COMMENTS

“Revelations” (2022)

“That which is marvelous begins as such, unequivocally, when it stems from an unexpected alteration of reality (the miracle), from a privileged revelation of reality, from an unusual or singularly favorable illumination of the unnoticed richness of reality, from an expansion of the scales and categories of reality, perceived with particular intensity through an exaltation of the spirit that leads it to a ‘limit state.’”

Alejo Carpentier

“There are those who walk among flowers without noticing them. Others give them a glance and continue on their way. Only those who pause a little longer realize that the flowers are returning their gaze.”

Carlos Alberto Fernández

PRIVILEGED REVELATIONS

The floral theme has been explored so extensively throughout art history that one could trace the evolution of artistic movements and schools through the ways in which each has represented it. Yet now, more than ever, I feel the need to redefine our relationship with nature.

We live in a time when humanity must reconcile with nature, fostering coexistence based on respect and harmonious integration with the environment we inhabit. Only when we understand that we are part of this ecosystem, rather than its central protagonists, can we hope to preserve it and discover the magical and wondrous world that surrounds us.

From this perspective, I return once again to the floral universe. In my work, flowers become beings that observe us and question us through their silence. I reimagine them through Alejo Carpentier’s concept of the marvelous real, in which:

In this sense, flowers become symbols of the diversity and vitality of life, whose preservation is essential to our survival as a species.

This series consists of circular works that evoke the world of numismatics. Resembling oversized coins, they introduce a dialogue between the organic forms of nature and the visual language of currency, inviting reflection on the economic, symbolic, and aesthetic value of art in the contemporary world.

Carlos Alberto Fernández

“Beauty and Value” (2021)

COINS

Painting has long been intertwined with commerce. As the art market expanded over the centuries, particularly during the nineteenth century, the buying and selling of artworks became an increasingly prominent aspect of the art world.

Galleries have multiplied, museums have gained prominence, and critics, collectors, and art connoisseurs continue to confront a question that inevitably arises: How much is an artist’s work worth?

From paintings by Paul Cézanne and Jackson Pollock to works by lesser-known artists, every artwork is assigned a monetary value. Regardless of its spiritual or intellectual significance, a work of art is also subject to financial considerations, and its potential market value is rarely overlooked.

It is within this context, and in response to the contemporary relationship between money and art, that this project was conceived. Beauty and Value explores the convergence of a painting’s artistic and commercial value. Through its visual and conceptual elements, the work invites viewers to recognize that art, regardless of its aesthetic or intellectual significance, cannot entirely escape its financial implications.

Carlos Alberto Fernández

“Evoking” (2006)

The passing of time leaves remembrances in our memory, like the wind scatters the seeds on a fertile field, and one day, these remembrances reveal themselves by the sound of a brook that flows or by the sun rays that caresses the leaves of a tree. It is then when dreamed scenes come to our minds blending in one vision fragments of what we have lived and dreamed.

In the gardens and parks, always utmost in our thoughts, many of these memories have been created; with the complicity of a folded leaf and a broken branch; in the ponds where they traveled; full of dreams, like paper boats or simple fallen leaves; and the hidden places where these precious treasures were kept.

These are the images that surface in my paintings, like mirrors capable of reflecting illusions, flooded with light, surrounded by intense white, as if we had just opened our eyes for the first time to live in that world again.

The trace of the spatula, the line that draws and suggests, the veil with its mysteries and the vibrant colors, as if we could hear the sound of the wind bringing us memories, which will make us contemplate and evoke, but life must continue.

Let’s throw a few coins in the fountain of our memory whit the hope to remember again and continue to move forward.

Carlos Alberto Fernandez

“Carlos Alberto Fernández” (2004)

“…One day, he showed me his paintings, in which, through an intense emphasis on white, he allows us to share the sensation of opening our eyes to light for the very first time.

Carlos Alberto’s canvases thus reveal the contours and nuances of nature—the world that surrounds us. For him, the immediate becomes transcendent, and a universe of enchanted creatures, discovered and exalted by the artist’s imagination, inhabits dazzling foliage.

His work reveals an unwavering devotion to the beauty that lies within, guided by the belief that creation is a hymn of hope for the harmony that was broken when the first human beings departed from paradise.”

Eusebio Leal Spengler
From the exhibition catalogue

“La flora de Cuba” (2001)

Carlos’ work is more like jazz than salsa when making those parallels. It moves in and out of a recognizable melody.

It’s a bird. It’s a flower. It’s a seed. And it’s an abstract pattern in the sense that that’s what some jazz is. It moves away from the melody, into improvisation, and returns to the melody.

At the same time, Fernandez’s choice of subject matter makes it easy to understand, at least at an elemental level. It’s accessible art. You could show it to a 10-year-old and he would get it.

Stuart Ashman. Museum of Spanish Colonial Art . Director.

The paintings are both provocative and innocent. Large sensuous flowers invite the viewer to drink in fragrances. A small bird, found in many of Fernandez’s paintings, tilts its head in a knowing gaze at the viewer. Liquids seeps from open fruit, seeds exposed. Images of flora and fauna blend, creating one organic form. The vibrant colors Fernandez uses conjure up the heat and life juices that permeate Cuban culture.

Elena Vazquez. (Pasatiempo Magazine)

“Sobre la Tela del Viento”. (1999)

“…In this exhibition, Carlos Alberto Fernández presents a series of original and elegant works in which fruits and birds take center stage. These pieces bear the distinctive imprint of his personal artistic language, where figuration and abstraction coexist as an inseparable whole.

In these paintings—which harmonize beautifully with the historic city’s surroundings—his passion for painting remains evident, both in its material qualities and its historical significance. Variations in certain forms further emphasize their symbolic character.”

Toni Piñera

“Despertares” (1997)

“He is a painter of skies, wings, flight, freedom, and light. Through his art, the light of Cuba shines upon us in the Nicaraguan night.”

Ernesto Cardenal
Opening Remarks

“A la Sombra de un Ala” (1996)

“In the shadow of a wing, José Martí wishes to tell us a tale in bloom. Wing and flower. Carlos Alberto Fernández invites us to behold them in all their iridescent splendor. Indeed, that is precisely what he does: with a light, dreamlike brush in flight, he traces the subtle nuances that capture, against an ethereal white, images evoking a natural, mysterious resemblance between wing and flower.

For Patrick Lane, ‘a bird is a poem / that speaks of the end of cages,’ while Carl Sandburg asks, ‘Why is my love always a thing of sound and wings?’ By recreating these winged, melodious jewels on canvas, Carlos Alberto Fernández gives renewed expression to the evocative visions of these poets.

Light reigns in his hand. Light that faithfully delineates the essential qualities of the creatures he chooses to bring us closer to worlds of virtue and beauty. Nothing escapes his meticulous hand as he reveals realms of nature where light still holds dominion.”

Pablo Armando Fernández
From the Exhibition Catalogue

“Imago” (1990)

“The ‘vivid visions’ of these paintings, filled with light, color, and evocative vegetal forms, unfold through aggressive shapes in flight or, at times, remain still and contemplative. At moments of heightened expression, these visions become not only winged extensions but also evocative forms, almost like Íremes in motion—now horns and sharp, aggressive projections joined in an ancestral union, now pointed, upright membranes rising defiantly amid veiled forests.

From an early stage, our painter ventures into the mysteries of the canvas. Energetic yet lyrical, his work is rich in transparencies and evocative imagery, forming part of a personal universe distinguished by imagination and a keen receptiveness to the ever-changing world around him.”

Esteban Ayala
From the Exhibition Catalogue

Íremes: Masked ceremonial figures of the Afro-Cuban Abakuá tradition, distinguished by their conical hoods and ritual dances.