Rome/The Cuban artist Yasiel Elizagaray inaugurates his personal exhibition on Saturday, October 17, at 5:30 pm breath of spiritin the Vasari Room of the Chancellery Palace, in Rome, a historic Renaissance building linked to the Holy See.
The exhibition brings together 18 recent works from the series Spirit Pursuitin which Elizagaray builds an expressionist universe inhabited by human and animal figures of deep symbolic character. The proposal constitutes an inner journey of the artist that is projected towards the collective experience, exploring the dualities of the human being, his primal impulses and the tensions between reason and passion.
The compositions present ghostly-looking child figures next to animals, in atmospheres dominated by chiaroscuro, deformations and an intense psychological charge. More than faithfully reproducing reality, the painter seeks to express emotions, inner conflicts and states of vulnerability. His plastic language establishes connections with the expressionism of Francis Bacon and with the Cuban pictorial tradition represented by artists such as Fidelio Ponce and Antonia Eiriz.
The exhibition is curated by Abram Bravo Guerra and will be curated and presented by the Italian collector and cultural promoter Eriberto Bettini, founder of the Bettini & Co gallery. The program includes a critical text by Luciano Caprile and the participation of Florana Menéndez Camporredondo.
Graduated in Visual Arts in 2005, Elizagaray develops his work between Trinidad and Havana. His production is characterized by experimentation with textures, the expressive deformation of figures and an introspective look at the human condition. In previous series such as Ánimas (2023) and Aura (2024), she addressed the emotional wounds of childhood, the fragility of the body, and conventional models of beauty.
His works are part of public and private collections, including those of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas and Cernuda Arte, in Miami, and the Bettini gallery, in Italy.
The Chancellery Palace, located in the historic center of Rome, is one of the great examples of Renaissance architecture in the city. Its Vasari Room, also known as the Hundred Days Room, owes its name to the frescoes made by Giorgio Vasari in the 16th century. The building has previously hosted exhibitions by other Cuban artists, including Roberto Fabelo and Zaida del Río.
