Alfredo SOSABRAVO
Born: 1930, Sagua la Grande, Matanzas, Cuba.
Education: Between 1955-1957 he studied at the Elementary School of Applied Plastic Arts attached to the Academy of Fine Arts San Alejandro, in Havana, Cuba.
Experience: Member of the Association of Cuban Recorders and teaches several drawing and engraving courses at the National School of Art Instructors. In 1965 he entered the Graphic Experimental Workshop of Havana. In 1993 he teaches a mural ceramic course at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, working in turn at the Giuseppe Mazzotti Museum House 1903 in Albissola Mare, Italy.
Exhibitions: It is included in the 1959 annual Salon, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana. He made the first personal exhibition of importance in 1967 with oil-collages and ceramics in the Havana gallery. In 1973 he placed on the mezzanine floor of the Habana Libre Hotel a mural composed of 555 pieces of ceramics started since 1971. In 1997 he presented Sosabravo, The Guardian of the Small, in the Art Gallery, Madrid, Spain. In 2001 he exhibited graphic and painting works in El Comune de Orvieto Italia, in the Sala Conca de la Laguna, Tenerife and at the Feria de la Estampa in Madrid. In Cuba, he built the 10 m2 mural called Carnaval de la Habana for the Residencial América real estate. In 2002, Galería Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, shows his works at the Art Miami Fair. In the United Kingdom he exhibited Murano glass oil paintings and sculptures. The Biennale di Ceramica nell'Arte Contemporary of Albissola Mare, Savona, invited him to participate with works that he would carry out in the San Giorgio da Poggi workshop. In 2003 his work was part of the Important Cuban Artworks exhibition. In 2006 he participated in the Ninth Biennial of Havana and in the Atelier Gallery, in Barcelona he exhibited Characters, with paintings and sculptures. In 2008, the National Museum of Havana includes his work in the Cuban anthology: Art and History, which is presented at the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal, Canada. The Cervantes Institute of Vienna presents a sample of his work that included paintings and sculptures of glass and bronze.
Prizes: Selection. 2007 Italian Order of Merit; 2000 Professor Honoris Causa, Higher Institute of Art of Havana; 1998 La Giraldilla de La Habana; 1997 National Prize of Plastic Arts; 1994 Order Félix Varela of First Degree; 1997 National Prize of Plastic Arts; 1986 Diploma of Honor in the Fourth Quadrennial of Applied Arts of the Socialist Countries, Erfurt, German Democratic Republic; 1982 Sculpture Prize in the Salón Paisaje '82; 1981 Distinction for National Culture and UNEAC Prize, Mention of the Jury in the First Small Format Salon; 1980 Prize in Ceramics in the Hall of Plastic Arts of the UNEAC, Center for International Art, Havana; 1979 prize in lithography at the First Engraving Triennial Víctor Manuel, Galería de La Habana; 1976 Diploma of Honor in the Fifth International Biennial of Art Ceramics of Vallauris; 1976 Gold Medal at the XXXIV International Competition of Contemporary Art Ceramics in Faenza, Italy; 1968 Mention of the Jury for four color lithographs, at the '68 Havana Exhibition, Casa de las Américas, Havana; 1966 mention in lithography at the 1966 Havana Exhibition, Latin American Gallery, Casa de las Américas; 1960 first prize: Acquisition Prize for the xylography Sepelio del monopolio in the National Salon of Graduates; 1959 included in the 1959 annual Salon, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana.
Collections: His works are collected in several countries and cities around the world, including New York, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Holland and Puerto Rico. In Italy, in the Ediciones Pirella Collection; in Germany, in the Cabinet of the Estampa, in Dresden. The National Museum of Fine Arts shows eleven oil-collages made especially for the occasion and some of his works made in Murano glass made in 1998 in Venice, Italy.
