BIOGRAPHY / BIOGRAFÍA
Eduin Fraga was born in Havana, Cuba in 1974. He began painting over twenty years ago, blending newspaper collage and paint on canvas in order to capture dynamic fragments of society within the piece. Fraga considers his technique of painting and newspaper collage to be a unique mechanism through which to add complexity and richness to the work while simultaneously transforming it into a form of historical register of social experience. Fraga formally studied painting and drawing at the Experimental Center of Visual Arts in Havana and graduated in 2012. He has been invited to present his work in galleries and universities within the US and in Cuba. Some of his works are part of the Northwestern Mutual Insurance’s Giving Gallery, a 2018 exhibit that focuses on philanthropic partnerships in Milwaukee, WI. Fraga currently divides his time between Cuba and the United States.
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Eduin Fraga nació en La Habana, Cuba en 1974. Comenzó a pintar hace más de veinte años, mezclando collage de periódicos y pintura sobre lienzo para capturar fragmentos dinámicos de la sociedad dentro de la pieza. Fraga considera que su técnica de pintura y collage de periódicos es un mecanismo único a través del cual agregar complejidad y riqueza a la obra y, al mismo tiempo, transformarla en una forma de registro histórico de la experiencia social. Fraga estudió formalmente pintura y dibujo en el Centro Experimental de las Artes Visuales en La Habana y se graduó en 2012. Ha sido invitado a presentar su trabajo en galerías y universidades de Estados Unidos y Cuba. Algunas de sus obras son parte de la Galería de donaciones de Northwestern Mutual Insurance, una exhibición de 2018 que se enfoca en asociaciones filantrópicas en Milwaukee, WI. Fraga actualmente divide su tiempo entre Cuba y Estados Unidos.
ARTIST STATEMENT / DECLARACIÓN DEL ARTISTA
Within my work, I strive continually to represent the complex and subtle realities of daily experience in Cuba and the U.S. My work focuses on everyday lives to excavate themes such as the Special Period in Cuba, workers’ struggles for economic survival, aging infrastructure and related challenges to transportation and sanitation, emigration, and familial separation or loss. I use collage mixed with oil, acrylic, charcoal and other media on canvas – a mixed media technique I call “collage painting“. Collage painting is a technique that includes excerpts and images from various Cuban and American newspapers as a means of capturing dynamic fragments of the societies in which I live. Through this approach, my intention is to not only display objective images of daily life in Cuba and the U.S., but also to create within each piece an historical register of events and institutional processes that have shaped our societies and the people within them.
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Dentro de mi trabajo, me esfuerzo continuamente por representar las realidades complejas y sutiles de la experiencia diaria en Cuba y los Estados Unidos. Mi trabajo se enfoca en la vida cotidiana para excavar temas como el Período Especial en Cuba, las luchas de los trabajadores por la supervivencia económica, el envejecimiento de la infraestructura, los desafíos relacionados con el transporte y el saneamiento, la emigración y la separación o pérdida familiar. Utilizo collage mezclado con óleo, acrílico, carboncillo y otros materiales sobre lienzo, una forma de técnica mixta que llamo “pintura collage”. La pintura collage es una técnica que incluye extractos de artículos e imágenes de varios periódicos cubanos y estadounidenses como un medio para capturar fragmentos dinámicos de las sociedades en las que vivo. A través de este enfoque, mi intención es no solo mostrar imágenes objetivas de la vida cotidiana en Cuba y Estados Unidos, sino también crear dentro de cada pieza un registro histórico de eventos y procesos institucionales que han dado forma a nuestras sociedades y a las personas dentro de ellas.
RECOGNITIONS / RECONOCIMIENTOS2022
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2023 2d Award of Excellence "ArtFest” Green Bay, WI
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2023 Award Top Honor "53 rd Annual Midsummer Festival of the Arts” Sheboygan City, WI
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2022 Merit Award from "Art Street,” Green Bay, WI
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2021 Artist showcase award. Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery
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2021 Best in show "Art Street,” Green Bay, WI
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2018 Merit Award from "Art Street,” Green Bay, WI
2017 Honorable Mention Award from "Spring Art Festival” The Art Garage Gallery, Green Bay, WI
2016 Merit of Excellence Award from "Art Street,” Green Bay, WI
2014 Merit Award from "Art Street,” Green Bay, WI
2014 Merit Award from “ArtSpire," La Crosse, WI
2006 Second Award from “First Meeting of Fine Art Romerillo 2006,” Havana, Cuba
INVITED PRESENTATIONS / PRESENTACIONES INVITADAS
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2022 “Mixed Stories” The art of Resistance and Resilience, Presentation,
Bunker Hill Community College. Boston, MA
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2021 “Hispanic/Latinx, Heritage Month” Online Presentation
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
2018 “Conversation about the artist's life in Cuba”
Presentation University of Memphis, TN
2017 “Contemporary Art and Cuban Life” Presentation
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
2016 “Hispanic Heritage Month” speaker
University of Wisconsin-Marinette
2016 “Understanding Cuba through Contemporary Art”
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
2015 “Contemporary Art in a Changing Cuban System”
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2014 “Contemporary Art and Daily Life in Cuba”
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Green Bay WI
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS / EXPOSICIONES PERSONALES
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2022/2023 “Mixed Stories” Mary L. Fifield Gallery.
Bunker Hill Community College. Boston, MA
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2021 "Daily Stories" Wellington Gallery. Monroe Arts Center, Monroe, WI
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2020 "Cuba in my eyes" The art Garage Gallery. Green Bay,WI
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2020 "Images of My Experiences" Dittmar Gallery, Northwestern University,Chicago. Illinois.
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2018 "Memories of Cuba" Art Village Gallery, Memphis, TN
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2017 Exhibition at the Brown County Central Library.
515 Pine St, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
2015 "Cuban party" exhibit in the Havana Lounge
Bremen, Germany
2015 "Vivencias" exhibit
Latina/o Studies Center, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
2013 "Chronicles of Cuba" exhibit
Fifty Six Gallery in Memphis, TN
2011 "Jazz Plaza Festival" exhibit
Higher Institute of Art (ISA) in Havana, Cuba
2010 "Beach on the beach" exhibit at Hotel Tritón
Havana, Cuba
2009 "Chronicles of me" exhibit
Municipal Museum of Playa in Havana, Cuba
2006 "Peaceful Coexistence" exhibit
Salvador Allende Memorial House Gallery in Havana, Cuba
2004 “Exhibition for the Peace" exhibit
Alternative space in Havana, Cuba
1999 "With the color of my blood" exhibit
Community Project "Open window"
Ambassador Cinema in Havana, Cuba
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COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS / EXPOSICIONES COLECTIVAS
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2022 Arti Gras 2022
Green Bay, WI
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2019 Art Street
Green Bay, WI
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2019 Arti Gras 2019
Green Bay, WI
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2018 Art Street
Green Bay, WI
2018 Northwestern Mutual Giving Gallery
Milwaukee, WI
2017-2018 Estamos Aquí Latino American exhibition
Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, WI
2017 37th Annual Secura Fine Arts Exhibition
Trout Museum of Art, Appleton, WI
2017 72nd Art Annual juried exhibition,
Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, WI
2017 Wisconsin Arts Gallery
Green Bay, WI
2017 Spring Art Festival,
The Art Garage Gallery
Green Bay, WI
2017 Arti Gras 2017
Green Bay, WI
2016 Art Street
Green Bay, WI
2016 Handmade Exhibit: Victorian and Contemporary Art
Historic Hazelwood Museum, Green Bay, WI
2016 Arti Gras 2016
Green Bay, WI
2016 36th Annual Secura Fine Arts Exhibition
Trout Museum of Art, Appleton, WI
2016 Spring Art Festival
The Art Garage,
Green Bay, WI
2016 Wisconsin Arts Gallery
Green Bay, WI
2015 Weserpark Anniversary Exhibit
Bremen, Germany
2015 The Art Garage Gallery
Green Bay, WI
2015 Shanty Days Arts and Crafts Show
Algoma, WI
2014 La Crosse ArtSpire
La Crosse, WI
2014 Art Street
Green Bay, WI
2014 The Art Garage Gallery
Green Bay, WI
2013 The Art Garage Gallery
Green Bay, WI
2012 “Re-encuentro” exhibit
Municipal Museum of Playa in Havana, Cuba
2012 "Crossword" exhibit
Belkis Ayón Gallery in Experimental Center of Visual Arts
Havana, Cuba
2011 "Cucalambeana day in honor of Latin America" ​​exhibit
Municipal museum of Playa in Havana, Cuba
2011 "Jazz Festival" exhibit
House of Culture of Plaza in Havana, Cuba
2010 "1975 - 2010" exhibit
Belkis Ayón Gallery in Experimental Center of Visual Arts
Havana, Cuba
2010 "Small Format Hall" exhibit
Municipal Museum of Playa in Havana, Cuba
2009 "Pictures of my Poems" exhibit
Municipal Museum of Playa in Havana, Cuba
2009 "Hall of graduates" exhibit
Belkis Ayón Gallery in Experimental Center of Visual Arts
Havana, Cuba
2008 "Solidarity with Palestine" exhibit
Municipal Museum of Playa in Havana, Cuba
2008 "Third Community Meeting of Fine Art Romerillo 2008" exhibit
Municipal Museum of Playa in Havana, Cuba
2007 "Let's walk" Student Center "El Castillito"
Havana, Cuba
2007 "Art Mix" University Center "Gustavo A. Mejia"
Havana, Cuba
2007 "Second Community Meeting of Fine Arts Romerillo 2007"
Municipal Museum of Playa in Havana, Cuba
2006 "Painting for a Biosafety Framework in Cuba" exhibit
Center for Biosafety and Nuclear Protection in Havana, Cuba
2006 "Echo of my Poems" exhibit
Municipal Museum of Playa in Havana, Cuba
2006 "First Meeting of Fine Art Romerillo 2006"
Municipal Museum of Playa in Havana, Cuba
2005 "Keeping the unity" exhibit
Municipal Theater of Playa with the Visual Arts Project (Pro-art-vis)
Havana, Cuba
2004 "Exhibition for the Peace"
Alternative space in Havana, Cuba
2004 "Hall of Finalists: Contest of Painting and Drawing ‘Combat’" exhibit
Hernández Cárdenas Gallery in Arroyo Naranjo municipality, Cuba
2004 "Tribute" exhibit
Playa Municipal Theater and Visual Arts Project (Pro-art-vis)
Havana, Cuba
2004 "VIII National Hall of Fine Arts Fayad Jamis"
Emir Abdel Kader Gallery, Arab Union of Cuba
Havana, Cuba
2004 "Young Creators" exhibit
José A. Echevarría Student Recreation Center in Havana, Cuba
1999 “Sane is not" Total Space Project
Servando Cabrera Gallery in Havana, Cuba