Cubismo Tropical

Orlando Perera Rojas:

Self-taught Cuban painter, sculptor, art curator and cultural promoter, artist of the Cuban Fund of

Cultural Assets of the Arroyo Naranjo municipality. In most of his works he uses a cubist line

of great strength and color using a very personal style.

Biographical Data:

He was born on July 16, 1963, in the Marianao municipality in Havana, Cuba.

Artistic Career: 

At the age of 17 he became a painter. In the period 1980-1985, he was part of the

free Plastic Arts workshop of the Playa Municipality, being a disciple of the painter Heriberto

Manero. During this period, he participated in projects that included paintings and murals, as

well as international exhibitions (GDR, Soviet Union, Sweden) and in several national,

provincial and municipal exhibitions, such the Servando Cabrera Moreno Gallery. This is all

reaffirmed his style of tropical cubism. Perera is a cultural promoter, painter, and sculptor. He

became a member of the National Registry of the Creator of Plastic Arts # 5395, since

October 1996 with Resolution # 69.

Additionally, he is a founding member of the Horizontal project and the PROARVIS

project, participating in several group exhibitions. He is also a member of the Association of

Plastic Artists of Barcelona (ACEA), file number 1762, specializing in painting.

At the Havana Zoological Garden, he was responsible for the Fountains and

Sculptures Restoration project and was a part of CODEMA. Orlando’s experience extends

to directing the community artistic project “Shapes and Colors”, of the popular council “La

güinera” of the Arroyo Naranjo Municipality, Havana City, where he taught painting and clay

modeling courses. He worked at the Her-Car art gallery in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality as

a museographer and curator, participated in conferences, and was a member of juries in

competitions in the town.

The female protagonist in Rojas' paintings: The Woman - revealed from analytical

contours - is in interaction with nature and the social conditions of today. She is together with

The Man, as well as the physical world that surrounds us, integrating the cubist and

figurative aspects of his work.

Personal Exhibitions:

● 1995 July: “That's how I am”, Arroyo Naranjo Culture House. Havana city.

● 1996 May: “Two paths to one path” Amelia Peláez Gallery.

● 1997 June/July: “From two points of view” Museum of the Revolution.

● 1997 September: “Between lines and colors” Galería del Morro. Morro-Cabaña Park

● 1998 June: “Vision of tropical cubism.” Guayasamin Gallery

● 1998 September: “Vision of tropical cubism II” Museum of the Revolution.

● 1998 October: “Geometric Nature” Hotel Horizonte Colina.

● 1999 May: “May 1st” C.T.C. National.

● 1999 June: “From form to light” Hotel Nacional.

● 2000 October: “Tropical Cubism I”

● 2001 Feb/March: “Women” FMC Provincial. C. Havana.

● 2001 August: “For them.” House of the Pious Work.

● 2002 March: “Human Nature”. La Giraldilla Tourist Complex.

● 2004 January: “Man makes Man”

● 2004 December: “Tropical Cubism II”

● 2014 December: “Colors and Figurations” Amelia Peláez Gallery

Collective Exhibitions:

● 1995 May: “Imago”, Imago Gallery.

● 1995 October: Asturian Center.

● 1996 January: Art Fair, Tineo Spain.

● 1996 February: “Cuban Painters in Oviedo”. Asturias.

● 1997 August: In greeting to the XIV World Festival of Youth and Students. Lenin

Park.

● 1997 September: “All Art”, Museum of the Revolution.

● 1997 Nov/Dec: “Patinas and Figuraciones” Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro.

● 1998 October: 1st Combinatorial Body Art Salon Her Car Gallery.

● 1998 November: “There are plenty of UNEAC reasons” Her Car Gallery.

● 1998 December: “Time and Space” Museum of the Revolution.

● 1999 October: 2nd Body Art Combinatorial Salon, Her Car Gallery.

● 2000 April: “Distance” Lenin Park Ceramic Workshop.

● 2001-2006: Exhibitions in different spaces in the city, directed by the PROARVIS

project.

Collections:

 His works are part of private and institutional collections in:

         ● Germany

 ● USA

   ● Spain

       ● Sweden

 ● Italy

     ● Russia

                                                                                                     Japan

List of Murals:

● “City” Hotel Capri. C. Havana (lobby) 6.80 m x 2 m.

● “Jinete en la Doma”, Rodeo cafetería. C. Havana. 2.50 mx3 m.

● “Horses”, Rodeo Cafeteria. C. Havana. 9m x 1.

● “Men of justice.” Lawyer's House Hotel. 2.45 m X 6.70 m.

 Sculptures:

● Fish. Cast aluminum spout. 35cm X 20cm.

● The flower. Source of asbestos cement. 1.70 m X 7.00 m.

● Lion. Asbestos cement. 1.35m X 0.70m X 0.95m.

● Jose Marti. Concrete bust. 70cm X 48cm X 30cm.

Criticism of his Work:

Dr. Rosario Novoa Luis, Professor of Merit at the University of Havana, pointed out:

“The color illustrations that I have seen by Orlando Perera Rojas reveal an

appreciable mastery of the elements of form. The artist identifies his creations as tropical

cubism, a fair tribute - in my opinion - to this ism that appeared at the beginning of this

century and whose impact on the field of design makes it the most important, perhaps, of the

plastic movements of the first quarter. of the current century” “We are in the presence of a

painter with sensitivity and technical mastery”

Sources

● Interview with the main specialist of the Her-Car gallery, Ileana Hernández Pumareda

● Taken from the Workers Newspaper Monday, September 14, 1998/ In a hurry...

● Taken from the Workers Newspaper Monday, April 27, 1999/ While the great Party

arrives.

● Taken from the Granma Newspaper Tuesday, April 27, 1999/ Cuban and international

May Day.

● Taken from the Workers Newspaper Monday, July 6, 1998

● Taken from the Workers Newspaper Monday, September 14, 1998/ In a

hurry...

● Taken from the Tribuna Newspaper February 9, 2014/ For Valentine's Day.