A man without a past is a man without a future1
Carlos Luna was born in Pinar del Río, Cuba, in 1969. He began painting at the age of 7, he started his artistic studies at the Academy of Fine Arts of San Alejandro, passing then to the National School of Visual Arts and later to the Higher Institute of Art during one of the most vigorous and innovative Cuban artistic movements known as 'Art of the 80.2
In 1991 he moved to Mexico and settled in Puebla3 for 11 years, during which time he developed an intense artistic activity in which a strong influence of Mexican symbolism and culture4 could be identified, without losing his identity.
Duality is a common theme in Cuban art and Luna reflects it very well in his work, so by an artist who has lived relocated. In 2002, he began a new phase in establishing his residence in Miami, Florida.1 Since his arrival in the United States, he has exhibited extensively in more than 25 museums and art institutions in US and Latin America, he has had the opportunity to reach a wider and more global audience. However, Carlos Luna is proud of the rural environment that saw him grow up in Cuba, among “guajiros” and over the course of his career has created a rich artistic discourse.
The work of Carlos Luna refers to the artistic traditions of the Cuban School, influenced by Wilfredo Lam, the cubism of artists like Fernand Léger and the narrative of Mexican muralism and even the Latin American baroque.2
Narrator and chronicler, Luna has created an own iconographic discourse in which fables and mysticism converge, eroticism and prejudices, religiosity and anthropology.
His paintings and sculptures are accompanied by drawings and ceramics, but Carlos Luna is essentially a painter.5
References
1 Museo Frost mostrará obra de Carlos Luna
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/mundo/america-latina/cuba-es/article23810680.html
2 Carlos Luna (artist)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Luna_(artist)
3 Stunning Installation of New Oil Paintings by Carlos Luna at Heather James Fine Art
http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_new=44277&int_sec=2#.VvrxUOIrLIW
4Artist Carlos Luna Explores Cuban Identity With Humor and Contemplation
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/arts/artist-carlos-luna-explores-cuban-identity-with-humor-and-contemplation-7765916
5The Art of Carlos Luna. By Alberto Jorge Carol, Miami, FL. 2014
http://carlosluna.com/w14.php