Carlos Luna

Art Brokerage: Carlos Luna Cuban Artist: b. 1969. Born in Cuba, Carlos Luna has always been an artist; he recalls making a painting of his mother at the age of seven. His prodigious talent was recognized and nurtured from an early age, as he distinguished himself at four successive art schools and began showing in exhibitions and receiving prizes at the age of 15. By the end of the 1980s, he was a well-known artist in his native country; he had also, however, exhausted the opportunities that were available to him in the rigid political climate of the time. Thus, in 1991, he emigrated to Puebla, Mexico, where he lived until 2002. He also met his wife, Claudia, there and started a family with her. That is the very short version of the Carlos Luna story. Embedded within that basic storyline is an endless wealth of artistic influences: his childhood growing up in the Cuban countryside, his education in Cuba's excellent art schools, the new perspectives and practices he acquired while living in Mexico, his relationship with his family, and the new opportunities he is now enjoying in America. Luna is a man who is extremely connected to and respectful of his past, and it is his many histories, both personal and cultural, that form the substance of his work. His paintings, drawings, sculptures, and ceramic pieces are layered with as much complex symbolism and tradition as they are with meticulously applied materials. Listings wanted by Art Brokerage.