý vytvára paralelné svety.
Práve preto je možné objaviť v jeho obrazoch siluety, dvojité tváre vecí, a vlastnej existencie.
kurátor Toni Pinera, Havana, Kuba, september 2014
Participation in exhibitions
PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS \ EXPOSICIONES PERMANENTES
ArtWay66 Gallery \ 2911 Grand Ave Suite 400D \ Coconut Grove, FL 33133
www.artway66.com
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011
>Artway 66 Gallery, Coconut Grove.
2010
> Paco Rabal Cultural Center, Village Vallecas.
>Madrid, Spain.
>Art in Papalor¡te. Palace of the Workers.
>Central Havana, Cuba.
>Bar Art gallery. La Latina. Madrid, Spain.
>Cuban painters. Malecon Gallery.
>City Havana, Cuba.
>Fundrising night for the Terry Fox
>Foundation, Canada.
2009
>Exhibition Center, Havana Art Gallery,
>C. Havana, Cuba.
>Second Biennial La Llave del Cerro.
>Teodoro Branches. C. Havana, Cuba.
>Gallery Mixtura Arte. October 10th. Gallery,
>City Havana, Cuba.
>Antonio Machado Cultural Center. San Blas,
>Madrid, Spain.
>Cultural Center for the city of Vallecas.
>Madrid, Spain.
2008
Traveling Cuban Exhibition, Tetería Gallery Castilla de León, Madrid, Spain
2007
Commodore Hotel Anniversary, FCBC Gallery Hotel Commodore, C. Havana, Cuba.
2002
Cuban Exhibition in Montreal, Canada 2001
2001
>Cuba in Umbría, Arrone Exhibition Center
>Terni, Italia.
>Italians Meeting in Cuba, Hotel Nacional,
>C. Habana, Cuba.
1999
Cuban Imagination, Cultural Center La Merce, Barcelona, España.
1998
>Time and Space, 39 Anniversary of the
>Museum of the Revolution, Museum of the
>Revolution, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Cubanías of the Island, 52 years later.
>Bonaerense Museum of Fine Arts,
>Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1997
>From Island to Island, Margarita Island,
>Venezuela.
>Image of another Island, city Hall of
>Arismendi, Venezuela.
>Salon XXV Anniversary of Lenin Park,
>Amelia Peláez Gallery, C. Havana Cuba.
>Skates and figurations, Castle of the Three
>Kings of Morro, C. Havana, Cuba.
1994
Trial by the dance, Gallery of the Great Theater of Havana. C. Havana, Cuba.
1993
>Salon of the workers of the National Museum
>of Fine Arts. C. Havana, Cuba.
>Parlor XXI Anniversary, Park Lenin.
>Gallery Amelia Peláez, C. Havana, Cuba
1992
Parlor XX Anniversary, Park Lenin. Gallery Amelia Peláez, C. Havana, Cuba.
1991
Parlor Central, PlasticArtsHavana, C. Havana, Cuba. 1990 IV Parlor Mirta Closes, Bejucal, Havana, Cuba.
ArtWay66 Gallery \ 2911 Grand Ave Suite 400D \ Coconut Grove, FL 33133
www.artway66.com
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011
>Artway 66 Gallery, Coconut Grove.
2010
> Paco Rabal Cultural Center, Village Vallecas.
>Madrid, Spain.
>Art in Papalor¡te. Palace of the Workers.
>Central Havana, Cuba.
>Bar Art gallery. La Latina. Madrid, Spain.
>Cuban painters. Malecon Gallery.
>City Havana, Cuba.
>Fundrising night for the Terry Fox
>Foundation, Canada.
2009
>Exhibition Center, Havana Art Gallery,
>C. Havana, Cuba.
>Second Biennial La Llave del Cerro.
>Teodoro Branches. C. Havana, Cuba.
>Gallery Mixtura Arte. October 10th. Gallery,
>City Havana, Cuba.
>Antonio Machado Cultural Center. San Blas,
>Madrid, Spain.
>Cultural Center for the city of Vallecas.
>Madrid, Spain.
2008
Traveling Cuban Exhibition, Tetería Gallery Castilla de León, Madrid, Spain
2007
Commodore Hotel Anniversary, FCBC Gallery Hotel Commodore, C. Havana, Cuba.
2002
Cuban Exhibition in Montreal, Canada 2001
2001
>Cuba in Umbría, Arrone Exhibition Center
>Terni, Italia.
>Italians Meeting in Cuba, Hotel Nacional,
>C. Habana, Cuba.
1999
Cuban Imagination, Cultural Center La Merce, Barcelona, España.
1998
>Time and Space, 39 Anniversary of the
>Museum of the Revolution, Museum of the
>Revolution, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Cubanías of the Island, 52 years later.
>Bonaerense Museum of Fine Arts,
>Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1997
>From Island to Island, Margarita Island,
>Venezuela.
>Image of another Island, city Hall of
>Arismendi, Venezuela.
>Salon XXV Anniversary of Lenin Park,
>Amelia Peláez Gallery, C. Havana Cuba.
>Skates and figurations, Castle of the Three
>Kings of Morro, C. Havana, Cuba.
1994
Trial by the dance, Gallery of the Great Theater of Havana. C. Havana, Cuba.
1993
>Salon of the workers of the National Museum
>of Fine Arts. C. Havana, Cuba.
>Parlor XXI Anniversary, Park Lenin.
>Gallery Amelia Peláez, C. Havana, Cuba
1992
Parlor XX Anniversary, Park Lenin. Gallery Amelia Peláez, C. Havana, Cuba.
1991
Parlor Central, PlasticArtsHavana, C. Havana, Cuba. 1990 IV Parlor Mirta Closes, Bejucal, Havana, Cuba.
Solo Exhibitions
PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS
2012
Diversidad como objetivo.
Plaza Cultural Atre Malecon. La Habana, Cuba.
2010
Alfonso and Michel. Auténtica Cubana Gallery. Dublin, Ireland.
2009
>Trough a Small Door. Government Palace
>Gallery. Havana Vieja. C. Havana, Cuba.
>Also Towers. Gallery Pierre A. Renoir.
>French union of Cuba. C. Havana, Cuba.
>Half and Half. Cultural National Heritage
>Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba
2008
>Out of Limits, Carmen Montilla Gallery,
>Havana Vieja, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Light of Position, Light and Trades Gallery,
>Provincial Center of Plastic Arts and Design.
>C. Havana, Cuba.
2007
No Detour, Western Hotel Miramar, C. Havana, Cuba.
2004
Another Look, Carmen Montilla Gallery, Havana Vieja, C. Havana, Cuba.
2002
Proposal, Gallery Carmen Montilla, Havana Vieja, C. Havana, Cuba.
2000
>Childhood Dreams for a better world, Carmen
>Montilla Gallery, Havana Vieja, C. Havana,
>Cuba.
>Angel Alfonso, Max Gallery, Coral Gables,
>Miami, Florida.
1999
Ajiaco II, Havana Libre Trip Hotel, C. Havana, Cuba.
1998
>Ajiaco. Carmen Montilla Gallery, Havana Vieja, >C. Havana, Cuba.
>Earthly Cosmic space, Museum of the
>Revolution, C. Havana, Cuba.
1997
>Oils and Temperas, Pan-American
>Hotel, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Plural look, Carmen Montilla Gallery,
>Havana Vieja, C. Havana, Cuba.
1996
>Childhood Dream I, Havana Libre Hotel, C.
>Havana, Cuba.
>Childhood Dream II, Domingo Ravenet
>Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Angel Dreams, Gallery Amelia Peláez, C.
>Havana, Cuba.
>Fables from a Dreamer, Gallery Mariano
>Rodriguez, C. Havana, Cuba.
>5to Anniversary Pan-American Hotel.
>CityHavana, Cuba.
1995
>Angel Alfonso´s Oils, Hotel Biocaribe, C.
>Havana, Cuba.
>Memories I, Galiano Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Memories II, FCBC Gallery, Havana Libre
>Hotel Tryp, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Labyrinth. Open Space Gallery, Revolution
>and Culture Magazine, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Trough a Paved Road, Hotel Copacabana,
>C. Havana, Cuba.
>Small Sample. Pan-american hotel.
>City Havana, Cuba.
1994
>Figuration and Color 2 Visions, Her-Car
>Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Two Points of view, Art Center 23 and 12,
>C. Havana, Cuba.
1992
Poetry in Metal and Wood, Amelia Peláez Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba.
1991
Two and One Purpose, Amelia Peláez Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba.
1990
Fantasy in Combination, Amelia Peláez Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba
1989
Reality and Fantasy, Ceramic Workshop, Lenin Park, C. Havana, Cuba.
1988
Sun of the Caribbean, Ceramic Workshop, Lenin Park, C. Havana, Cuba.
ACTIVITIES
Travels to Mexico City as the commissioner of the Exposition W- LAM.
Contemporary Art Cultural Center Museum, DF. Mexico.
Travels to Mexico, DF, as the commissioner of the EXP. Illusions of the Middle East San Carlos Museum, DF, Mexico.
Member of the Organizing Commission of the XI World Festival of theYouth and students, C. Havana, Cuba
Travels to Bogota, Colombia invited to the International Book Fair, giving conferences on the illustration of the Cuban book (2005).
Museum Exhibitions/Others
Museum of Cuban Art in Vienna, Austria
National Institutions MINREX
Embassy of Cuba in the People´s Republic of China
Museum of the Revolution
Lenin Park
Habana Libre Trip Hotel
French Union of Cuba
Private Collections in the United States, Spain, Italy, France, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Belgium, El Salvador, Chile, Greece, Holland, Honduras, India, England, Cayman Islands, Bolivia, Martinique, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Chinese, Switzerland, Equator, Costa Rica,Argentina, Northern Ireland, Brazil and Cuba
2012
Diversidad como objetivo.
Plaza Cultural Atre Malecon. La Habana, Cuba.
2010
Alfonso and Michel. Auténtica Cubana Gallery. Dublin, Ireland.
2009
>Trough a Small Door. Government Palace
>Gallery. Havana Vieja. C. Havana, Cuba.
>Also Towers. Gallery Pierre A. Renoir.
>French union of Cuba. C. Havana, Cuba.
>Half and Half. Cultural National Heritage
>Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba
2008
>Out of Limits, Carmen Montilla Gallery,
>Havana Vieja, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Light of Position, Light and Trades Gallery,
>Provincial Center of Plastic Arts and Design.
>C. Havana, Cuba.
2007
No Detour, Western Hotel Miramar, C. Havana, Cuba.
2004
Another Look, Carmen Montilla Gallery, Havana Vieja, C. Havana, Cuba.
2002
Proposal, Gallery Carmen Montilla, Havana Vieja, C. Havana, Cuba.
2000
>Childhood Dreams for a better world, Carmen
>Montilla Gallery, Havana Vieja, C. Havana,
>Cuba.
>Angel Alfonso, Max Gallery, Coral Gables,
>Miami, Florida.
1999
Ajiaco II, Havana Libre Trip Hotel, C. Havana, Cuba.
1998
>Ajiaco. Carmen Montilla Gallery, Havana Vieja, >C. Havana, Cuba.
>Earthly Cosmic space, Museum of the
>Revolution, C. Havana, Cuba.
1997
>Oils and Temperas, Pan-American
>Hotel, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Plural look, Carmen Montilla Gallery,
>Havana Vieja, C. Havana, Cuba.
1996
>Childhood Dream I, Havana Libre Hotel, C.
>Havana, Cuba.
>Childhood Dream II, Domingo Ravenet
>Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Angel Dreams, Gallery Amelia Peláez, C.
>Havana, Cuba.
>Fables from a Dreamer, Gallery Mariano
>Rodriguez, C. Havana, Cuba.
>5to Anniversary Pan-American Hotel.
>CityHavana, Cuba.
1995
>Angel Alfonso´s Oils, Hotel Biocaribe, C.
>Havana, Cuba.
>Memories I, Galiano Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Memories II, FCBC Gallery, Havana Libre
>Hotel Tryp, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Labyrinth. Open Space Gallery, Revolution
>and Culture Magazine, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Trough a Paved Road, Hotel Copacabana,
>C. Havana, Cuba.
>Small Sample. Pan-american hotel.
>City Havana, Cuba.
1994
>Figuration and Color 2 Visions, Her-Car
>Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba.
>Two Points of view, Art Center 23 and 12,
>C. Havana, Cuba.
1992
Poetry in Metal and Wood, Amelia Peláez Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba.
1991
Two and One Purpose, Amelia Peláez Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba.
1990
Fantasy in Combination, Amelia Peláez Gallery, C. Havana, Cuba
1989
Reality and Fantasy, Ceramic Workshop, Lenin Park, C. Havana, Cuba.
1988
Sun of the Caribbean, Ceramic Workshop, Lenin Park, C. Havana, Cuba.
ACTIVITIES
Travels to Mexico City as the commissioner of the Exposition W- LAM.
Contemporary Art Cultural Center Museum, DF. Mexico.
Travels to Mexico, DF, as the commissioner of the EXP. Illusions of the Middle East San Carlos Museum, DF, Mexico.
Member of the Organizing Commission of the XI World Festival of theYouth and students, C. Havana, Cuba
Travels to Bogota, Colombia invited to the International Book Fair, giving conferences on the illustration of the Cuban book (2005).
Museum Exhibitions/Others
Museum of Cuban Art in Vienna, Austria
National Institutions MINREX
Embassy of Cuba in the People´s Republic of China
Museum of the Revolution
Lenin Park
Habana Libre Trip Hotel
French Union of Cuba
Private Collections in the United States, Spain, Italy, France, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Belgium, El Salvador, Chile, Greece, Holland, Honduras, India, England, Cayman Islands, Bolivia, Martinique, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Chinese, Switzerland, Equator, Costa Rica,Argentina, Northern Ireland, Brazil and Cuba
