Biography
Born in Havana, Cuba, 1955
Living and working in Ghent, Belgium, since 1990
Ricardo Brey is a visual artist. His multidisciplinary practice—spanning drawing, sculpture, and installation—centers an exploration of the origins of humanity and our place in the world.
In 1990 Brey was invited to participate in Documenta IX, Kassel (Germany). This marked a pivotal moment in his career and solidified his move to Europe. Brey initially gained recognition in the 1970s and 1980s as a prominent member of Volumen I, an avant-garde artist collective instrumental to the emergence of a new wave of Cuban artists after the Revolution.
Over the decades, Brey’s work has garnered numerous prestigious accolades, including the Prize from the Flemish Ministry of Culture and a Guggenheim Fellowship for Installation Art and Sculpture. These honors have cemented his reputation as a global prescence in contemporary art.
In 2002, Brey embarked on a new creative chapter consisting of larger and longer projects. Projects, such as Universe (2002–2006), Annex (2003–2009–2015), and Every Life is a Fire (2009–ongoing), showcase his commitment to large-scale, ambitious work. Notably, Every Life is a Fire was presented in its entirety at the 56th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia as part of the acclaimed exhibition All the World’s Futures, curated by Okwui Enwezor.
Since 2023, Brey has been developing a new project, provisionally titled Where to Start. Where to Start focuses on a series of sculptures that reflect a central practice of the African diaspora, particularly Afro-Cuban culture: syncretism and creolization. These recent works offer a holistic exploration of cross-cultural experience and the human condition, blending Western and non-Western visual vocabularies through innovative assemblage techniques.
Brey’s work is rooted in a decolonial perspective, challenging dominant Western narratives while celebrating the rich syncretic traditions of the African diaspora, particularly within Afro-Cuban culture. His art embodies creolization—the blending of multiple cultural traditions into something entirely new—by merging African, European, and Caribbean influences. Through his rhizomatic approach, Brey’s work resists linear, hierarchical structures, instead developing organically and interconnectedly, much like a root system, with ideas branching out in multiple, non-linear directions.
Brey’s reinterpretations of the Santería pantheon fuse classical motifs with a distinctly Caribbean aesthetic, creating a unique and powerful visual language. His work exemplifies a deeply personal and culturally resonant approach to art, uniting disparate traditions and reimagining them for contemporary audiences.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS & PROJECTS
2023-2024
Where to Start (working title) – work in progress
2022
Gap in the Clouds, Hof van Busleyden, Mechelen, Belgium (BE)
Every Life is a Fire, Alexander Gray Associates, Germantown, NY (USA)
2021
Ricardo Brey: Blue Shore, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY (USA)
2019
Adrift. Gerhard-Marcks-Haus, Bremen (DE)
Doble Existencia / Double Existence, Alexander Gray Associates, New York (USA)
Adrift. Museum de Domijnen, Sittard (NL)
2018
Adrift – work in progress
2017
Doubts and Loves. Galerie Tanit, Beyrouth (LE)
All that is could be otherwise. Galerie Nathalie Obadia Paris-Brussel (FR)
2016
Adrift – work in progress
2015
Op de bodem van de hemel/Fuel to the fire/ Au Fond du Ciel. Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen (M HKA) - Koninklijk Atheneum - Saint-Paul’s Church. Antwerpen (BE)
The moving wall. Galerie Tanit Munich-Beirouth (DE) (LE)
2014
Kicking the can down the road. Gallerie Nathalie Obadia Paris-Brussel (BE)
BREY, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (CU)
2013
Gasoline Around the Moon, Galerie Tatjana Pieters, Ghent (BE)
For one night only, Pan American Art Projects, Miami (USA)
Every life is a fire – work in progress
2012
Ricardo Brey / Jimmie Durham, Looking at my own work (and his), Galerie Christine König, Vienna (AT)
Performance: Boxes (As good as bread), Galerie Christine König, Vienna (AT)
Boxes — Ein jedes Leben ein Feuer ist, work in progress, artist's project space, Ghent (BE)
2009
The Burden and Blessing of Mortality, NICC, New International Cultural Center, Antwerpen (BE)
Annex– work in progress
2006-2007
Universe, S.M.A.K., Ghent (BE)
2004-2005
Ricardo Brey, Hanging around, GEM, The Hague (NL).
2003
Annex – work in progress
2002
Universe – work in progress
2001
Terrestrial impact structures, Galerie Lumen Travo, Amsterdam (NL)
... and other stories, Pand Paulus, Schiedam (NL)
New Links, Galerie Tanit, Munich (DE)
Two flat fishes and the Chimaera, Roger Vandaele Edition, Antwerp (BE)
2000
Sources, Centre d'Art Contemporain, Crestet (FR)
1999
Ricardo Brey, Gallery Xippas, Paris (FR)
Ricardo Brey, Temporary-Contemporary, Brussels (BE)
1998
Ricardo Brey, Galerie Albert Baronian, Brussels (BE)
The last year of the tiger, Galerie Tanit, Munchen (DE)
Ricardo Brey, Installation and drawings, Schwerte Kunstverein, Schwerte (DE)
1997
Ricardo Brey, Kunstverein Salzburg, Salzburg (AT)
Fly with the Wind, Galerie Lumen Travo, Amsterdam (NL)
Ricardo Brey, Gallery Otto, Bologna (IT)
1996
Ricardo Brey, Galleria Civica, Palazzina dei Giardini, Comune di Modena (IT)
Ricardo Brey, Sittard Art Centre, Sittard (NL)
1995
Ricardo Brey, Patrick De Brock Gallery, Knokke (BE)
1994
Ricardo Brey, Gallery Albert Baronian, Brussels (BE)
Ricardo Brey, Galerie Tanit, Munchen (DE)
Tocar la otra orilla, V Havana Biennial, Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro, Havana (CU)
Ricardo Brey, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris (FR)
Ricardo Brey, Galerie Lumen Travo, Amsterdam (NL)
1993
Ricardo Brey, Vereniging voor het Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent (BE)
Ricardo Brey, Galerie Tanit, Cologne (DE)
1991
Ricardo Brey, Gallery Albert Baronian, Brussels (BE)
1987
Sobre la Tierra, Centro Wifredo Lam, Havana (CU)
Sobre la Tierra, Galería Kahlo-Coronel, Mexico (MX)
1981
El Origin de las Especies, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (CU)
1980
Luna Llena, Casa de la cultura de Jaruco, Havana (CU)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Spirits, House and Senses, An exhibition curated by Elly Strik, ArtSpace Auto Vitesse
Eindhoven (NL)
2023
Juan Francisco Elso: Por América, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, FL (USA)
Motel Corona, S.M.A.K, Gent (BE)
Ricardo Brey & Lois Weinberger – Common Ground, Keteleer Gallery, Antwerp, (BE )
Juan Francisco Elso: Por América, Phoenix Art Museum, AZ (USA)
2022
Elsewhere(s), ANOTHER SPACE, New York, NY
Juan Francisco Elso: Por América, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
Terms of Belonging, GAVLAK, Los Angeles, CA
A sheet of paper casts a shadow, Alexander Gray Associates, Germantown, NY
2021
PASS 2021, Mullem, Huise, Wannegem en Lede, Belgium
Re: Bicycling, Susan Inglett Gallery, New York, NY
South South, Alexander Gray Associates, Germantown, NY (USA)
2020
Le Tour du Jour en Quatre-Vingts Mondes (Around the Day in Eighty Worlds), Musée d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux (FR)
‘The House of Opportunity’, Cultuurcentrum de Steiger, Brussels (BE)
Scripted Truths, The Agprognostic Temple, Brussels (BE )
Other.Worldly, Frisian Museum, Leeuwarden (NL)
2019
Les Abeilles de l’Invisible. Museé des Arts Contemporaines au Grand-Hornu, Hornu (BE)
S.M.A.K. 20 Years: The Collection |Highlights for a Future. Stedelijk Museum
voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K), Ghent (BE)
Feast of Fools. Bruegel Rediscovered. Gaasbeek Castle, Lennik (BE)
2018
TRUST, Les Brasseurs, Liège (BE)
2017
The City, My Studio / The City, My Life. Kathmandu Triennale. (Nepal)
de Nature en Sculpture Villa Datris, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (FR)
Ecce Homo. Museum Mayer van den Bergh , Antwerp (BE)
2015
56th International Art Exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia, All the World's Futures. Venice, Italy (IT)
How to Gather? Acting in a Center in a City in the Heart of the Island of Eurasia. Moscow Biennale. Moscow, Russia (RU)
2014
Permission To Be Global: Latin American Art from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection. Museum. Museum of Fine Arts , Boston (USA)
2013
Permission To Be Global: Latin American Art from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection. CIFO Art Space, Miami (USA)
IM & EX-PLICIT, curated by Luc Derycke. Galerie Tatjana Pieters, Ghent (BE)
Middle Gate Geel ’13, curated by Jan Hoet, de Halle, St-Dimpnakerk, Gasthuismuseum & Kunsthuis Yellow Art, Geel (BE)
Nouvelles Vagues, Artesur, Collective Fictions, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (FR)
2012
Sint-Jan, curated by Jan Hoet & Hans Martens, Sint-Baafskathedraal, Ghent (BE)
2011
Frames & Documents: Conceptual Practices, Selections from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, Miami (USA)
2010
Membres fantômes, variations sur un thème de Peter Szendy, Galerie Xippas, Paris (FR)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Wereld & Beeld, CC Strombeek, Brussels (BE)
ABC Art Belge Contemporain, Le Fresnoy Studio National des Art Contemporains, Tourcoing (FR)
2009
Jeugdzonde, Over opus één en opus min één, LLS387, Antwerp (BE)
Something Else!!!! A selection of works from the S.M.A.K., MAN, Museo d'Arte della Provincia di Nuoro (IT)
2008
Kunst uit huis IV: Otto L. Schaap Content Art Consumers, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam (NL)
2007
Four4One, Old-Spinnerij de Hemptinne, Ghent (BE)
Icare, Musée de l'Art Wallon, Liège (BE)
Vanaf nu! Group exhibition installed by Ricardo Brey & Willem Oorebeek, concept & selection: Ulrike Lindmayr, LLS387, Antwerp (BE)
Killing Time, Exist Art, New York (USA)
Commitment, CC Strombeek, Brussels (BE)
Kick! A project by S.M.A.K. & A.Z. Maria Middelares, Ghent (BE)
2006
Zes kunstwerken op locatie, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim (NL)
Room with a view, The Bouwfonds Art Collection, Gemeentemuseum, The Hague (NL)
2003
Gelijk het leven is, Museum Dr. Guislain, Ghent (BE)
Art-Life, Galerie Cartwright, Ghent (BE)
2002
Onderstromen/Bovenstromen, Bruges 2002, NICC, Bruges (BE)
2001
Natura arte e meraviglia, Museo di Storia Naturale, Verona / Vicenza / Montebelluna / Treviso / Venezia (IT)
Après charbon, Genk (BE)
Belgian system, Tour & Taxis, Brussels (BE)
2000
3 Räume – 3 Flüsse, Hann, Münden (DE)
Dello spirituale nell'arte, Dai miracoli alle opera como reliquia, Galleria Civica di Torre Avogadro, Lumezzane / Villa Brunati, Desenzano del Garda / Rocca di S.Giorgio ad Orzinuovi / Chiesa di S.Antonio, Breno (IT)
1999
Trattenendosi, Biennale di Venecia (IT)
Ainsi de suite 3, Centre Régional d'Art Contemporain, Sete (FR)
1998
I TransAfrican art invitational exhibition, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, Florida (USA)
Meeting Point, Galerie Lumen Travo, Amsterdam (NL)
ES98, III Salon internacional de estandartes, Centro Cultural, Tijuana (MX)
Tussenin / in between, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle (BE)
Door de smeerpijp, NICC, Antwerp (BE)
Voor het verdwijnt en daarna, S.M.A.K. in Watou (BE)
1996
Shelter, Foundament Foundation, Wolfslaar Park, Breda (BE)
Cuba siglo XX. Modernidad y sincretismo, Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canarias; Fundación La Caixa, Palma de Mallorca; Centre d’Art Santa Mònica, Barcelona (ES)
Arcangelo, Brey, Dessi, Palazzo Ducale, San Martino (IT)
Un certain sourire, Galerie Windows, Brussels (BE)
Universalis, 23 Biennial de Sao Paulo, Parque Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo (BR)
De rode poort, Stedelijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst, Ghent (BE)
1995
Quarters, Oude Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht (NL)
Caleidoscoop, Instituut voor Transculturele Ontwikkeling, Utrecht (NL)
Leonkart, citta del desiderio, Centro Sociale Leoncavallo, Milan (IT)
1994
The ideal place as destination, Haags Centrum voor Actuele Kunst, The Hague (NL)
Life is too much, Galerie des Archives, Paris (FR)
Beelden buiten, Tuin de Brabandere, Tiel (BE)
The spirit of the earth, Watari-UM Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (JP)
1993
X Mostra de gravura. Afro-América a contribuicao espiritual, Casa Romario Martins, Curitiba (BR)
Lorsque le miroir ne nous renvoie pas notre prope image, cela ne prouve pas qu’il n’y ait rien a regarder, Centre d’Art Contemporain Domaine de Kerguehennec (FR)
1992
Documenta IX, Kassel (DE)
1991
De cubanaase Renaissance, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam (NL)
Von dort aus: Kuba, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen (NL)
La década prodigiosa: plástica cubana de los 80, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico, D.F. (MX)
1990
Kuba ok. Aktuelle Kunst aus Kuba, Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (DE)
Ponton Temse, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent (BE)
1989
Contemporánea del Caribe, Casa del Caribe, Santiago de Cuba (CU)
Raices en acción, nuevos artistas cubanos, Museo Pape, Monclava (ES)
Jovenes artistas de la RDA y Cuba, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (CU); Neue Berliner Galerie im Alten Museum, Berlin (GDR)
Made in Havana, Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (AU)
III Bienal de La Habana, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (CU)
1988
Artistas cubanos en solidaridad con Nicaragua, Museo de las Américas, Managua (NI)
Pintura cubana actual, Capilla del Antiguo Hospital de Santa Cruz; Fundació Jaume Guasch; Ayuntamiento de Barcelona; Galería G.S.A. Barcelona; Club 24, Madrid; Galería Ponzano 16, Zaragoza; Sala Moreno Villa, Malaga (ES)
Raices en acción; nuevos artistas cubanos, Museo Carrillo Gil, Mexico, D.F. (MX)
Made in Havana, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (AU)
Signs of transition: 80’s art from Cuba, Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art (MOCHA), New York (USA)
1987
Raices cuIturales. Nueva Expresión del Arte Cubano, Ex-Convento del Carmen, Sala I, Mexico, D.F. (MX)
Tres artistas cubanos, (exposición colateral a la bienal Bantù), Zaire. The exhibition also traveled to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Zambia.
Visiones del paisaje, Galería de la Universidad de los Andes, Casa Trovar, Mérida (MX)
XIX Bienal internacional de Sao Paulo, Parque Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo (BR)
1986
Arte joven, Sancti Spiritus ’86, Sancti Spiritus, (CU)
Pintura cubana actual. Maestros de hoy, Museo de Arte Costarricense; Galería Nacional de Arte Contemporáneo, San José (CR)
Ejes constantes. Raices culturales, Galería Alternativa, Mexico, D.F. (MX)
II Bienal de La Habana, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (CU)
1985
I Salón de artes plásticas UNEAC (Award), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana
Pintores cubanos, Galería La Acacia, Havana (CU)
De lo contemporáneo, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana; I.N.B.A., Mexico, D.F.
New art from Cuba: J.Bedia, F.Garciandia, R.Brey, Amelie A. Wallace Gallery SUNY; College at Old Westbury, State University of New York. The exhibition then traveled to North Hall Gallery, Massachusetts College af Art, Boston, Massachusetts; Montserrat School of Visual Art, Beverly, Massachusetts; The Plaza Gallery, State University of New York, Albany, N.Y.; Visual Art Department Gallery; State University of New York/College at Purchase N.Y. (USA)
1984
Cuba: young painting, Musée des Sept-Îles, Quebec (CA)
Arte contemporáneo ahora, Erindale College Campus art gallery, Toronto (CA)
Dibujantes cubanos, I.N.B.A., Mexico, D.F. (MX)
Por la libertad y la amnistía total, Maison des sciences de l’homme, Paris (FR); Asociación de Artistas Plásticos, Helsinki (FI); Tom Mann Theatre, Sydney; Galería Salón de Artes Plásticas Mexicanas,
Dos en uno o el espacio en blanco, Galería Habana, Havana (CU)
I Bienal de La Habana, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (CU)
1983
Plástica cubana contemporánea, Instituto Colombiano de Cultura Museo Nacional, Bogotá (CO)
Encuentro de jovenes artistas latinoamericanos, Galería Latinoamericana, Casa de las Américas, Havana (CU)
Por la libertad, muestra internacional de pintura en solidaridad con los prisioneros políticos de Uruguay (UR), Centro Artístico, Malmo; Konstnärcentrum, Stockholm (SE); Galería de Arte Ferrum Borsen, Gothenburg (SE); Fiera del mare, Genova (IT); Centro cultural de Auderghem, Brussels (BE)
Encuentro de grabado 1983 (Award), Sala Tespis, Havana (CU)
Premio de pintura Cristóbal Colón, Centro Cultural del Conde-Duque, Madrid (ES)
1982
Los novísimos cubanos, (Grupo Volumen I), Instituto Colombiano de Cultura, Museo Nacional, Bogotá (CO)
Salón permanente de Jovenes Artistas, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (CU)
Pintura joven cubana, Galería Rafaela Padilla de Zaragoza, Sala Erasto Cortes, Puebla
Cuatro, Galería Habana, Havana (CU)
1981
Volumen I, Centro Internacional de Arte de La Habana, Havana (CU)
1er Salón de pequeño formato (Prize), Havana (CU)
Trece artistas jovenes, Galería Habana, Havana (CU)
Sano y sabroso, Centro de Arte 23 y 12, Havana (CU)
1980
Salón nacional de pintura y escultura Carlos Enriquez, Centro de Arte Internacional, Havana (CU)
1er Salón nacional Arístides Fernández (3rd Prize), Havana (CU)
XIX Premio internacional de Dibujo Joan Miro, Fundació Joan Miró. Centre d’estudis d’art contemporani, Parc de Montjuïc, Barcelona (ES)
I Trienal de dibujo Arístides Fernández, Sala Lalo Carrasco, Havana (CU)
Landschafts-Malerei aus Kuba, Kunsthalle Rostock, (GDR)
1979
Pintura fresca, Galería de Arte, Cienfuegos (CU)
Salón juvenil de artes plásticas (Prize), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (CU)
1978
VII Salón nacional juvenil de artes plásticas, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (CU)
Exposición colectiva de dibujos, Galería de La Habana, Havana (CU)