Jucambe

Agustín Cárdenas was a major Cuban sculptor whose refined biomorphic language drew from Surrealism, African diasporic traditions, and the formal purism of mid-century modernism. A descendant of formerly enslaved people from Senegal and the Congo, Cárdenas was born in Matanzas—one of Cuba’s historic sugar-port cities—and trained under Juan José Sicre before studying at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes “San Alejandro.” He became an active figure in Havana’s emerging avant-garde, serving as a member of the Asociación de Grabadores de Cuba (AGC) between 1951 and 1955 and participating in the influential collective Los Once from 1953 to 1955.

Paris