Unix Gallery is pleased to present American Le - Trina , an exhibition of new paintings by Williams Carmona on view at 2219 NW 2nd Ave. Miami from October 12, 2013 through November 19, 2013.
Collectors Preview: October 10, 2013 from 7:00 - 9:00pm.
Opening Reception: October 12, 2013 from 3:00 - 9:00pm.
In this new series of paintings. Williams Carmona addresses issues that vary from love, politics and environmental con-cerns as consequence of human behavior in a critical and provocative way; each painting containing an autobiographi-cal element. The quality of the artist's paintings is drawn from the profound and complex source termed "magic realism'. A realist inclination and appeal to history merged with surreal-ist elements act as integral segments and nourish Carmona's creative process. The artist's "Tropical Surrealism" discourse reveals both the history and fiction of Caribbean and Latin American life since 1492. Carmona's paintings and sculptures have been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows and appeared in international auctions at Sotheby's, Phillips de Pury and Sothebyl's, as well as in many respected charity auctions.
Williams Carmona's oeuvre contains a metaphysical undertone that transports the viewer through time. The concept of his art is inspired by epigones from art history along with neighborhood char-acters who are included in the staged play that is his work. Carefully arranged, the characters are at the center of the composition, surrounded by nothing but a horizon. Numerous recognized and well - respected art critics and artists have written about Williams Carmona, among them the esteemed English surrealist painter Leonora Carrington. The art critic Manuel Lemaza ackknowledged him to be one of the most provoking voices in constructing a surrealist discourse and the New York Times art critic Edward M. Gomez defined him as a "remarkable painter whose magic lies in the manner in which he transforms his materials and uses them to give physical, visible form to ideas and emotions".
Born in Havana, Cuba in 1967, Carmona studied at the University of Fine Arts in Havana, Cuba and left his country to explore external artistic freedom. He has lived in Puerto Rico since the early 1990s. Williams Carmona's talent and his personality, as well as his experiences in various places before settling in Puerto Rico have helped his work to be exhibited in important spaces and acquired by significant private collectors.
Williams Carmona's work can be found in numerous major public collections and prestigious muse-ums, including the Nassau County Museum of Art, New York; Museum Del Barrio Private Collection, New York; Museum of the MOLAA, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Miami; MoMA, San Salva-dor; Museum of Fine Arts, Havana; Pompidou Museum, Paris; Ludwig Foundation Collection, Co-logne, Germany: Private Collection of Sir Paul McCartney; Private Collection of Sir Elton John: Barack Obama Presidential Collection (Smithsonian); Jarnie Walsh Foundation, Madrid; MAP of Puerto Rican Art Collection, San Juan, Puerto Rico; United Nations Latin American Art Collection, New York; Jack Lemon Foundation, Los Angeles, CA; Fanjul Foundation, Miami, FL; Praxis Art International, New York: Spativm Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela; Cernuda Art Gallery, Miami, FL: Michele Esterne Collec-tion, Washington DC; Murer Gallery, Atlanta, USA; Ewar Gomez Collection, Art critic of The New York Times.
Awards and Honors include, among others: Juror's Award of Excellence in painting, drawing and en-graving, University of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba in 1990 and a Grand Prize, Painting, Salon Provincial, Pinar del Rio, Cuba in 1989.
Williams Carmona lives and works in San Juan, Puerto Rico.