LONG BEACH, CA.- The artist Roberto Fabelo, widely recognized as the contemporary “Cuban Daumier, “ opens a door to a world of wonder through a series of timeless images that seem to contain references to Dante’s Divine Comedy, Garcia Marquez’s magical realism, the surreal world of Bosch, the draftsmanship of the Dutch and Flemish masters and the soul of Rembrandt.

This cameo exhibition at MOLAA, curated by Juan Delgado Calzadilla, is the first solo museum exhibition of the artist’s work in the United States. It is comprised of twenty hand-colored ink drawings produced on pages taken from an antique anatomy text, four large paintings on Chinese silk, a bronze sculpture and other selected works in various media and offers a glimpse into the complex world of imagery emerging from the imagination of one of Cuba’s most compelling artists.

“Fabelo is a contemporary ‘maestro’ and one of the most respected artists working in Cuba today. Through this solo exhibition, MOLAA is pleased to be the first museum to introduce the work of this internationally renowned artist to Southern California audiences” said Stuart Ashman, MOLAA President & CEO.

Whatever his sources of inspiration may be, Fabelo’s images appear to us from a different dimension. Difficult to categorize, and even more difficult to describe, these almost surreal images are brought to our consciousness as factual figures further evidenced by the texts that catalogue them.

Strangely beautiful nude female torsos, sometimes winged, at other times sporting beaks, peer out of pages from ancient texts that seem to describe these haunting and unusual creatures. The metamorphosis of these human figures into Fabelo’s unique creatures parallels the transformation that takes place in the viewer who is forced to question their own perceptions of fantasy and reality.

Roberto Fabelo was born in 1951 in Camagüey, Cuba. He is known for his illustrations, ceramic work, sculptures, and paintings. He studied at the Insituto Superior de Arte in Havana and graduated in 1972. His areas of study included painting, sculpture and printmaking.  Fabelo works with a variety of mediums, including watercolors, ink, bronze, and oil paint. Many of his pieces feature female subjects, water, birds and mythical figures. 

One of Cuba’s most famous artists, Fabelo has been the recipient of many awards, including the Armando Reverón International Prize for Drawing in 1984. He is also the youngest person to have received the National Visual Art Award in Cuba. Fabelo received the UNESCO Promotion of the Plastic Arts award in 1996 and the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 2004. In 2007, he was commissioned by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez to illustrate his novel Cien años de soledad.

The artist’s works have been shown at many museums and galleries, including Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in La Habana, the Modern Art Museum of New Delhi in India, and the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City. He has been featured in more than 24 solo exhibitions around the world, and his work is in high demand. Fabelo has served as a professor and jury member for many important national and international visual art competitions. He currently lives and works in Havana, Cuba.