Exhibit Description
Step into the emotional topography of Cuba as seen through the eyes of acclaimed abstract expressionist Rigoberto Mena. In Rigoberto Mena: Skin of the City, Mena draws inspiration from his homeland’s urban landscapes and vibrant spirit, peeling back its surface to reveal raw textures, rhythmic chaos, and quiet resilience. Through large-scale grids of color and gesture, Skin of the City offers a captivating dialogue between place, politics, and cultural identity where the clash of tradition and modernity underscore Mena’s gritty visual language. These tattoos of concrete, memory, and movement speak to Cuba’s past, present, and future — an invitation to experience this place not as a backdrop, but as a body.
Artist Biography
As one of Cuba’s most renowned abstractionists, Rigoberto Mena (b. 1961, Artemisa, Cuba) draws inspiration from the urban landscapes of his homeland and the resilient spirit of the Cuban people. In 2011, following the success of his solo exhibition Hablando en Lenguas, Mena was selected for inclusion in the collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba. His work is also featured in the collections of the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Los Angeles; the Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plásticas in Havana, Cuba; and the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, also in Havana. Additionally, Mena’s art has been exhibited widely in China, Germany, the Netherlands, Mexico, Spain, France, and across the United States, including in Miami, Boston, Washington, D.C., and California.
