WHAT DOES ART MEANS TO YOU?
Here is where I picture my inner world. Here the travel begins!
Hello! I’m Harold Rodríguez Rodríguez, a Cuban artist. I am fascinated by human behavior, and passionate about creating unique artwork.
In 1999 I graduated from San Alejandro, which is the National Academy of Arts in Havana, Cuba, with the Diploma for the Best Bachelor thesis in the specialty of painting.
– Collective exhibition of artists from Santa Fé in the Hall of the Lost Steps of the National Capitol of Cuba 2000.
– Collective exhibition at the Orígenes Gallery of the Great Theater of Havana 2000.
– Collective exhibition at the Hotel Cahama. Cuba 2000.
– Collective and personal exhibition at the Palacio de Bellas Artes de Belgrano, Argentina 2000.
– Collective and personal exhibition at Casa Café Cuba in Montreal, Canada 2000.
– Personal exhibition “Souls and Forms” in the House of Poetry Havana Cuba 2002.
– Professor of drawing and painting at the House of Culture in Santa Fé, Playa municipality, Havana 2000/2001.
– Collaborator in the Orígenes gallery, Havana, Cuba, doing advisory, curating, and selling to the public 2001/2002.
– Collective exhibition at Galería L, Havana, Cuba 2003.
– Collective exhibition “Small Format Room: Fayad Jamís” at Galería L, Cuba 2003.
– Exhibition at the Sevilla Hotel, Cuba 2003.
– Illustration of children’s books in the Capitán San Luis publishing house:
“The case of oval stones”, by Julia Calzadilla 2000.
“The very short case of the pearls that were and were not”, by Julia Calzadilla 2000.
“The strange case of square stones”, by Julia Calzadilla 2000.
– Illustration of the book “Antología de Cuentos Americanos” by Enrique Pérez Díaz. Miraguano 2004.
– Decoration of the Petroleum Research Center (CEINPET), with works in ceramics, wood, carpentry, and canvases 2004.
– Decoration of the offices of the Hyundai and Kia groups in the Miramar Trade Center in Havana, Cuba 2005.
– Collective exhibition at the Gallery “Sky Gallery Art’s” February 2013.
– Collective exhibition at the Gallery “Arte Imagen” June 2013.
– Personal exhibition “My body … my death” in the Gallery “Arte Imagen” May 2014.
– San Sebastian International Fair 2014.
STATEMENTS
WHAT DOES ART MEANS TO YOU?
In my case, art is a vital and personal need, a relationship with myself, and with an invisible and animistic universe … It is connecting with an infinite world, where my identity is diluted and expands to breathe life.
Art is a process where I experience a very intense inner completeness and fulfillment, which makes me want it, look for it, and stay in its presence. My intention when I am painting is to contact a void, linked to emptyness or everything, and also to my subconscious, letting the work arise by itself, and letting an inner emotion or music carry me. Then, new ideas arise, and they give birth to characters, drama and colors, while I have been semi-absent. There are series in which I make previous drafts, but they are always starting points of development towards the spontaneous, and the unknown. With all due respect, I have no interest in political, social or intellectual issues, they seem artificial to me. I am focused on the human being existence, and his psychological, emotional, and spiritual world. I am engaged with the intangible and invisible that gives deep meaning to everything and itself. I am mesmerized by the connection between the human being and his universe, and the majestic nature that challenge us to grow in a perfect rhythm.
WHAT IS YOUR LEGACY?
I believe that I contribute, like many others, with my humanistic sense, and great respect for nature. It is naive to believe that we live in a society and culture where there is nothing better than competing among each other for the final annihilation of what gives us life: mother nature.
I believe art has the responsibility to discover, liberate and expand the human being towards the unknown, and to express and connect with nature in order to remind humanity of the power that lives asleep in it, the ability to imagine and make our dreams come true. There are no limits…
INFLUENCES
In the pictorial universe, I was influenced by works of Kandinsky and Egon Shiele. Over time, I have discovered rather parallels with other authors, such as Giger. However, other artistic modalities have made an impact on me, such as music. Legendary musicians like Vangelis or rock bands like Tiamat, Moonspell, Paradise Lost, and The Gathering, always accompany me and inspire me during my work sessions. In cinema, films like ”Blade Runner” have left a visible fingerprint on me that deepens over the years. The literature of Tagore, Khalil Gibran, Kafka, Lovecraft, and countless authors of philosophy and spirituality, are always present.