Photos
RICARDO BREY THE OFFICIAL SITE
MOBILE
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gap in the Clouds, (MER., Art imprint of Borgerhoff & Lamberigts, 2022).Texts by Koen Leemans, Hannah Iterbeke, Peter Verhelst, Anne Wetsi Mpoma and Ricardo Brey.
Adrift (MER., imprint of Borgerhoff & Lamberigts, 2019). Texts by Arie Hartog, Erica M. James, Evan Moffitt, John C. Welchman, Luc Derycke (EN&DU).
Ricardo Brey. Doble Existencia/Double Existence, exh. cat., New York, 2019, Alexander Gray Associates, New York, USA, 2019. Text: Alex Santana in conversation with Ricardo Brey.
Qué le importa al tigre una raya más (The Futility of Good Intentions), (vzw MER Paper Kunsthalle), 2014. Texts by Bart de Baere, Jimmie Durham, John Welchman, Thomas Miessgang, Sandra Sosa (EN-SP-NL).
Universe (vzw MER Paper Kunsthalle, Ghent: S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium), 2006.
Under the Leaves (Terra Lanoo BV), 2004. Texts by Roel Arkestijn and Walter Guadagnini (EN&NL)
SELECTED CATALOGUES FROM GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Juan Francisco Elso: Essays on América, Edited by Olga Viso, El Museo del Barrio, March 2023.
Ricardo Brey,is a visual artist born in Havana, Cuba in 1955, has lived and worked in Ghent, Belgium since 1990. His work spans drawing, sculpture, and installation, focusing on humanity’s origins and our place in the world. Brey gained recognition in the 1970s and 1980s as part of the Cuban avant-garde collective Volumen I, and his career took a major turn in 1990 with his participation in Documenta IX in Kassel, Germany, which led to his move to Europe. He has since won several major awards, including the Flemish Ministry of Culture Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Since 2002, Brey has concentrated on large, ambitious projects such as Universe (2002–2006), Annex (2003–2015), and Every Life is a Fire (2009–ongoing), which was featured at the 2015 Venice Biennale. His recent work, including the 2023 project Where to Start, explores Afro-Cuban syncretism and creolization, blending African, European, and Caribbean influences. Through his innovative assemblage techniques, Brey reinterprets cultural symbols and challenges Western narratives, creating a unique visual language that bridges classical and Caribbean aesthetics.
A Clearing in the Woods, 2023
"There is something poetic and quiet about this work (one of a larger series) by Brey. His use of shadow, light and dark, as well as various shades of blue, allow this work to riff off the ocean and the sky. The trees extend out to one another, and while Brey has created an empty clearing between them, he also establishes a strong presence in the absence of anything but space."
Top 5 Picks from Frieze New York Viewing Room 2024 - April 2024
by Isolde Brielmaier (Deputy Director of the New Museum)
BLUE SHORE
