Ernesto Leal
Leal, Ernesto, Cuba, 1971. He is a prominent Cuban artist who graduated from the San Alejandro Art Academy in Havana, Cuba in 1990. Throughout his career, he has explored spoken language and text through various visual media. His work delves into the analysis of how these elements are used, reinterpreted, appropriated and subverted, establishing comparisons and contrasts between the evolutionary differences of oral and written language. Leal’s speech, characterized by his postmodern approach, implies a deconstruction that carries the seed of a metadiscourse. His work questions linguistic conventions and seeks to reveal hidden or underlying layers of meaning. Through his visual exploration of language, Leal invites the viewer to reflect on the nature of language, communication, and the way we construct meaning. Ernesto Leal’s work is situated at the crossroads of different artistic and conceptual disciplines, in which visual and textual elements are intertwined to generate an aesthetic and reflective experience. His multidimensional approach and his ability to deconstruct and reconstruct the foundations of language make Leal an innovative and provocative artist in the contemporary art scene.
Personal Exhibitions
1966 Morales y Briel. Dibujos OP y POP. Galería de Arte, Galiano y Concordia, La Habana.
1967 Dibujos OP-POP. Galería de Santa Clara, Santa Clara, Las Villas.
1968 Dibujos OP. Armando Morales. Ernesto Briel. Galería La Rampa, Hotel Habana Libre, La Habana. 1971 Ernesto
Briel. Exposición de Dibujos. Galería de La Habana, La Habana.
1974 Ernesto Briel. Sala Marnez Villena, Unión de Escritores y Arstas de Cuba (UNEAC), La Habana. 1988 Briel.
Painngs [con Jesús Selgas]. Rivern Arts Center, West Nueva York, Nueva York.
1991 Briel Now Geo. Taller Boncina Gallery, Nueva York.
1992 Briel & Selgas. Recent Works. Chuck Levitan Gallery, Nueva York.
____. Duo Geo [con Carmen Herrera]. Jadite Galleries, Nueva York.
1994 An exhibition of Works by Ernesto Briel. Jadite Galleries, Nueva York.
Group Exhibitions (Selection)
1961 El arte en las fábricas y en la calle el 26 de Julio de 1961. Galería Municipal, La Habana.
1964 Duodécima Exposición Anual de Arstas Noveles. Lyceum, La Habana.
1965 1 Bienal de Arstas Noveles de Cuba. Centro de Arte Internacional, La Habana.
1967 Salón Provincial de Arstas Noveles. Galería de Arte, Galiano y Concordia, La Habana.
1968 Salón Nacional de Dibujo 1967. Galería de La Habana, La Habana.
1969 Salón Nacional de Artes Pláscas [dibujo, grabado y técnicas experimentales]. Centro de Arte
Internacional, La Habana.
____. Joven Pintura de Cuba. Argelia/URSS/Mongolia/Corea
1970 Salón 70. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, La Habana.
1971 Salas Cubanas. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, La Habana.
____. (Exposición Internacional del Arte del Libro). Leipzig.
1977 Exposición de Artes Plásticas. Homenaje al II Congreso de la UNEAC y al 60 Aniversario de la
Revolución de Octubre. Centro de Arte Internacional, La Habana.
1978 Salón de Artes Plásticas UNEAC 1978. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, La Habana.
1979 Grupo Cubano de Arte Óptico. Exponen. Centro de Arte Internacional, La Habana.
____. Salón de Artes Plásticas UNEAC 79. Centro de Arte Internacional, La Habana.
1983 Fine Arts Exhibition for the Festival de Las Artes. Tamiami Park, Dade County, Florida.
____. 18 Aer Three. Consolidate Bank, Miami, Florida.
1988-1989 Expresiones Hispanas 88/89. Coors Naonal Hispanic Art Exhibition and Tour/Mexican Cultural
Institute, San Antonio, Texas/Southwest Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California/Arvada Center for the
Arts and Humanies, Arvada, Colorado./Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California/Millicent Rogers
Museum, Taos, Nuevo Mexico./Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida.
1988 Small Wall Works. Amos Eno Gallery, Nueva York.
1989 Contemporary: Juxtapoing Percepons. Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art (MOCHA), Nueva York.
1990 Paper Visions II. Biennial of Contemporary Lan American Arsts. Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport,
Conneccut.
1991 Contemporary Caribbean Arsts. Creave Arts Workshop Gallery, New Haven, Conneccut.
1995 Art-Exhibit and Silent Aucon of Works by Contemporary Arsts to Benefit FAITH Services. Jadite Galleries,
Nueva York.
____. The Geometric Abstracon. Vista Gallery, Nueva York.