Logo
autograph collection logo
Tribute
AV_Tribute_andres

ANDRÉS VALERIO

Andrés Valerio (Havana, Cuba, 1934-Miami, Florida, 2021) studied art at the Academia de Bellas Artes San Alejandro and graduated with honors in 1958. He joined the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC) in 1969 and was an active participant in the visual arts scene on the island for over two decades. He presented a one-person show, participated in over 65 group exhibitions, and produced 18 ceramic murals. He also taught furniture history, design, and artistic drawing. His open opposition to Cuba’s socialist regime made his work stigmatized and marginalized. Valerio went into exile in 1980 and arrived in Miami as part of the Mariel exodus.

Curator Jesús Rosado describes his work as follows: “he fused in his palette and imagination the legacy of schools, trends, and genres from dissimilar territories and times. His career incorporated everything from classical to expressionism, from figuration and hyperrealism to the mists of abstraction. His work is a compendium of exuberance, baroque, exceptional, alternative vision, fusion, and originality.”

Valerio received many awards, including the First Prize for Painting at Calle 8 Festival (1980), ACA Prize for Drawing and Painting (1981), and the prestigious CINTAS Fellowship for Drawing and Painting (1982). In 2013, within the framework of Dade County’s Hispanic Heritage Week, the City of Miami Beach, the City of Miami, and the City of Sweetwater, granted him recognition and distinction as one of the most prestigious figures within Cuban art of all times.

His work was featured in numerous individual and group exhibitions in Cuba, the United States, Chile, Dominican Republic, Germany, Holland, Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Venezuela. His paintings belong to private and institutional collections in Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Spain, and the United States.

Andrés Valerio passed away on September 3, 2021.
Art Ovation Hotel is honored to present this exhibition as a tribute to his life and legacy.

ARTIST