Carlos Enrique Prado is a visual artist and
professor of visual arts. Born in Cuba in 1978, in a family related to art. He moved
to US in 2011. During his career, he has been working predominantly in
sculpture and ceramics, but also has made digital art, drawings, paintings,
photographs, installations, interventions and performances. His works have been
focused towards contextual and social commentary, always with a strong
anthropological perspective. In 1996 he graduated in sculpture and drawing at
the National Academy of Fine Arts "San Alejandro". In 2002 he
received a BFA from ISA University of the Arts of Cuba, the most important
center of arts education in the country. He also received a MFA from that University
in 2008. His works have been exhibited at major art institutions, museums and
galleries in several countries of America and Europe, and they are part of
important private and public collections. He has also been an organizer and
curator of several projects of solo and group shows as well as exhibitions of
students of his courses.
As a visual artist, he has a very
large body of work. Recently, much of his sculptures and
installations have been made in ceramics. In this medium has achieved great
reputation with first prizes in Ceramic Biennials and works in collections of
major museums such as the National Museum of Ceramics in Havana and the ASU Art
Museum Ceramics Research Center, Arizona. He has also been a visiting artist
and lecturer at several universities in USA such as University of Southern
California in 2013, Midwestern State University in 2012, Arizona State
University in 2011 and University of Alabama in 2010. He has been a visiting
professor teaching ceramic courses and demonstration classes, such as summer
course taught at University of Mary Washington in 2011, which ended with
excellent results and with an exhibition in one of the major galleries in the
city. In this field, he has a solid technical background and dominates all the processes
in an artistic ceramic studio.
Digital art is another
medium where Carlos
Enrique has developed much of his recent work, achieving recognition. In this case the works are the result of a symbiosis between sculpture and digital media, particularly the construction of 3D designs and further
processing as photographic images for print. The final digital prints have
been part of three solo shows and more than 20 group
exhibitions. They have also been published in art
magazines like Artecubano and La Gaceta.
Moreover, he has developed an extensive collection of
portrait sculptures, with which it has achieved remarkable recognition. Several
institutions have commissioned him portraits of major cultural figures such as
bronze bust of Alicia Alonso to the Museum of Dance in Havana and the bronze
bust of Dulce María Loynaz for the city of Puerto de la Cruz, Canary Islands,
Spain, placed in the Taoro park-viewpoint. On the other hand, has made many
private commissions of portraits of busts, with a collection that includes a
variety of materials, sizes, scales. In this regard, his works are
characterized by a marked likeness of the portrayed subject, both physical and
psychological expression.
Carlos Enrique has been professor of sculpture and ceramics
at ISA University of the Arts of Cuba, teaching the major class of art projects
as well as several courses such as ceramics foundation, hand building techniques,
ceramic glazes, the personal projects in ceramic (installations sculptures),
life modeling and life drawing. He has have been tutor, opponent and a member
of the tribunals in more than 30 diploma works for several academic years. He organized and assisted in organizing numerous exhibitions of students to the school
gallery and other galleries
in Havana. In addition, he has taught courses and
demonstration classes at several universities in the USA such as University of
Mary Washington and Midwestern State University, and also at The Royal
University College of Arts in Sweden.
Between 2006 and 2012 he was the head of the sculpture
program at the School of Visual Arts at the same university, program that
includes classes such as project, design, modeling, wood and stone carving,
architectural design, as well as several studies such as ceramic, metals and
bronze casting. It was also his responsibility supervising professors’ classes
and staff’s work.
During the time he has
lived in Miami, Carlos has accumulated experience the field of
professional restoration and
conservation of works of art. For
over a year he has been working as a part-time Conservation Technician in the company
Rosa Lowinger and Associates, company specialized in the preservation of
sculpture, architectural elements, three-dimensional artwork and contemporary
art. In this job he has been involved in cleaning, restoring, preserving and
moving of various sculptures and installations of different materials and
different sizes; in examining of works and tasting treatments; in documenting
every object with photos, before, during and after treatments; in cleaning and
recovering of artworks damaged by fire; in rescuing public sculptures damaged
by aging and accident; in cleaning and maintaining bronzes, including removing
corrosion and applying patinas; in rescuing architectural elements of wood,
stone and bronze; in applying inpaintings on different surfaces; among other
processes. He has been working on company projects at the Vizcaya Museum and
Gardens, the Lowe Art Museum and the Museo Vault, and has also worked with
works of some important private collections as Rubell Family Collection.
