In this series, I am portraying the youngest generation of Cubans, who are the future of the country. The models, apparently dressing in sumptuous costumes symbolizing the relationship of past and present, are using regular objects found in their homes such as kitchen towels, curtains, table covers, bedspreads, plastic bags, clothes pegs, and stainless steel scouring pads. The photographs recreate what power means by using repurposed objects to depict minorities.
Carlos Gamez de Francisco (b.1987, Holguin, Cuba) lives and works in Prospect, KY. He has received numerous awards including the Museum Guild Purchase Award at Evansville Museum; the SAIC Distinguished Scholarship at The Art Institute of Chicago; the Key to the City of Louisville by Mayor Greg Fischer; and the “Dreammakers” Artist in Residence at Muhammad Ali Center. He has had solo shows at 21c Museum, Bentonville, AR; Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY, Hardcore Art Contemporary Space, Miami, FL; Muhammad Ali Museum, Louisville, KY; and the Colonial Museum of Fine Arts, Havana.
Awards 2019 Honorable Mention, 2019 Tokio International Photo Awards, Tokio, Japan
Bronze, 2019 Moscow International Photo Awards, Moscow, Russia
2018 Honorable Mention, 30th Anual Decatur Arts Festival, Decatur, GA
2017 Museum Guild Purchase Award, Evansville Museum, Evansville, IN
2016 Ox Bow Merit Scholarship, Ox Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
Capital Professional Development Program, 21c Museum, Louisville, KY
2015 SAIC Distinguished Scholarship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
SAIC Grants, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Kurtich Travel Scholarship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2012 Key to the City of Louisville by Mayor Greg Fischer, Louisville, KY
2011 Norman Kohlepp Merit Awards. Louisville Visual Art Association, Louisville, KY
2010 Capital Professional Development Program, 21c Museum, Louisville.
2009 “Dreammakers” Artist in Residence. Muhammad Ali Center, Louisville, KY
2008 City Award. Visual Art Association, Holguín, Cuba
2007 Best Performance. XXI Provincial Visual Art Exhibition, Holguín, Cuba
Best Short Film in the Seventh
National Festival of Audiovisual “By First Time”.Cuba
2006 Exhibit of Illustrated Poetry. Holguin Gallery, Holguin, Cuba
