Julio Figueroa-Beltrán (b. 1984, Havana) attended the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro (1999-2003) and the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA, 2004-07), both in Havana, prior to establishing himself in Miami. Rooted in the Cuban and Latin American fascination with oneiric consciousness and its surprising juxtapositions, Figueroa-Beltrán brings these in line with images of everyday modern life. Wind turbines, highway overpasses, and astronauts intersect with galleons, icebergs, jellyfish, and tropical blooms. Forests and wooden birdhouses meet military drones and theater stages. The mind as voluptuary in a harem of tropes dissolves causality and linear time to produce paintings which subordinate the passing issues of the day to the appetites of the archetype-driven imagination. With solo and group exhibitions in the US and Italy and works in the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University and other prominent collections, Figueroa-Beltrán has secured a distinguished place in the art of his generation.
