Statement

My work in general, highlights my experiences as a black, mixed, Cuban, Latino man through daily discrimination, pejorative words and phrases, the psycho-social consequences and the constructed idea of a community that in Latin American society has been drawn to (self) exclusion.

Various studies have shown that children can absorb the stress responses of parents, unconsciously depositing their internalized images and lived experiences into the developing self of the child. Extreme life conditions can travel through generations; continuous racial discrimination, poverty, displacement, war…

My current body of work centers on the black subject, with a realistic approach I use 2, 3 or 4 canvases to distort, deconstruct, and fragment the body, creating an almost abstract/surreal figure. I think with my paintings I’m trying to reflect and create a form of exorcism on Generational trauma along with the consequences of racism and discrimination on a daily basis that create a state of self-denial in the mind of a black person.

When creating pensive and introverts figures I try to discuss the hard Psychological and emotional work of generations, while continuing to internalize the black person definition of self and the historical struggles that define them.

Bio

Manuel Hechavarria Zaldivar was born in 1988 in Holguin, in eastern Cuba. From an early age he participated in painting classes and exhibitions in his hometown.

At the age of 15 in 2003, he began courses in painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and engraving at the Holguín School of Art (Academia de Artes Plasticas "El Alba", founded in 1961), where he graduated in the specialty of painting and drawing in 2007.

In 2008 he began a course in Sociocultural Studies at the University of Holguín, in which he graduated in 2014.

Between 2009 and 2011 he joined the performance and happenings group "Vacutainer", led by conceptual artist Ruben Hechavarria Salvia. The group participates in various festivals and exhibitions in the region.

Since 2016, he lives and works in France.

Currently, his works can be appreciated in the online exhibition "Silent Voices", organized by the collective "We are not invisibles" in the United States.

And from March the 10thuntil the 27th, the exhibition tour of "I Matter" at the Handa Gallery in Wells Maltings in England, organized by artist and curator Olu Taiwo.

@hechavarriazaldivar