Cabezas (Heads) features more than 20 significant artworks by Cuban-born painter Rafael Soriano (1920-2015), one of the major Latin American artists of his generation. The Art Museum of the Americas exhibit chronicles the development of Soriano’s unique biomorphic style, which culminated in a specific body of work depicting the human head. This is the first exhibit devoted to Soriano’s important series of paintings of heads, which are some of the artists most spiritual and introspective works.
Soriano developed his own visual vocabulary that was steeped in metaphysical meaning. While he began his career creating geometric abstractions, he became known for his luminous and biomorphic imagery reminiscent of surrealism. This shift in style is often attributed to the artists’ exile from Cuba in 1962. The artist said, “The anxieties and sadness of exile brought in me an awakening. I began to search for something else; I went from geometric painting to a painting that is spiritual.”
Many of the canvases feature larger than life heads rendered in deep shades of blue and purple, red, and orange. This exhibit will showcase Soriano’s landmark paintings of heads as a means to elucidate the origins and significance of the artist’s fascination with the mystical.
General Information
- Meet your Smithsonian Associates Rep by the Information Desk, no later than listed start time.
- While there is metered street parking and several parking lots and garages near the museum, space is limited, your best bet is using METRO.
