User:Stacy Goodman/sandbox

Andrés Conde (born December 4, 1968 - ), is a Cuban pop impressionist painter, living in Miami, FL and working from his studio in Little Havana. He blends commercial and graphic art with an impressionist style of figurative painting.

Early Life

Born in [|Centro Habana], Havana, Cuba, Andrés was named Andrés Barbaro Conde. The date of his birth, December fourth, coincides with the day of [|Santa Barbara], an important saint in Cuban culture, both to Catholics and members of the religion [|Santería] alike.

Santa Barbara is the syncretized version of [|Chango] in Santería. Conde occasionally uses Santería symbolism of Chango in his work, as in “Chango Salió”, a depiction of the South African singer Yolandi Visser of the band [|Die Antwoord]. She is dressed in red and white, (colors associated with the African orisha Chango), and beaded with the exact number of alternating red and white beads which make up the collares or necklaces used by followers of Chango in Santería.

Conde’s father was a political prisoner, incarcerated for seven years in Castro’s prisons. Critically injured, the elder Andrés Conde, was ultimately released to his family.

The Conde family eventually acquired visas to Spain. The patriarch managed to swallow several gold Spanish coins, bequeathed to him by his Spaniard father, before leaving the island of Cuba. These coins rented the family an apartment in Madrid and served to buy them bread, cheese and Serrano ham, which they used to make sandwiches they sold outside [|The Plaza de Toros] in Madrid. The family split up, each covering a separate entrance to the bullfighting ring. The young Andrés Conde sold sandwiches for two years, from the ages of seven to nine, with his family, in order to make enough money to immigrate to The United States.

Upon arriving in the US, they lived in New York first, eventually settling in Miami.

“I came to the United States as an immigrant when I was nine years old. We went from Cuba to Spain, then Spain to New York. The sharp contrast of my impoverished Cuba with the splendor of Spain, overwhelmed my senses. It seemed master sculptors and painters created the entire city of Madrid just for my delight. After arriving in New York, I found a different kind of wonderful, where buildings touched the clouds, and modern works replaced the old masters. I discovered shiny colored spray paint was used instead of sable brushes and pigments. New York is where I fell in love with pop art. I learned from innovators, such as Lichtenstein and Warhol, whose paintings hung in galleries. I admired Haring’s works in the subway tunnels, as my friends and I were throwing pieces up on every bit of blank wall we could find.” - Andrés Conde

Andrés studied Commercial Art at Miami Lakes Technical School, and graduated from [|The University of Miami].

Career

In 1998 Conde was commissioned to create the National Council of Jewish Women’s "Woman of Valor" award, which was presented to State Attorney Katharine Fernandez Rundle and County Judge Amy Karan. Andrés collaborated with Lexi Lehrman of the "Love Lexi Fund", in 2013, on a painting to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen race for the cure. His work was shown at Spectrum Art Fair by the Current Art Group USA during Art Basel week in 2013, and also in the group show “Digital Miami” at the Intercontinental Hotel. Six of his pieces belonging to the “Social” series, were part of “Los Cuatro” An Exhibition of Contemporary Cuban Art at CU-1 Gallery in Miami. Andres has been interviewed by MegaTV in the United States, TV Martí in Cuba, on Radio Mambí in Miami, and also on NBC 6 in Miami. His work has been featured in Art & Beyond magazine, Miami Artzine, in The Miami Herald, Brickell Magazine, Miami Art Scene, and on Miami.com.

References http://www.miamisao.com/press/1998.htm#101898 http://themiamiartscene.blogspot.com/2013/09/miami-based-artist-andres-conde.html http://www.martinoticias.com/media/video/cuba-pintor-nostalgia-patria-/31900.html http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Ai-Weiwei-Vase-Destroyed-By-Protester-at-Perez-Art-Museum-Miami-Police-245855631.html http://tatafedez.wordpress.com/andres-condecuba/ http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/361432-andres-conde http://www.e-artinternational.com/andres-conde-icons-the-new-idols-of-the-tribe/ http://blinkgroup.net/portfolios/andres-c/ http://miamiftl.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/MIA_MiamiFtLauderdaleAffiliate?team_id=273975&pg=team&fr_id=3435 http://southflorida.citybizlist.com/contributed-article/intercontinental-miami-launch-digital-miami-during-art-basel http://issuu.com/art_beyond/docs/art_beyond_march_april_mc_2014