CARLOS GAMEZ DE FRANCISCO

Carlos Gamez de Francisco was born in post-revolutionary Cuba in 1987, to a Cuban-Spanish mother and a Cuban-American father. He grew up in Cuba and was educated in an academic style heavily influenced by the Russian Academy. At age five, he determined, with absolute certainty, that he would be an artist. By the time he was fifteen, Gamez de Francisco was diligently painting 8 hours a day, every day. Today, he often spends 15 hours a day painting and feels “very blessed to do what I love.” Gamez de Francisco arrived in the United States with $650 at the age of 21 knowing no English. He spent $600 on art supplies and $50 on a pair of Cortez running shoes – “just like the ones Forrest Gump wore to run across the United States.” He committed himself to learn 100 English words every day, studying diligently, working, and painting at night. For the first five months, he lived in America without sleep. His exceptional talent, hard work, and perseverance led him to earn artistic commissions and recognition. Gamez de Francisco paints and photographs very passionately, making statements filled with symbolism. He frequently includes insects in his artwork. He says: Flying insects represent FREEDOM; Falling insects represent CHAOS; When they are lying down, they represent BALANCE. His classical training was based on portraits and history, paintings that Royalty and the very wealthy upper class would commission. Garments were exquisite, surroundings emanating wealth. But Carlos felt that “Everybody has the right to be in the portrait” and he embarked on a series where everyday people were featured with ‘found’ objects in their home, like lace doilies, curtains, plastic bags, and kitchen towels, draped and adorned in such a way they appeared ‘royal’. His paintings of furniture tend to be over-decorated, a nod perhaps, to that of the wealthy, but maybe more as a result of a childhood memory. In Cuba, his mother saved for two years to purchase a new sofa. It was such a sign of achievement for her that it was kept in plastic and no one was allowed to sit on it. He learned to admire it from a distance as if he were in a museum. After arriving in the United States, he noticed the lavish attention we devote to our pets, spoiling them and allowing them to lounge on the sofa. This led to a new series: “Keep Your Pets Off Furniture”. This series not only had dogs laying on the sofa but had horses jumping on the elaborately decorated couch. Today, Gamez de Francisco’s Afghan Hound has the run of the house, lounging wherever he likes. Living in Kentucky, horses are a favorite theme for Gamez de Francisco. In surrealist fashion, he combines horses with the human form, centaur-like, but in reverse – the horse’s head with a human body. Or, maybe the head of a dear, a fox, a giraffe . . . and don’t be surprised if the body is that of a beautiful woman attired in silk and finery. Gamez de Francisco’s work is exquisitely detailed, beautifully executed, and primarily – thought-provoking. Highly awarded and exhibited, some of Carlos’ numerous awards include Fine Art Photographer of the Year, 2020, Moscow International Photo Awards, Moscow, Russia, Gold Award, 2020 Tokyo International Foto Awards, Tokyo, Japan, “Dreammakers” Artist in Residence at the Muhammad Museum, the Distinguished Scholarship from the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum Guild Purchase Award from Evansville Museum. He have had solo shows at 21c Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, and Bentonville, Arkansas, Monica Graham Fine Art in Carmel, CA, Miller Gallery in Cincinnati, OH, Portland Art Gallery in Portland, ME, Hardcore Art Contemporary Space in Miami, Florida, The Muhammad Ali Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Colonial Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, Cuba. His work has been exhibited at Art Market San Francisco (2022), Scope-Art Basel, Miami (2021 and 2012), Art Palm Beach (2014), Art Southampton, New York (2015), and Context Art Miami (2016).

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED) 2022 Gilded Age Fashion, Karen Anderer Fine Art, Lancaster, PA Femme Fuerte, Monica Graham Fine Art, Carmel, CA Bloom, Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH 2021 Six Shades of Sunlight, Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH New Work, Portland Art Gallery, Portland, Maine New Work, CV Art and Frame, Zionsville, IN 2020 Dancing on the Couch, Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH Keeneland Couture, New Editions Gallery, Lexington, KY Personality Plus, Kore Gallery, Louisville, KY 2019 New Works, Weinberger Fine Art, Kansas City, MO “Modern Nobility”, Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH “Specimen Lost in a Tropical Island”, New Editions Gallery, Lexington, KY 2018 “An Uncommon Vision:  Equines, Archetypes, and Allegories”, New Editions Gallery, Lexington, KY “The Power of the Powerless”. Moremen Moloney Contemporary, Louisville, KY 2017 New Work. Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY “FAQ’s 1789-1987”. Moremen Moloney Contemporary, Louisville, KY 2015 “Troubling Beauty: Myth and Metaphor in Contemporary Costume Drama”. 21c Museum, Bentonville, AR 2014 “Troubling Beauty: Myth and Metaphor in Contemporary Costume Drama”. 21c Museum, Louisville, KY “Size Matters”. The Green Building Gallery, Louisville, KY “Cactus Petals, Fluctuating Asymmetry, and Crimes of Passion”. Tinney Contemporary, Nashville, TN 2013 “Pétalos de Cactus, Fluctuaciones Asimétricas, y Crimen Pasional”. Visual Art Association, Holguín, Cuba 2012  “Radical Genealogy: The Decline of Dauphins, Courtesans and Hounds". Hardcore Art Contemporary Space, Miami, FL “Trio”. Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH “Black Portraits of Pomegranate Eaters”. Swanson Contemporary, Louisville, KY 2011 “Cuban Now” 21C Museum, Louisville, KY 2010 “The Last Words of Louis XVI” Muhammad Ali Museum, Louisville, KY 2009 “Fungus for Parry-Rombeg”. Les Arts Gallery, Balearic Islands. Spain 2008 “The Last Little Vincent and Jean Puy”. Colonial Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba 2006 “The Hole of the Mirror”. Ibero-American House, Holguín, Cuba GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED) 2022 Art Market San Francisco, Slate Contemporary, Oakland, CA 2021 SCOPE Art Fair, The CAMP Gallery, Miami, FL Affordable Art Fair NYC, Artplex Gallery, NY The Figurative Filter, Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Supernova, The Grogan Gallery, Houston, TX Face It, Jack Rabbit Gallery, Houston, TX Afterimage; Sensations of Colors, Nashville, TN Bloom, Bev’s Fine Art, Raleigh, NC 2020 Mix it Up! New Editions Gallery, Lexington, KY Moscow International Foto Awards Winner’s Exhibition, Moscow, Russia 2019 Dress Up, Speak Up: Regalia and Resistance, 21c Museum, Cincinnati, OH Mix it Up! New Editions Gallery, Lexington, KY “Endless Summer”, Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH 2018 46 International Art Exhibition, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, Brownsville, TX PHOTO’ 18. Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY “Keep your Clothes ON”, New Editions Gallery, Lexington, KY 30th Anual Decatur Arts Festival, Decatur Arts Alliance, Decatur, GA 2018 Art at the Center Juried Exhibition, Overland Park, KS “Merton Among Us”, 849 Gallery, KyCAD, Louisville, KY 2017 45th Mid-States Craft Exhibition, Evansville Museum, Evansville, IN “Mistrz i morze”, ArtGalle Galeria, Szczecin, Poland 2016 Context Art Miami, Ai Bo Gallery, Miami, FL. Cubaocho Museum & Performing Arts Center, Miami, FL “Cuban Fried Chicken”, MAC Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, FL “Cuban Art: Influence and Articulation”. Moremen Moloney Contemporary, Louisville, KY “Navigate”, 1619 Flux Art + Activism, Louisville, KY 2015  New Blood Festival, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Art Southhampton, Glenn Aber Contemporary, NY 2014 “Latin Views 2014”. Alexey Von Schlippe Gallery, Groton, Connecticut “Miami New Media Festival 2014”. The Chill Concept. Miami, FL Art Hamptons, NY, Glenn Aber Contemporary Art Palm Beach, FL, Glenn Aber Contemporary 2013 “NSHMBA Louisville Fundraising & Awards Gala”. NSHMBA, Louisville, KY “Dis-semblance: Projecting and Perceiving Identity”. 21c Museum, Cincinnati, OH “Acuarelas III”. Lombillo Palace, Havana, Cuba 2012 Scope -Art Basel, Miami, Hardcore Art Contemporary Space. “Latin Views”. Alexey Von Schlippe Gallery, Groton, Connecticut 2011 “Mada New Media Festival’11”. Hardcore Art Contemporary Space, Miami, FL “Contemporary Realism”. Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH “Acuerelas II”. Lombillo Palace, Havana, Cuba 2010 “Fronteras Desdibujadas” Periquera Colonial Museum, Holguin, Cuba "EKLEKTICITY." George Rodez Gallery, Miami, FL 2009  “Drove my wife crazy”.  Pyro Gallery, Louisville, KY 2008 “Cuban Artists”. Rome, Italy ”Dachshund, a Legend”.  Humboldt professorship, University of Havana. Havana, Cuba    

EDUCATION 2016  School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Distinguished Scholarship. 2006  Jose Marti Fine Arts School. Holguin, Cuba 2004  Raul Gomez Garcia Fine Arts School.  Holguin, Cuba Independent study with Cuban artists Miguel Angel Salvo, Cosme Proenza, and Harry Ruiz.