Photo: Oriol Tarridas, Courtesy of CIFO

Emerging Artist Award Recipient

Fabián Peña was born in Havana, Cuba in 1976, and currently lives and works in Miami, Florida. Fabián’s work adopts the Shakespearean interpretation of a corporeal “pound of flesh,” acknowledging beauty in the grotesque. He uses animal fragments such as cockroach wings, crushed house flies, and hand-scripted text to inform man-made objects and environments. Fabián Peña was nominated by Elizabeth Cerejido.

Photo courtesy of the artist

A Look Inside: 

Born │ Cuba, 1976

Education │ Instituto Superior de Arte. Havana, Cuba. (1998-2003). | Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro. Havana, Cuba. (1991-1995). | Vocational Art School '20 de Octubre.' Havana, Cuba. (1988-1991).

Awards │ Grants & Commissions Program Award (Emerging artist). CIFO – Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation. Miami, Florida. (2016). | Residency. ArtCenter/South Florida. Miami Beach, FL. (2016). | Residency. Vermont Studio Center (Reed Foundation Fellowship Award). Johnson, Vermont. (2006). | In-Cógnita Project. Residency otorged by The Cuban Research Institute. Florida International University. Miami, Florida. (2005). | Raúl Martínez Award. Instituto Superior de Arte. Havana, Cuba. (2003).

Selected Exhibitions │ Grants & Commissions Program Exhibition. CIFO – Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation. Miami, Florida. (2016). | David Castillo Gallery. Miami, Florida, United States. (2015 & 2011). | Dimensions Variable. Miami, Florida. (2014). | XXXI Pontevedra Art Biennial. Museo de Pontevedra. Galicia, Spain. (2010). | Magnan-Emrich Contemporary. New York, New York. (2008). | Artistic Serigraph Workshop of René Portocarrero. Havana, Cuba. (1997).