Yunia Lores

About Me

Yunia Lores is a Cuban artist. She was born in Guantánamo, Cuba in 1977. She received her BFA from the Academy of Fine Arts “El Alba”, in Holguín, Cuba in 1997.

Lores’ first solo exhibition was at the Art Center of Holguín, Cuba in 1997. She graduated with “Las Mamas Twist” an Expo-Performance where Lores danced a twist while she watered the viewers with baby powder, conflicting with the piercing paintings hanging on the walls. Lores earned recognition for her performance “Señoritas uvas” (Grape ladies) at the Provincial Art Center of Matanzas, and “Hitler en mi bañera” (Hitler in my bathtube) at the Electa Arenal Gallery in Holguín, Cuba. In 1999 she presented another performance “Las princesas no existen” (princesses do not exist) in the international art event “Las Romerías de Mayo”. Other exhibitions were presented at Contemporary Gallery of Fine Arts, and Gulliver Fibourg Gallery, both in Zurich, Switzerland. She has participated in “National Small Format competitions”, and “Salón de la Ciudad Awards”, among others.

In 2001 she immigrated to the United States, where she renewed her artistic activity with a series of paintings titled “Las huellas de mi quietud” (The tracks of my stillness) a bold cult to eroticism. She has been part of the 3rd Street Gallery Community Exhibition since 2013 in Philadelphia, and the Lancaster Museum of Art Annual Exhibition since 2014. The Mulberry Art Studios in Lancaster, PA presented in their North Gallery the most complete retrospective of Lores’s career from 2004 to 2015, “Stereotypes” (May 1st through May 29th, 2015).

She currently lives and works in the United States.

Artist Statement

The study and artistic representation of the human body has been the unifying theme of my work. I have always felt the need to examine its essence in depth, regarding both the exterior and interior sides. My painting explores formal, aesthetic aspects, academic stereotypes and moral prejudices. I attribute nudity various meanings and interpretations from mythology to the study of anatomy, through the representation of beauty and aesthetic ideal of perfection of ancient Greece.

The body is the expression of attributes, values and dreams. It is source of pleasure, pain, sorrow and joy. My painting aims to reflect the intimate relationship between the physical and spiritual aspects of the human being. My work gives special relevance and depth to the heart as birthplace of every single feeling and emotion. After all, life begins and ends with a heartbeat. The heart is a muscle that functions without any involvement from our conscious will. We tend to associate our own personal self driven acts to a heart function. Everyday expressions such as: “to have a golden heart” or “to be heartbroken” clearly show to which extent the heart-emotions relationship is rooted in our beliefs and language. In my latest work I use a heart placed above the head symbolizing a search of the place the soul lies; humanity's great mystery.

The images I work with come from pictures I take of live models, fashion magazines, bullfighting portals, and anatomy atlas. I aim to combine power, lust, compassion, elegance and poetry as an act of freedom. My paintings represent an exaltation of life, of the transformations that generate feelings.

Biography

YUNIA LORES

B, 1977, Guantánamo, Cuba
Lives and Works in USA

EDUCATION

1997 - BFA Painting, Academy of the Fine Arts “El Alba”, Holguín, Cuba

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1997 - The mamas Twist. Art Center. Holguín, Cuba
1998 - The unconscious discomfort of desire. Art Center. Holguín, Cuba
2000 - The noble cloud of emptiness. Art Center. Holguín, Cuba
2002 - Speaking a universal tongue. Gallery 141. Lancaster, PA. USA
2015 - Stereotypes. Mulberry Art Studios (North Gallery) Lancaster, PA. USA

PERFORMANCES

1997 - The decomposition of the bodies. Academy of the Fine Arts. Holguín, Cuba
1998 - Grapes Ladies. Art Center. Matanzas, Cuba
          - Hitler in my bathtub. Electa Arenal Gallery. Holguín, Cuba
1999 - Princesses do not exist. Open Space. Art Center. Holguín, Cuba

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1995 - The twelve apostles at the first supper. Art Center. Holguín, Cuba
          - National competition of students “Benito Ortiz”. Art Center. Trinidad, Cuba
1997 - Exhibition of the "Asociación Hermanos Saíz" (VI Biennial of Havana) Habana, Cuba
          - II National competition of Small Format. Martí Gallery. Holguín, Cuba
1998 - National competition “Regino Boti”. Art Center. Guantánamo, Cuba
          - Salón Provincial. Art Center. Holguín, Cuba
          - Académica 98. Wilfredo Lam Art Center. Havana, Cuba
1999 - Cuban Art. Contemporary Gallery of Fine Arts. Zurich, Switzerland
          - IV National Small Format competition. Casa Iberoamericana Gallery. Holguín, Cuba
          - Salón de la Ciudad Award. Art Center. Holguín, Cuba
          - Salón Provincial. Art Center. Holguín, Cuba
2000 - Daughters of Eva. Electa Arenal Gallery. Holguín, Cuba
          - V National Small Format competition. Casa Iberoamericana Gallery. Holguín, Cuba
          - Salón de la Ciudad Award. Art Center. Holguín, Cuba
          - Salón Provincial. Art Center. Holguín, Cuba
2001 - Cuban Art II. Gulliver Fibourg Gallery. Zurich, Switzerland
          - VI National Small Format competition. Casa Iberoamericana Gallery. Holguín, Cuba
          - Salón de la Ciudad Award. Art Center. Holguín, Cuba
2013 - 3rd Annual Community Exhibition. 3rd Street Gallery. Philadelphia, PA. USA
2014 - 4rd Annual Community Exhibition. 3rd Street Gallery. Philadelphia, PA. USA
          - 6x6. Rochester Contemporary Art Center. New York. USA
          - 52nd Annual Community Art Exhibition. Lancaster Museum of Art. Lancaster, PA. USA
          - Thrive: 1st Juried Exhibition. Sunshine Art+Design Gallery. Lancaster, PA. USA
          - Global Images of US Women. The Know Art Project. Slippery Rock, PA. USA
2015 - 5th Annual Community Exhibition. 3rd Street Gallery. Philadelphia, PA. USA
          - 53rd Annual Community Art Exhibition. Lancaster Museum of Art. Lancaster, PA. USA
2016 - 6th Annual Community Exhibition. 3rd Street Gallery. Philadelphia, PA. USA
          - Global Images of US Women. Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Indiana, PA. USA

AWARDS

1995 - Prize of Painting. National competition of Students “Benito Ortiz” Trinidad, Cuba
1998 - Second Prize. National competition. “Regino Boti” Guantánamo, Cuba
2001 - First Prize -VI National Small Format competition. Holguín, Cuba

OTHER ACTIVITIES

1997 - 1999- Professor of Painting. House of Culture “Adelaida del Mármol” Antilla, Cuba
2000 - Mural paintings of the Hotel “Sol Meliá Rio de Oro” Esmeralda beach. Holguín, Cuba
2001 - Professor of Drawing. Academy of the Fine Arts. Holguín, Cuba

Saturday, April 2, 2016

About Me

Artist Statement

Biography