Alfredo Sosabravo

ALFREDO SOSABRAVO (Sagua la Grande, Cuba, 1930).
"Interior life", 2019.
Acrylic and fabric collage on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower left corner. Signed, dated and titled on the back.
Measurements: 90 x 65 cm.
Sosabravo's pictorial work bears a personal stamp to which he was faithful throughout his long career. Here, the male character, made of scraps as if he were a rag doll, is accompanied by a balloon vignette in which his hedonistic and simple vision of life is inserted. Everything is pure color inserted in a form of thick lines that draw a fantasy world but within reach of the hand. He uses a color palette of bright shades and primary colors, which provide that idea of primitive painting linked to the naive and spontaneous.
His constant desire for improvement has made Alfredo Sosabravo one of the most original artists of the two-dimensional expressions of Cuban plastic arts. Dedicated to painting, drawing, engraving and ceramics, Sosabravo was trained at the Escuela Elemental de Artes Plásticas Aplicadas Anexa a la Academia de Artes Plásticas San Alejandro, in Havana, Cuba. He held his first important personal exhibition in 1967 with oil-collages and ceramics in Havana Gallery. As a tribute to his meritorious work, he received in 1988 the "Alejo Carpentier" Medal, in 1994 the "Felix Varela" Order and in 1997 the National Plastic Arts Award, the highest award given in Cuba. In 2008, the National Museum of Havana included his work in the anthological exhibition Cuba: Art and History, which is presented at the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal, Canada. The Cervantes Institute in Vienna held an exhibition of his work that included paintings and sculptures in glass and bronze. Throughout his career he has participated in numerous exhibitions both nationally and internationally. He is included in the exhibition of masters of the Second Salon of Contemporary Art, Havana. 1999. He presented an anthological exhibition on the occasion of the National Plastic Arts Award, Art Center. The publishing house Letras Cubanas publishes the monographic book SOSABRAVO, Havana. 2000. Exhibited at La Acacia Gallery, as a tribute to his seventy years of life, 2003. Inaugurated a personal exhibition at the Dellovo Castle, Naples, Italy. 2004. Exhibited his drawings and collages individually at La Acacia Gallery, Havana. 2005. Carried out Recent Paintings, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana. 2006. Designed the curtain for the ballet Cuadros en una exposición, choreographed by Alicia Alonso for the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. 2008. In homage to his eighty years of life, the Centro Hispanoamericano de Cultura, Havana, presented his most recent sculptures, paintings and ceramics, all made in workshops in Italy.