Agustin Cardenas (1927-2001)
Cardenas was a descendant of slaves from Senegal and the Congo. He was born in Matanzas, Cuba and studied in Havanna. He left Cuba for Paris in the 1950s and at the invitation of Andre Breton, became involved in the Surrealist movement there. In 1955, his work debuted in the United States at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in an exhibition of the work of 17 Cuban artists, titled, Gulf-Caribbean Art Exhibition. His wood sculpture, Lovers, was included. His work is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum, New York, and in an essay written on the museum website they provide a quote by the artist (Quoted in José Pierre, La Sculpture de Cárdenas, Brussels, 1971, p. 11.): "In Paris," he said, "I discovered what a man is…what African culture is...what a Black man is.” In 1960, an exhibition titled Surrealist Intrusion in the Enchanter’s Domain, at the D’Arcy Galleries (NYC) included a large totemic carved wood sculpture by Cardenas. His first solo exhibit in the United States took place in Chicago at the Richard Feigen Gallery (1961). The show included 32 sculptures executed in wood and marble from 1956-1961. He worked primarily in painted and carved wood and marble, but also in bronze. A large bronze dated 1957, titled, Couple Antillais, stands at an intersection on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Image Credit: The Estate of Agustín Cárdenas
Image Credit: Martine Franck
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