Manuel Mendive

MANUEL MENDIVE HOYO (Havana, 1944).
Untitled.
Bronze. Exemplary 7/7.
Signed and serialized.
Measurements: 35 x 31 x 15 cm.
Bronze sculpture representing a figure on an animal. The curved forms dominate the whole composition, denoting an artistic activity based on the roots of a people that, in the painter's opinion, should recover its dignity. In this way, the autochthonous references merge with the formal language learned in Europe to produce works where the characters of the Yoruba pantheon that would populate a large part of his later production already appear. The Cuban school of the 20th century was characterized by embracing the European avant-garde and developing, on that basis, a language of its own. This generalized current of artists trained in Europe, who returned to Cuba, meant a great artistic impulse for the country. Thanks to painters who fused their roots and experiences, thus creating a new personal and independent language.
Painter, watercolorist, sculptor and lithographer, Manuel Mendive's art is a search for the mystery of creation based on the energy of the Orishas of the Yoruba pantheon, an art that is therefore telluric, of spontaneous fluidity and timeless character. He studied at the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts in Havana, graduating in 1963. Since then he has shown his work both in Cuba and abroad, mainly in Europe, both in solo exhibitions (the first in 1964) and in group and official exhibitions. In 1968 he was awarded the Adam Montparnasse prize at the Salon de Mayo in Paris, and that same year he was awarded third prize at the National Salon of Plastic Arts in Havana. He also holds the Alejo Carpentier Medal and is a Knight of Arts and Letters of France. His work is currently preserved in museums and galleries in Latin America, Russia, Africa, the United States and Europe. Today his works are part of important art collections among which are; The Farber Collection in Cuba, Nader art Museum Latinamerica in Miami, the Museu Coleção Berardo in Lisbon, the National Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba - MNBA, the Máxima Gallery - contemporary Cuban art in Cuba, Essex Collection of Art from Latin America in Essex, United Kingdom, or the Pompidou Center in Paris, among others.