Edel Alvarez Galban (born 1967), also known artistically as A. Galban, is a Cuban American visual artist and physician. His work has been featured in national and international fine art exhibitions and events as well as in public art, published literature, and televised Latin American media. He has been noted as a significant figure of Contemporary Cuban art in Central Florida by helping to establish its presence above South Florida in the 21st century. Galban's work has been exhibited in the United States, Cuba, Mexico, and Costa Rica.
Biography and career
Edel Alvarez Galban was born on September 28, 1967, in Havana, Cuba where he was also raised.[1][2]
He showed early artistic inclination in his youth, although his initial professional intent was to pursue a medical career in Cuba.[1] However, in 1993 Galban was denied permission from the Castro government to practice medicine, therefore he redirected his aspirations back to his passion for the arts.[3] The following year he completed fine arts education from the Federico Engel Art School in Havana where he studied sculpture and draftsmanship.[4]
In 1995 Galban permanently emigrated to the United States where he joined the Cuban exile community in Miami.[5][3] There he continued his medical studies and enlisted in the United States Army as a medic where he served for three years.[3] He also continued to pursue and establish his art career. During his Miami period, Galban became connected to significant figures of the Cuban exile art community such as painters Hortensia Gronlier, José Mijares, and Cundo Bermúdez.[3]
In 2001 Galban completed his medical degree from Colegio Universitario San Judas Tadeo Escuela De Medicina and relocated to St. Petersburg, Florida, which then became the permanent base for both his art and medical professions.[6][7][8] Since relocating to St. Petersburg, Galban gradually emerged as among the most visible Cuban artists of the region as well as a proponent of Cuban art throughout Central Florida, having frequently exhibiting his work throughout Tampa, Orlando and Clearwater, as well as supporting other Cuban artists.[3][9]
Recognition
Galban's work has been exhibited in several international cultural centers and art markets, including New York City, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Coral Gables and Puerto Rico.[3] He has exhibited in prominent venues and events as well as literature and television shows.
In non-print media, Galban was the focus of a July 2, 2022 episode of the Editorial Akerú Publicaciones video series Hagalo con arte.[15] On February 1, 2024, Galban was interviewed by Miguel Galicia on Performance Radio.[16] His artwork is also featured on the Latin American television show Raymond y sus Amigos.[9]
Galban has exhibited alongside several internationally established artists including Clyde Butcher, Josignacio, Froilán Escobar[es], Adriano Nicot, and Jorge Dans, as well was collected by prominent collectors including artist Hortensia Gronlier, Froilán Escobar, former MLB coach Joe Maddon, and philanthropist Rob Canton.[9][17]
Galban's work has featured in the Miami, Orlando, and Tampa installments of the Nude Nite exhibition, the largest exhibition of nude-themed art in the United States.[3]
In 2014 Galban was the subject of a solo exhibition in Puerto Rico's Museo de Artes de San German.[2] The following year, in 2015, he was selected to participate in the Make-A-Wish Foundation's Beautiful Worries art exhibition.[2]
In 2022 Galban was the featured artist of the International Ballet Festival of Miami, which included a solo exhibition of his work, titled Visages de L’art, in the Adrienne Arsht Center as well as the commission to design the events poster for that year.[10][13][11]
Galban with his public artwork in the Clearwater Main Library, 2023. The mural is based on his 2021 painting La Noche Bella No Deja Dormir.
Among Galban's culturally significant works is the painting La Noche Bella No Deja Dormir (2021). Depicting Cuban national hero José Martí, the piece was selected in 2023 to be converted into a public art mural in the Clearwater Main Library.[3][19] It is also featured on the cover of the book of the same name by Froilan Escobar.
A significant collaboration in Galban's career has been his work with the award-winning Latin American author and painter Froilán Escobar, which have ranged from the visual arts and into published literature.
Galban's work has been the subject of the books Agalban: The Colors of Life (2022) and Agalban El color del deslumbramiento (2023).[20][21] His work has been featured in published literature by prominent Latin American authors, such as Froilan Escobar and José León Sánchez. Books featuring Glaban's work include Mujer en el enjambre, Señora de la Noche, Jardines Invisibles, La noche bella no deja dormir, Tres en una taza, and Herencias.[22][23][24][19][25]
In 2024, Galban initiated and co-curated the Flora & Fauna exhibition, held in The Gallery at Creative Pinellas, the former site of the Gulf Coast Museum of Art. The exhibition was co-curated by Tarin Mohajeri and established a high profile with the inclusion of several prominent and internationally-established artists such as Josignacio, Adriano Nicot, and Jorge Dans. Flora & Fauna was covered by The Artisan Magazine, Diario Las Americas, as well as television media.[17][26][27][28]
Analysis
Galban's artistic style is eclectic. Despite beginning his studies in sculpture, Galban transitioned into painting to better express and work with color. He is known professionally in the arts as AGalban, an abbreviation of both his last names per Spanish naming customs, and it is also how he typically signs his work.[3]
Galban's backgrounds are produced first as textural, abstract, and mixed-mediacolor fields.[9] Another defining element of his work include his use of symbolic and conceptual elements. His human figures are typically cyclops — having only one eye – whereas he conceptually replaces the missing eye with the eye of the viewer.[9] Rendered in a Cubistic style that divides the face, the missing eye also represents the expression "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," as well as acknowledging the role of shifting perspectives that various audiences of viewers have in influencing the impact of an artwork.[9]
Arlequines (2020) by AGalban.
He frequently works in series, and his ongoing series’ include: Personas, Lucias, Las Flores del Mal, Gaudi y yo, Jardines Invisibles (with Froilan Escobar), El bufón, Eva y Mariela, Caracol Erotico, Mi Divina Comedia, Cancionero, Cuba se va, Seavolve, El Monte, Los Feos, Desojando Margaritas, Locuras, 4 Estaciones en Bicicleta, Sábanas Blancas, Club 27, Miseria y Propaganda, and Illusion of Distortion.[5]
Galban's work has been critiqued by several art critics including Raysa White, Antonio Permuy, Armando de Armas, and Osiris Gaona.[3][1][24] Commenting on Galban's art and use of character studies, leading Contemporary Cuban artist Josignacio has critiqued: “[Galban] enters the soul of his paintings and portraits through the eyes, his colors and shapes take us directly to them and once in that silence he betrays the mood and state of mind of his characters."[24]
Select works
Paintings
Flor de Mal (2020)
Bicycling in Fall (2021)
Miseria y Propaganda (2023)
Select Exhibitions
2001 – Solo exhibition, Escuela de Medicina San Judas Tadeo, Costa Rica[2]
2005 – Collective Exhibition, Ybor City Community College[2]
2006 – Collective Exhibition, Barebrush Gallery, Chelsea, New York City[2]
2010 – Muestra de amor y erotismo, Amarte Gallery[2]
2013 – Pinceladas de Amor, La Barrica, Puerto Rico[2]
2014 – Solo Exhibition, Museo de Artes de San German, Puerto Rico[2]
St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport is a public/military airport in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay Area. It is right on the northeast municipal boundary of Pinellas Park, 9 miles (14 km) north of downtown St. Petersburg, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Clearwater, and 17 miles (27 km) southwest of Tampa.
The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 17th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 3,175,275 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
Ricardo Pau-Llosa is a Cuban-American poet, art critic of Latin American art in the US and Europe, art collector, and author of short fiction.
Mario Algaze was a Cuban-American photographer who photographed musicians and celebrities, in rural and urban areas, throughout Latin America.
Carlos Enrique Prado is a contemporary Cuban artist recognized for his contributions to the fields of ceramic sculpture and public art. Currently residing in Miami, Florida, Prado is actively engaged in both the creation of his art and the sharing of his expertise as a professor at the University of Miami in Coral Gables. His artistic endeavors span various mediums, including sculpture, ceramics, drawing, digital art, performance, installations, and interventions, showcasing versatility and creativity throughout his career. One of his notable recent achievements is the completion of the Ronald Reagan Equestrian Monument, a major public sculpture commissioned by Miami-Dade County and situated at the Tropical Park in Miami, Florida. In 2023, Carlos was selected as a member of the International Academy of Ceramics (AIC/IAC) based in Geneva, Switzerland. His affiliation with the AIC/IAC not only signifies his international recognition but also underscores his active engagement with the global ceramics community.
Josignacio is a Cuban Contemporary artist and author. He is among the most significant living contemporary Cuban and Latin American artists due to his career auction records, paint medium innovations, and association with notable cultural events, venues, and celebrity figures in the United States and Cuba.
Rafael Consuegra was a Cuban-born American sculptor and ceramist who worked in the United States and Europe.
Jesús A. Permuy is a Cuban-American architect, urban planner, human rights activist, art collector, and businessman. He is known for an extensive career of community projects and initiatives in Florida, Washington, D.C., and Latin America.
Lourdes Gómez Franca, better known simply as Lourdes, was a Cuban-American painter and poet who was active in Cuba and the United States. Her work was significant in Miami and Cuban art communities of the later Twentieth Century and covered by many critics and scholars.
Dionisio Perkins, better known as Dennis Perkins, was a Cuban artist recognized as a key member of the early Cuban exile art community in South Florida.
Baruj Salinas was a Cuban-American contemporary visual artist and architect. He is recognized as a central figure in the establishment of the modern Latin American art market in South Florida.
Marcos F. Pinedo is a Cuban–American art patron, collector, and art dealer who was an active figure in contributing to the establishment of the Cuban and Latin American art market in South Florida. He and his wife, Josefina Camacho Pinedo, own the Pinedo fine art collection of prominent Latin American and European art.
Miguel Jorge (1928–1984), also known as “Micky” Jorge, was a Cuban artist who was influential in the establishment of South Florida's early Latin American art market in the Greater Miami area from the 1960s through the 1980s.
Alfredo Martinez is a Cuban-American art collector, fine art photographer, curator, dealer, promoter, author, and former gallerist. He became a prominent figure in the Latin American fine art market internationally and particularly in South Florida after he began organizing art exhibitions in the mid-1980s. Martinez's professional and philanthropic art events and patronage activities were distinctive for referencing contemporary social issues, such as AIDS and underrepresented cultures in the arts. Martinez owned and operated two major art galleries and other art-related businesses based in Coral Gables, Florida. He has organized art exhibitions, lectures, and auctions throughout the United States and Latin America, including South Florida, New Hampshire, Argentina, Panama, and Costa Rica.
Adriano Adolfo Fernandez Nicot is a Cuban-American painter and poet based in Miami, Florida. He is known for a distinctive Neo-Expressionist style and is closely associated with the prominent Cuban artists Antonia Eiriz, Manuel Vidal Fernández, and Hilda Vidal Valdés. After becoming established in Cuba, Nicot relocated to the United States in the late 1990s. His work has since been featured in several books and exhibitions in the US and in Latin America.
Marta Cazañas Permuy was a Cuban-American fine art patron, art collector, curator, art dealer, and promoter based in Coral Gables, Florida. She was an influential figure in the establishment of the Latin American art market of South Florida. She managed and co-founded Permuy Gallery, one of the first venues dedicated to Cuban art in the United States. She also hosted a long-running art salon where South Florida art, literary, business, and political figures would gather to discuss art and culture.
Margarita Cano was a Cuban-American artist, curator, scholar, former liaison of the Miami-Dade Public Library System and Center for the Fine Arts, and former Head of Community Relations for the Miami-Dade Public Library System. She was a significant contributor to the development of the Latin American art market of South Florida as a leading figure in the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County public library systems. Cano is responsible for launching the permanent art collection of the Miami-Dade County Library System as well as spearheading several milestone Miami art and literary events of the 1980s, such as Surrounded Islands, The Miami Generation exhibition, and the Miami Book Fair.
Ramón Unzueta was a Cuban-Spanish painter most active in the United States, Spain, and France. In the United States he was a significant figure in the emergence of the Little Havana art market in Miami during the early 21st century. In his lifetime Unzueta received contemporary cultural recognition through public honors, media coverage, and high-profile international collaborations and commissions. Since his death, his work and career have been the subject of analysis through published literature, film, and posthumous exhibitions. Unzueta's work is featured in the permanent collections of the Frost Art Museum and the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora.
Pedro Hernandez Dominguez is a Cuban American artist primarily known for his sculptures in wood and stone as well as paper medium works. Since beginning his art career in the 1950s, he has been primarily active in Cuba, the United States, and Europe. He is among the significant contributing artists to the establishment of Cuban art in South Florida during the 20th century. His artwork has gained recognition for his awards, use in public art, coverage in media and published Cuban art literature, as well as international exhibitions. Hernandez is included in the permanent collection of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana, the Museum of Geometric and MADI Art, the City of Hialeah, and the Miami-Dade Public Library System.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Permuy, Antonio (23 October 2023). "Artist Seeks to Link Miami and Tampa Bay art scenes". Coral Gables News. Coral Gables, Florida: Coral Gables News. p.30.
↑ "Beyond Placemaking"(Digital). www.creativepinellas.org. St. Petersburg, Florida: Creative Pinellas. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
1 2 Escobar, Froilán (5 December 2023). La Noche Bella No Deja Dormir (in Spanish). Amazon Digital Services LLC. ISBN9798870674223.
↑ Bley, David (14 January 2022). AGalban: The Colors of Life. Amazon Digital Services LLC. ISBN979-8793448925.
↑ Escobar, Froilán; Sánchez Rius, José (24 December 2022). A. Galban: El color del deslumbramiento (in Spanish). Amazon Digital Services LLC. ISBN979-8371116895.
↑ Goana, Osiris; Et, Al (28 April 2022). Mujer en el enjambre: Cuentos (in Spanish). Editorial Sisimique.
↑ Goana, Osiris (22 June 2022). Señora de la Noche (in Spanish). Self Publish Ink. ISBN9786079989217.
1 2 3 Escobar, Froilán; Alvarez Galban, Edel (7 June 2022). JARDINES INVISIBLES (in Spanish). Amazon Digital Services LLC. ISBN979-8835007547.
↑ Escobar, Froilán (16 September 2016). Tres en una taza (in Spanish). Ediciones Cumbres. ISBN978-8494576638.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
