Alex Hernández Dueñas
Octavia Art Gallery | Houston
May 14 – June 18, 2015
The Cuban artist Alex Hernández Dueñas conceives the artistic creation from a trans-disciplinary perspective. Recently, his work has approached the universe of aesthetic preferences and the way of living of contemporary individuals. In this sense, he appeals to concepts like comfort, status, luxury, prosperity and commodities, all these parameters connected to hierarchal structures within the society and associated to specific cultural patterns. In the spirit of David Hockney, Richard Diebenkorn and Alex Katz, the use of flat and shiny colors has simplified his compositions. The atmosphere becomes rarified: surreal and unusual, it disorients the viewer and alludes to that space in dreams where the expectations and desires of a human group are expressed.
His paintings reflect the Cuban dream of Miami as a Hollywood set: swimming pools abound and perfectly manicured lawns surrounding clean, modern houses and constant sunshine. The work comments on the isolation of Cubans and their lack of awareness of the current realities of American life.
Hernández Dueñas is a graduate of the Higher Institute of Art (ISA) and is a member of The National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC).
