Rocío García (Las Villas, Cuba, 1955) is one of the most important female Contemporary Cuban painters. In 1976, Rocío García finished her education in the specialties of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving (San Alejandro Fine Arts Academy, Havana). A year later, she departed for Saint Petersburg to study painting at the Repin Fine Arts Academy, from where she graduated six years later as a Master in Fine Arts. She is a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). She is a painting professor at San Alejandro Fine Arts Academy. Besides, she has made incursions in illustration (for national and foreign publications) and her works have appeared in diverse films by Cuban producers. She has participated, since 1975, in a number of group exhibitions (in Cuba, the United States of America, Mexico, China, Spain, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, France, Argentina, Venezuela, Panama, Japan, Dominican Republic and India). Meanwhile, she started exhibiting solo from 1987 (in Cuba, as well as in the United States, Spain, Dominican Republic, Russia, India, France and Switzerland). She has received important national and international awards: distinguished artist in residency (Vermont Studio Center, United States, 2010; Ludwig Foundation of Cuba in Basel, Switzerland, 2007; University of Michigan, 1997); National Culture Distinction, Ministry of Culture (Cuba, 2005); National Award of Illustration, Cuban Book Institute (Cuba, 2000); Mention of Honor, Second Painting Biennial of the Caribbean and Central America (Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1994); and Special Mention of Painting, Hall of the City (Provincial Center of Plastic Arts and Design, Havana, 1991). Her pieces belong to important institutional thesaurus in Cuba (the National Museum of Fine Arts, Galería Habana, the National Council of Plastic Arts, Jose Martí National Library), the United States (Center of Cuban Studies, New York), Spain (Aguimes City Hall, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria), just to mention some of the most relevant ones. Likewise, important private collections possess some of her works: Brownstone Foundation, France; Ron Pizzuti Collection, The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation (New York), Farber Collection (New York), Robert Duncan Collection, Ruth Behar (Michigan), Linda Howe (North Carolina) –all in the United States–; Beatrice Liaskowski (Havana Galerie, Zürich) and Andreas Winkler Collection, both in Switzerland; Bernardo Quetglas, Palma de Mallorca; and Cheng Xin Dong Space for Contemporary Art, Peking.
A mi me manda Carmen (Carmen asked me to come) Launched on March 10th, 2023, in the two main rooms of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas, this exhibition pays tribute to the prominent Cuban artist Carmen Herrera, showcasing works by 27 Cuban artists, including Herrera herself.
