Nelson Domínguez Cedeño (Baire, Santiago de Cuba, 1947)

Nelson Domínguez is a distinguished Cuban artist who combines a variety of techniques in his work, using different materials such as clay, glass, wood, metal, fabric and paper.

Domínguez’ work conjures exquisitely magical colours and a curious sensuality reflecting elements of Afro-Cuban religion. He says he reflects life in his birthplace, the outskirts of Santiago in eastern Cuba but also sometimes his thoughts about the US-Cuba relationship.  Cuban art critic Tony Piñera has described it in terms of: “Reverie, a deep dream of the material, resistance.  Looking over so many achievements and efforts, the gulf which separates the current moment from everything that has gone before, that resistance takes on a metaphysical character bordering on the mystical… a sacred secret, full of silence.  It is the silence of the earth, of the Cuban landscape, which this artist understands to perfection”.

Domínguez has served as Head of the Department of Painting at both the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts and the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA), two of Cuba’s most renowned art schools.  He has also been a jury member for various national and international art competitions.

His work has been exhibited and is held in important collections around the world, and he has won over 30 awards, including the prestigious Orden de la Cultura Nacional and Alejo Carpentier Award in Cuba; the Diploma and Order of Honour from the Fuji Museum of Japan; and the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Havana (2009).

Watch excerpt from Camaguey TV news when Dominguez won the National Prize for Visual Arts in 2009 in Cuba