CB Hoyo: Keeping It Real

About

Imitate Modern presents the first London solo exhibition dedicated to the Cuban-born artist CB Hoyo. A self-trained artist - "I started painting before I could walk" - CB Hoyo creates work that playfully questions artistic authenticity and monetary value in an era defined by fake news and social media. 

CB Hoyo's prolific output across an array of mediums and materials - from monumental works of spray-painted street art, to works on canvas and installation - has seen the young artist rapidly achieve international notoriety. Combining humorous, satirical slogans with his own painterly renditions of art historical masterpieces, the artist first gained a dedicated audience through sharing his art on his Instagram feed. Today, he receives commissions for murals and installations across the globe and has been named as one of 10 art world stars by Artnet. Recent murals include those created at Bayahibe in the Dominican Republic, at Miami's legendary Wynwood Walls during the 2017 Art Basel Miami Beach art fair, and at COYA in London's Piccadilly. 

CB Hoyo's paintings are both playful and provocative. "People forget that art is a way of expression, of having fun and that it should bring joy" he says, and his paintings satarise an art world that is often seen to celebrate monetary value above all else. Slogans are scrawled over familiar works by the likes of Rothko, Basquiat and Hirst. This humour is coupled with a prodigious and interactive painterly skill as Hoyo pays a tongue-in-cheek homage to many of his artistic heroes.