Awards / Exhibitions / Collections
Manuel Mendive (1944) plays a major role within the contemporary Afro-Cuban art movement. He was born in Havana, Cuba and currently resides there today where he continues to paint and sculpt. Mendive has an extensive educational background in art achieving honors while he studied painting and sculpting in multiple schools in Cuba. Since the beginning of his career in 1964, where he showed his work at the Center of Art in Havana, Mendive has participated in many international group and solo exhibitions. Through the course of many exhibitions he has been the recipient of several important awards bestowed upon him in Cuba and throughout countries in Europe.
Mendive produces art that combines the Afro-Cuban culture with international influences which root from Africa, Europe, and Cuba. The themes that he includes in his works illustrate how African religion and African culture have shaped Cuban national identity and culture. His works in general are very powerful paintings filled with a strong ethnic pride and cultural identity. He is popular for his paintings, sculptures, and performances featuring rhythmic music. Mendive works with a combination of several mediums and genres incorporated all into one piece. He also uses many organic objects to create his subject matter which creates a primitive-like quality to his pieces. His work is deeply influenced by the Santeria religion. The intention to incorporate this religion, which stems from his Yoruba roots, is to making a reference to mythological and religious observations revolving around questions related to contemporary life and the social issues in that take place in Cuba.
Awards / To Top
2004
José María Heredia Medal Awarding, Council of Plastic Arts, Division of Culture, Santiago de Cuba.
Hacha de Holguín (Axe from Holguin), Division of Cultural Heritage, Holguín.
Consulting Professor, Degree conferred by the Higher Institute of Arts.
2001
National Prize of Plastic Arts 2001, Havana, Cuba. Award for Illustrious Son of the City of Havana, People´s Power from the City of Havana.
1995
Medal from the Ville de Fort-de-France, Martinica.
1994
Félix Varela First Degree Order, Council of State from the Republic of Cuba.
Knight of the Arts and Letters Order from the Ministry of Culture and French-speaking nations from the Republic of France.
1990
Medal from Saint Guiliano Terme Commune, Italy.
Medal from the City of Havana.
1989
Junior Olympics Medal, Japan.
1988
Alejo Carpentier Medal, Council of State from the Republic of Cuba.
Collective Prize, Cuban Show at the I Biennial Jaime Guash Foundation, Barcelona, Spain.
1987
Award: V Anniversary Order, Municipal Division e of culture, Cotorro.
Se parece a la Felicidad (It looks like happiness), VI Biennial of Havana, Wifredo Lam Center, Museum of Colonial Art, Havana, Cuba.
Museum of Modern Art from Cartagena de Indias, San Pedro Claver Plaza, Colombia.
1986
Mention VI Festival of the Culture de Caribbean Origin, Santiago de Cuba.
Diploma IV Quadrennial, Erfurt, Germany.
International Prize of the Second Biennial of Havana, Wifredo Lam Center, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
1985
Prize from Latin American Space Gallery from Paris, I Biennial of Havana, Wifredo Lam Center, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana Cuba.
1984
Award 1300 years of the Bulgarian Culture, Ministry of Culture of Bulgary.
1983
Award for the National Culture, Ministry of Culture of Cuba.
1976
Medal from the Municipal Division of Culture from 10 de October, Havana, Cuba.
1970
Diploma Prix National, II International Festival of Painting, Cannessur-Mer, France.
1968
Adam Montparnasse Prize, XXIV Salón de Mayo from Paris, France.
National Salon of Plastic Arts Prize, Havana, Cuba.
1967
First Prize, Salon of Drawing, Havana, Cuba.
1962
Prize for Sculpture, Circle of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
1955
Prize from Morinaga Society for Enhancing the Mother, UNESCO, Tokyo, Japan.
Exhibitions / To Top
2014
One Race, The Human Race / Una Raza, La Raza Humana, Key West, FL
Without Masks: Contemporary Afro-Cuban Art, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Colombia, Vancouver, Canada
2014 –
2013
Things That Cannot Be Seen Any Other Way: The Art of Manuel Mendive
2011
Latin American Masters of Today and Tomorrow, Virginia Miller Galleries, Coral Gables, FL
2009
Exhibition and Performance: El espíritu, la naturaleza y las cabezas (Spirit, nature and heads), Orígenes Gallery, 29 de marzo – 29 de abril, 10ma Bienal de La Habana, Cuba.
Exhibition: Mendive at Saint Martin, Amahoro Gallery, West Indies Shopping Mall 97150 Saint-Martin (F.W.I.)
2008
Surrounded by Water: Expresions of Freedom and Isolation in Contemporary Cuban Art, Boston University Art Gallery, Boston, MA
La Mirada Persuasiva, Galeria Estudio Artizar, La Laguna, Spain
Exhibition: “El color blanco, el azul, el verde y el color de mi piel” (The white, theblue, the green color and that of my skin, Museum of Anthropology and History Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
2005
Feeding the Spirit, the Light, the Ancestros, Olodumare, the most beautiful thing, Gary Nader Gallery, Coral Gables , FL
Mother Africa Series, Week of the African Culture, Gallery: House of Culture of Angola, Havana, Cuba
2004
Exhibition of Modern Cuban Art, Athens, Greece
2003
Los Ancestros, orisha, la naturaleza y el pensamiento (The ancestros, orisha, nature and thought), Museum of the Americas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Social, intelectual y chic (Social, intellectual and chic), Biarritz, France
2002
Las Aguas, lo cotidiano y el pensamiento ( Waters, Daily Life and Thought), Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba
Shangó y la Vida (Shango and Life), La Recova Exhibition Hall, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
2001
Shangó y la Vida, Sa Nostra Cultural Center , Palma de Mallorca; Capitol Cultural Center, Cáceres, Spain
Santa Bárbara-Shangó en nuestras Vidas (Santa Barbara, Shango in our Lives), Gallery for Universal Art in Guines, Havana, Cuba
2000
Las Aves y los Peces (Birds and Fishes), Latin American Gallery, Casa de las Américas, Havana, Cuba
Exhibition of Sculptures, Museum of Rhum, Havana, Cuba
1999
Gary Nader Gallery, Coral Gables, FL
1998
Ville de Chanteclerç, Fort-de-France, Martinique
Andy Jllich Gallery, Switzerland
1997
Joan Guaita Art Gallery, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
The World of Art Gallery, Paris, France
Museum of Colonial Art, Havana, Cuba
Museum of Modern Art in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
1996
Nacional Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
Present Art Gallery, Santiago de Chile, Chile
La Acacia Gallery, Havana, Cuba
1995
Fernando Quintana Gallery, Bogotá, Colombia
1994
The World of Art Gallery, Paris, France
1993
Galería Expositum Ciudad México, D.F.
Le Monde de L’Art, Paris, France
Museo Boshum, Alemania
1992
Sevilla ’92, Pabellón de las Artes, Spain
Galería le Monde de L’Art, Paris, France
1991
21a. Bienal Internacional Sao Paulo, Brasil
Museo Arte Moderno San Diego San Diego, CA
1990
25o. Salón Internacional de Arte de Zagreb Yugoslavia
Civic Gallery, Cavour Plaza, Padua, Italy
1989
SEIBU Group, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Galería Nesle Paris, France
1988
XLIII Biennial de Venice, Italy
Ethnographic Museum of Budapest, Hungary
The October Gallery, London, UK
1987
Museum of Contemporary Art, Panama City, Panama
Para el Ojo que Mira (For the Eye which glances), Nacional Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba
1986
Conversando con los Peces (Taliking to Fishes), Latin American Cultural Space Gallery,
Paris, France
1984
Plaza Vieja Gallery, Fondo Cubano de Bienes Culturales (Cuban Funds of Cultural
Heritage) , Havana, Cuba
1982
Travelling show through Zambia, Nigeria, Angola and Mozambique
Mpapa Gallery, Lusaka, Zambia
Iwalewa House, University de Bayreuth, Germany
ORTH Gallery, Nuremberg, RFA
1981
Art Gallery, Moscow, USSR
1980
Mendive: Un pintor de lo Real Maravilloso (A painter of the Marvelous Reality), L Gallery, Havana, Cuba
1978
Museo Arte Contemporáneo Madrid, Spain
1975
Museo Nacional Tanzania, Tanzania
1964
Centro de Arte La Habana, Cuba
Art Center, Catedral Square, Havana, Cuba
Collections / To Top
National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana,
Cuba; Emilio Bacardí Museum, Santiago
de Cuba; Panama Museum of Modern Art,
PANARTE, Panama; Museum of Modern Art,
Cartagena de Indias, Colombia; Ethnographic
Museum of Budapest, Hungary; Museum of
Modern Art from the Ville of Paris, France;
Atlantic Center of Modern Art, Las Palmas de
Gran Canaria, Spain; Sa Nostra Foundation,
Palma de Mallorca, Spain; France Liberté
Foundation, Paris, France; Joan Guaita Art
Gallery, Palma de Mallorca, Spain; National
Museum of Tanzania; The Jonh F. Kennedy
Center, Washington, USA; Gary Nader,
Art Gallery, Miami, USA; SEIBU Group,
Tokyo, Japan; Cultural Center of Manila, Philippines
/ To Top
