Alberto Hernandez Reyes (1976-) Contemporary,
Birthplace/Origin: Havana, Cuba
Biography/Statement:
Alberto Hernandez Reyes is a landscape painter from Havana, Cuba. His paintings use layering techniques in a mystical world that bypasses space and time. The prehistoric feel of Reyes’ paintings evoke a literal meaning of prehistoric: his paintings conjure a landscape that is prior to the anthropocene, or even creaturely life. Masses of roots and delicate arrays of branching, and leaves frame the sun burning through clouds with a sometimes languorously hanging, sometimes frenetic rushing glow. Rising from the undergrowth, his trees punctuate an ethereal sky, usually shrouded in obfuscations and mystery, prompting the viewer to reflect on impermanence and their inner world.
His work has been shown across the United States as well as Mexico, throughout Europe and in his home country of Cuba. Reyes’ background in medicine shows in the careful attention given to the biological components of his subjects, namely, the lush sepia jungles of his landscapes. As detailed and pronounced as the flora of his canvases are, Reyes’ works are decidedly mystical in nature pointing to the dreamlike transcendental quality of his pieces. Influenced by 19th century Russian painters like Shishkin, Reyes taught himself to paint by modeling after the great realists. Reyes currently works and lives in Palisades, New York.