Ángel Acosta León (b. in Havana, Cuba 1930–1964) was a Cuban painter. His style owes much to surrealism, and expresses the pain he felt through much of his life. Animal, human and mechanical forms abound in his paintings, along with wheels, a reference to his lifelong fantasy of being a bus driver. His work has been compared to that of Wols. Leon was born on August 2, 1932 in the Buena Vista quarter of Havana, one of ten children of Angel Acosta Febles and Magdalena de Leon Hernandez. Leon attended the Catholic School for Poor Boys. In 1952, he entered the San Alejandro National School of Fine Arts, and graduated in 1958. His work was praise by the critics of his time who declared him “sensational” when he first exhibited in Europe. Salvador Dali and Roberto Matta were among his admirers and supporters. León committed suicide at the age of thirty-four. “Ángel Acosta León´s suicide has meant an infinite mourning for the Cuban arts”. declare Samuel Feijóo, Cuba’s important artist and critic.
The Kendall Art Cultural Center (KACC), dedicated the past six years to the preservation and promotion of contemporary art and artists, and to the exchange of art and ideas throughout Miami and South Florida, as well as abroad. Through an energetic calendar of exhibitions, programs, and its collections, KACC provides an international platform for the work of established and emerging artists, advancing public appreciation and understanding of contemporary art.
The Rodríguez collection is a blueprint of Cuban art and its diaspora. Within the context of the new MoCA-Americas the collection becomes an invaluable visual source for Diaspora identity. It represents a different approach to art history to try to better understand where we come from to better know where we are heading.
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