Roberto Fabelo

ROBERTO FABELO (Camagüey, Cuba, 1950).
"I am a monstruovich".
Acrylic on metal (car hood).
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 100 x 100 cm.

The title of this painting, with which Roberto Fabelo, "sovietizes" with humor the term "monster", gives us clues about what kind of monstrosity represents this character wearing a zoomorphic cap in which a serial number is engraved, which could identify a hospital or frenopathic patient, but also a prisoner. Fabelo only gives us clues, he is never literal in his allegories. He leaves the door of mystery open, but this figure seems to pose an identity and political dilemma. This face, lit up like that of a demon and whose uncrossed eyes reflect dread, transmits more compassion than terror, as is usually the case with the "monsters" that parade through Fabelo's imaginative fables.

Painter, sculptor, draftsman and illustrator, Roberto Fabelo studied at the National School of Art and the Higher Institute of Art in Havana. Throughout his career as an artist, he has received numerous awards for his art, including the Medallion of National Culture (Cuba), the Alejo Carpentier Medallion, first place in the 11th International Biennial of Drawing in the United Kingdom, first place in the First Ibero-American Biennial of Watercolor in Viña del Mar, Chile and a UNESCO award for the promotion of Fine Arts. In 1984 Fabelo was recognized at the first Havana Biennial. His work has been shown in over 40 solo exhibitions and more than 500 group exhibitions in countries such as Switzerland, Japan, the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. The work presented here continues Fabelo's own style, based on an absurdist yet vindictive humor. The work is in line with "Viaje Fantástico" (2012), which features a woman riding a chicken. For Fabelo, expressionism and surrealism merge in his work, drawing inspiration from reality and fantasy to configure works of great expressive charge.