Carlos Garaicoa

Carlos Garaicoa (1967, Havana, Cuba) studied engineering and thermodynamics and served in Cuba's mandatory military service for 4 years, where he worked as a designer.  Later he studied painting at the Instituto Superior de Arte, in Havana, between 1989 and 1994. 

Garaicoa addresses in his work issues related to Cuban culture and politics, from the study of architecture, urbanism, public space, and history of his country, investigating the social structure of his city.

From a wide variety of materials and disciplines, Garaicoa suggests a critique of modernist utopia and points to the collapse of 20th century ideologies in Cuba. He emerged in the 1990s, after the massive exodus of Cuban artists who made their mark in the 1980s.

He participated in important international exhibitions such as the Havana Biennial (1991, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2012 and 2015); Shanghai Biennial, People's Republic of China (2010); São Paulo Biennial, Brazil (1998, 2004); Venice Biennial, Italy (2005, 2009); Documenta XI and XIV, Kassel, Germany (2003 and 2017, respectively).

The work of Carlos Garaicoa is represented in the collections of numerous international museum institutions, including: Fundación Marcelino Botín, Santander, Spain; Fundación La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain; Musée National d'art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, Spain; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA; MoMA - Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London, UK; Museum of Latin American Art, California, USA; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain, and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana.

PS, dezembro 2020