San Gimignano
Beijing
Les Moulins
Habana
Roma
Sao Paulo
Paris
Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1984. She currently lives and works in Havana.
Her work focuses on the body, gender, race and social issues. The artist suffered some family situations that stimulated her interest in the reality of women around the world, as well as the different forms of discrimination against them. These concerns led to a single objective: to work on the basis of physical violence against Cuban women and the scarce information that exists on this phenomenon. In this investigation, she had to look for formal methods to provide solutions to the works, such as constructing photographic scenes from her memories, which resulted in a formal and conceptual device for other works.
In the work process, she began to show an interest in death, obtaining from it several symbolic readings and not considering it as a rupture. To this is added her interest in the physical history and process of the body, as well as the public as an active participant in her work.
One element that connects all her artistic production is her concern with representing what is real and what is supposed to be real. There are realities that are hidden by specific tools created by society to interrupt its knowledge, so the artist uses art as a tool that proposes ways to access its essence.
Susana Pilar studied at the José Antonio Díaz Peláez Elementary School, San Alejandro Academy and graduated in 2008 from the Higher Institute of Art in Havana, Cuba. From 2011 to 2013, she completed postgraduate studies at the HfG | University of Arts and Design in Karlsruhe, Germany, with funding from the DAAD.
She obtained the residency for artists and awards: CAD+SR RESEARCH in Italy and Kenya (2019-2020); CIFO Grants & Commissions Program Award, Miami, USA (2019); AIR of Fondazione Macc, Calasetta, Italy; AIR at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria (2017); El Reino de este mundo Scholarship, Asociación Hermanos Saíz, Havana, Cuba, (2016); AIR Dance Hall Fire Hall, Calgary, Canada (2016); AIR Skövde, Skövde, Sweden (2016); Apexart Fellowship, New York, USA (2016); Maretti Award (shared) (2014); MAP Residency at ARTEZ, Enschede, Netherlands, (2010-2011); Villa Waldberta in Munich, Germany (2010); Art Centre Darling Foundry in Montreal, Canada (2009); Intermediae-Minbak, Matadero Madrid, Spain (2007)
Her work has been exhibited in the following biennials and international art events: Berlin Biennale (2022), 14 Dakar Biennial, Senegal (2022); Lubumbashi Biennial, Democratic Republic of Congo (2019); 12th and 13th Havana Biennial (2015, 2019); 13 Biennial of Media Arts, Centro Nacional de Arte Contemporáneo Cerrillos, Santiago de Chile (2017); New Talents Biennale 2016, Cologne, Germany; Cuban Pavilion at the Venice Biennial (2015); International Biennale of Contemporary Art (BIAC), Martinique (2013); IV Bienal deformes de performance, Chile (2012); III Biennale Arts Actuels Réunion, Reunion Island, France (2011); International Photography Exhibition, World Festival of Black Arts and Cultures, Dakar, Senegal (2010); 7th Gwangju Biennial, South Korea (2008).
Amongst her main solo shows, we mention: Achievment, Secession, Viena (2024); Empathy, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy (2024); Opening paths, FOROF, Rome (2023); Resilience, TRUCK, Calgary, Canada (2022); Body Present, KIOSK, Gent, Belgium (2019); Jardinera, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, France (2018); Dibujo intercontinental, Galleria Continua, Havana (2017); Un chino de paso por Venecia, ICI, Venice, Italy (2017); Bala perdida, Galería Villa Manuela, Havana, Cuba (2017); Reclaiming meaning, Skövde Art Museum, Sweden (2016); Tropiques hèritage, André Arsenec Gallery, Tropiques Atrium, Fort de France, Martinique (2015); Sleeper, NAOS gallery, Karlsruhe, Germany (2012); Fiebre cerebral, Villa de Bank Gallery, Enschede, Netherlands (2011).
Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Museo del Barrio, as part of the CIFO Grants & Commissions Program Award; Smart Museum, Chicago; Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, USA; Opelvillen Riisselsheim Art and Culture Foundation, Germany; New Museum of African Civilizations, Dakar, Senegal; Fundación Minera Escondida, Antofagasta, Chile; Galleria Continua, Havana, France, Italy; Fotomuseo de Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City; Alabama Contemporary Art Center, USA; Goodman Gallery, Kapstadt, South Africa; Kunstraum Niederoesterreich, Vienna, Austria; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba; Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba; School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Extra Muros exhibition, curated by M HKA Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, Mechelen, Belgium; ZKM / Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany; among others.
2011-2013
Postgraduate Course in New Media, Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG), scholarship DAAD, Germany
2003-2008
Licenciatura en Artes Plásticas. Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA), La Habana, Cuba
1999-2003
Graduada de la Academia de Bellas Artes “San Alejandro”, La Habana, Cuba
1998-1999
Estudios en la Escuela Elemental de Artes Visuales “José Antonio Díaz Pelaez”, La Habana. Cuba.
2024
Achievment, Secession, Viena
Empathy, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy
2023
Opening paths, FOROF, Rome, Italy
2022
TRUCK, Calgary, Canada
2019
Body Present, KIOSK, Gent, Belgium
2018
Jardinera, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, France
2017
Dibujo intercontinental, Galleria Continua Habana, Havana, Cuba
Un chino de paso por Venecia, camino a Cuba, ICI VENICE, Venice, Italy.
Bala perdida, Galería Villa Manuela, La Habana, Cuba.
2016
Reclaiming meaning, Museum of art of Skövde, Sweden
2015
Tropiques héritage, Galerie André Arsenec, Fort de France, Martinica
2014
Dominadora inmaterial, Zalle Zèro, Alianza Francesa de La Habana, Cuba
2012
Schläfer, NAOS galerie, Karlsruhe, Germany
2011
Fiebre cerebral, Galería Villa de Bank, Enschede, Holland
2010
Llave maestra_Master key, Curated by Andres Abreu, Zalle Cero, Havana, Cuba.
2008
Manida obsesión, Luz y Oficios Gallery, La Havana, Cuba.
Obturación póstuma, Casa del estudiante de Medicina, La Havana, Cuba.
2022
El Pasado Mío / My Own Past: Afrodescendant Contributions to Cuban Art, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery for African and African American Art, Harvard University, Boston, United States
Empowerment, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
Berlin Biennale, Germany
Dakar Biennale, Senegal
Emplotment, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary
2021
La piel como límite, Centro Coreográfico Canal, Madrid, Spain
Intersections libres, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, France
La Brèche, Galleria Continua, Paris, France
Wild Hairs Edition, Apotheke Lab, Germany
2020
Mirador circular, Galleria Continua Havana, Cuba
Diasporic Body – Online Video Program, Fondation PHI pour l’art contemporain, Montreal, Canada
Intersections, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, France
Cuba Talks, Commanderie de Peyrassol, Flassans-sur-Issole, France
LiebesgruBe aus Havanna: Zeitgenossische kubanische Kunst im internationalen Kontext, Art and Culture Foundation Opelvillen Riisselsheim, Germany
2019
Resilience and Resistance in African Diaspora, New Museum of AfricanCivilizations, Dakar, Senegal
AKAA - Also Known As Africa Art Fair, Paris, France
Herencia, Saco 7 (Contemporary Art Festival), Foundation Minera escondida, Antofagasta, Chile
INTERCAMBIO: A Conversation Between Two Trains, BLINDSIDE, Melbourne, Australia
Diamante en bruto, Galleria Continua, Havana, Cuba
Cross currents, Smart Museum in partnership with National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, USA
Landlord Colors: On Art, Economy, and Materiality, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, USA
13 Havana Biennale, Cuba.
2018
Altered States Opening, Kunsthalle Exnegrasse, Vienna, Austria
Inauguration of New Museum of African Civilizations, Dakar, Africa
EXTRA MUROS: Geel – Middle Gate II – The Story of Dymphna, M HKA, Antwerp, Belgium
Ola Cuba!, Gare Saint Sauveur, Lille, France
Diamante en bruto, Galleria Continua Habana, Havana, Cuba
INTERCAMBIO: A Conversation Between Two Trains, BLINDSIDE, Melbourne, Australia
Cross currents, Smart Museum in partnership with National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, US
Resilience and Resistance in African Diaspora, New Museum of African Civilizations, Dakar, Senegal
AKAA - Also Known As Africa Art Fair, Paris, France
Herencia, Saco 7 (Contemporary Art Festival), Foundation Minera escondida, Antofagasta, Chile
2017
Cuba mi amor, Galleria Continua Les Moulins, Paris, France
¿soy Cuba? , Palazzina Teatro Franco Parenti, Milan, Italy
Dobleplay, Fotografía cubana, 1990-2017, Fotomuseo de Cuatro Caminos, México City
Kunst x Kuba, Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany
Back to Havana, Alabama Contemporary Art Center, EUA
Übersee: Kuba und die Bahamas, HALLE 14, Leipzig, Germany
Disembodied panopticum (shifting metaphor), ROSPHOTO Centre, San Petersburg, Russia
Archivo XX, Acacia Gallery, Havana, Cuba
2016
Nido sin árbol, UNAICC, La Havana, Cuba.
Cuba. Tatuare la storia, PAC/ZAC, Milano/Palermo, Italy.
Touch the reality, Kunstraum Niederoesterreich, Vienna, Austria.
Sabor metálico, Villa Manuela gallery, Havana.
New Talents Biennale 2016, Cologne, Germany.
Kuba libre, Kunsthalle Rostock, Germany.
Señales de Cuba: propuestas femeninas, European Parlament, UNESCO, Paris, France /
Antwerp, Belgium.
Intersecciones: Havana-Portland, Oregon, US.
2015
Anclados en el territorio, Galleria Continua, La Havana, Cuba
Inversion: ART PRESENT project, Sometimes Art Space, Havana, Cuba
WONDER, Travelling Exhibition project curated by FemLink
Intimate transgressions, White Box, New York, USA
Between, inside, outside, 12 Havana Biennale, Cuba
ARSENAL, Collateral to the 12 Havana Biennale
Strictly personal, Spanish embassy, Collateral to the 12 Havana Biennale
El artista entre la individualidad y el contexto, Cuban Pavillion, 56 Venice Biennale, Italy
2014
Variaciones contempladas en silencio, Museum of Cuban Art, Havana City, Cuba
Las otras narraciones, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo ¨Wifredo Lam¨, La Habana, Cuba.
Salón de Arte Cubano Contemporáneo, Centro de Desarrollo de Arte Visuales, La Habana, Cuba
Y sucedió por fin, galería HABANA, Cuba
4:20, comida interactiva en ¨Esto no es un café¨, La Habana, Cuba
Artistas en Residencia Junio 2014, Bundeskanzleramtes am Concordiaplatz, Vienna, Austria
2013
Arte cubano. Voces y poéticas femeninas (1990-2013), Cara and Cabezas, Contemporary Gallery, San Franciso, US.
International Biennale of Contemporary Art (BIAC), Martinique
Cuban virtualities, Tufts University, Boston, USA
Biografía Dilatada, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2012
Pararell lines, NAOS gallery, Karlsruhe, Germany
Video Guerrilha, Brazil
IV Bienal deformes de performance, Chile
Prome encuentro Bienal Arte Contemporaneo di Caribe, Aruba
Circular Motion: Subverting Circumscription Video Installations by Contemporary Cuban
Artists, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Sommerloch, HfG Karlsruhe, Germany
11 Havana Biennale, Cuba
2011
50 in the 50, Acacia gallery, La Havana, Cuba.
III Biennale Arts Actuels Réunion, Reunion Island, France
Altas Presiones, 23 y 12 gallery, La Havana, Cuba
Torbellino II_Whirlwind II, Curated by Dannys Montes de Oca, HABANA gallery, La Habana,
Cuba
Again and Again, Curated by Adrian Paci, Galleria La Veronica arte contemporánea, Modica,
Italy
2010
Black and White, Wolfart Projectspaces, Rotterdam, Holland.
Images, Imageries, Imaginaires: International Photography Exhibition, Curated by Dominique Fontaine, World Festival of Black Arts and Cultures, Dakar, Senegal.
El extremo de la bala: una decada de arte cubano_ The extreme of the bullet: a decade of
cuban art, Pabellon Cuba
Torbellino_Whirlwind, Curated by Dannys Montes de Oca, Parroquia Santísima Trinidad,
Santiago de Cuba
Sujeto omitido Omitted subject, Cátedra Humboldt, La Havana, Cuba
European Book Art Biennale_ 1 edition, Art Museum Satu-Mare, Romania
SUPERNORMAL, Braziers Park, England
Satellite 2010, curated by White Box LIC, Experimental Gallery, Juvenal Reis Art Studios and Residencies, Long Island City, New York, USA
Van Gogh Boat, Villena Gallery, UNEAC, La Havana, Cuba
2009
Maybe Dick II: The Second Youtube Film Festival, Studio Béluga, Montreal, Canada.
Art-Mortem: La muerte en el arte contemporáneo cubano, Casa Benito Juarez, La Havana,
Cuba.
Medium Religion, Model Art and Niland Gallery, Sligo, Ireland.
Estado de excepción (X Bienal de La Habana), Curated by Tania Brugueras, HABANA
gallery, Cuba
All that is solid melts into air: Extra Muros exhibition, Curated by MHKA Museum of
Contemporary Art in Antwerp, Mechelen, Belgium.
Simulacros (colateral to the X Bienal de La Habana), Villena Gallery, UNEAC, La Havana,
Cuba
Inventario 38_Inventory 38, Fundación Ludwing, La Havana, Cuba
2008
Medium Religion, Curated by Boris Groys and Peter Weibel, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
Luz a tu química_Light to your chemistry, Institute of Art (ISA), La Havana, Cuba
7ma Gwangju Biennale, South Korea.
Le Fresnoy/ Habana Remix, Museo de Arte Cubano, La Havana, Cuba
2007
Theater of Cruelty, Curated by Juan Puntes and Raul Zamudio, White Box, New York, USA
Ni a favor ni en contra, todo lo contrario, Artes y Letras Faculty, La Havana, Cuba
2006
Rewritable, Tania Bruguera’s house, La Havana, Cuba
9na in the Carpentry, High Institute of Art, La Havana, Cuba
Pendiente_Pendant, GRANMA’s newspaper, La Havana, Cuba
2005
Vistas_Views, 10 de Octubre gallery, La Havana, Cuba
Public Posters at Romerías de Mayo, Holguin, Cuba
2002
Intimidades_Intimacy, Bathrooms of San Alejandro academy, La Havana, Cuba
El rostro y la mascara_The face and the Mask, Fayad Jamis gallery, La Havana, Cuba
184 Aniversary of San Alejandro, San Alejandro Academy, La Havana, Cuba
2001
Académica 2001, San Alejandro academy, La Havana, Cuba
105 Aniversary of Amelia Peláez’s Birthday, Amelia Peláez gallery, La Havana, Cuba
2000
Braceando hacia la superficie_Swimming to the surface, Public Library Enrique José Varona, La Havana, Cuba
Summer Exhibition, Boyeros’s gallery, La Havana, Cuba
Fine Arts Academy residency, Wien, Austria
(Uncompleted), MACRO Museum residency, Rome, Italy
El Reino de este mundo residency, AHS, Havana, Cuba
Air Skövde, Skövde, Sweden
Apexart fellowship, New York, New York
Maretti Prize, Havana, Cuba
Kultur Kontakt AIR, Wien, Austria
Stiftung Künstledorf Schöppingen Residency, Germany
Ecole Supérieure d’Art de la Reunión vinculada with la Bienal de Artes Actuales residency, Isla de la Reunión, France
MAP Residency in ArtEZ-AKI, in co-organization with Pépinières européennes pour jeunes artistes artistes and TransArtists, Enschede, Holland
Villa Waldberta Residency, Munich, Germany
(Uncompleted) WIELS Residency, Brussels, Belgium
Darling Foundry Residency, Montreal, Canada
Intermediae-Minbak, Matadero Madrid, Spain
2020, Peter and Irene Ludwig Guest Professorship, The Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
2019-2020, CAD+SR 2019-20 RESEARCH, Italy/Kenya
2019, CIFO Grants & Commissions Program Award, Miami, US
2018, AIR of Fondazione Macc, Calasetta, Italy
2017, AIR of the Art Academy of Vienna, Austria
(Could not attend), Residency of MACRO Museum, Rome, Italy
2016, AiR Skövde, Skövde, Sweden
2016, Apexart fellowship, New York, US
2014, Maretti Award, Havana, Cuba
2014, Kultur Kontakt AIR, Vienna, Austria
2013, Stiftung Künstledorf Schöppingen Residency, Germany
2011-2013, DAAD Scholarship, Germany
2010 - 2011. MAP Residency in ArtEZ-AKI,
in co-organization with Pépinières européennes pour jeunes artistes and TransArtists, Enschede, Holland
2010, Villa Waldberta Residency, München, Germany
(Could not attend) WIELS Residency, Brussels, Belgium
2009, Darling Foundry Residency, Montreal, Canada
2007, Intermediae-Minbak, Matadero Madrid, Spain
Museum of Cuban Art, Havana, Cuba
Private collection in New York, USA
OnCuba collection, Havana, Cuba
Private collection in Antwerp, Belgium
Collection of La Veronica gallery, Modica, Italy
M HKA Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, Belgium
ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
Private collection in Munich, Germany
CIFO Emerging Artist Award, Miami, USA
Private collection in Peyrassol, France
Private collection in New York, USA
Fondazione MACC, Calasetta, Italy
Museum of Cuban Art, Havana, Cuba
OnCuba collection, Havana, Cuba
Private collection in Antwerp, Belgium
Collection of La Veronica gallery, Modica, Italy
Private collection in Munich, Germany
M HKA Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, Belgium
ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
