About
Armando Mariño was born in Santiago, Cuba in 1968 where he completed Elementary & High School at the School of Art de Santiago. He moved to Havana in 1987 where he continued advanced studies at the Jose Varona Pedagogical Institute again concentrating on Art & graduating in 1992. He began his artistic career by participating in various group exhibitions like The First National Salon of Cuban Contemporary Art. Castillo de la Fuerza y Palacio de Bellas Artes. La Habana. Cuba 1996 ,Río Almendrales. Ni fresa ni chocolate. CENCREM. La Habana. Cuba.1996 The III Caribean Biennal. Modern Art Museum of Santo Domingo República Dominicana. 1996 Four Cuban Artist. Salle Allende. Université Libre de Bruxelles Bélgium. 1997, culminating in his participation in the VI Bienal de la Habana Cuba 1997. At this time, he received several prestigious prizes including the Second Prize in the Nacional Salon of Contemporary Art in Cuba 1997 & the Honor Prize at the XXX Festival Internacional de la Peinture, Chateau-Musee Grimaldi, Cagnes sur Mer, Nice 1998 A quick succession of group exhibitions & residencies follows such as “Inside”. International Art Exhibition. Kassel. Germany 1997,Hidden Art of Revolution. Contemporary Cuban Art. Toronto. Ontario. Canadá.1998,Caribe, exclusión, fragmentación y paraíso M.E.A.C. (Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo. Badajoz. España. Art Omi Artist in residecy in 1998 among others. At this time, he started to exhibit in commercial galleries such as Angel Romero in Madrid & Gary Nader in Miami. In 2000 he resided in Madrid & was awarded by the Marcelino Botin Fellowship 2001. At this time, he was invited to participate in several exhibitions including Paraíso Cero. Eventa 5. Bienal de Arte Contemporáneo. Uppsala. Sweden 2000,The 90 & The Berardo Modern Art at Museo Sintra in Portugal. 2002 , Atravesados Fundacion Telefonica in Madrid 2002; Basura y Foro, Sur Caseres, Extremadura, Spain 2002, Der Global Komplez OK; Centrum fur Gegenwartskunst, Linz, Austria 2003; Catastrofe Minime .Museo de Nuoro, Cerdena, Italy 2003 and finally, for the second time The VIII Bienal de la Habana, Cuba 2003 In 2004, he won the prestigious Rijsakademie Fellowship in Amsterdam & for the following two years he began a new period of painting under the guidance of his new advisors, Luc Tuyman & Bernard Frieze. This helped him switch gears & gave him the freedom to take his work to another level. Following Rijsakademie, Mariño found himself working with three European galleries; Jean Brolly in Paris, Grusenmayer Art in Belgium & Hof & Huyser in Holland. At this time, foundations like CBK Amsterdam,The Coca Cola Foundation ,corporations such as Bank of the Netherlands & private European collectors began collecting his work. In 2006 he showed The Night Inside of the Painter’s House at Jean Brolly Gallery in Paris. This was followed by Crash & Clash at Hof & Huyser Amsterdam 2006; & Tervuren’s Tales in Grusenmayer Art Gallery Deurle, Belgium 2007. During that time, he was invited to participate in several exhibitions like the Cuban Avant-Garde: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Farber Collection at The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Florida. Visiones Publicas .Pasiones Privadas. Contemporary Museum of Vigo. Spain 2008, Something and Something Else . Oce Art Foundation Museum Van Bommel van Dam.Venlo Holland 2009 and Without Mask. Contemporary Afro-Cuban Art. Johannesburg Art Gallery. South Africa 2010 among others. In 2010 he traveled to the United States as part of the ISCP Brooklyn for one year. That same year, he received excellent reviews as a result of his participation in the Keloids exhibition at the Mattress Factory Museum in Pittsburgh. His installation for the exhibit, entitled The Raft, is a 1950s American automobile mounted on numerous legs, instead of wheels. The work was acquired by the 21c Museum in Kentucky. Between 2010 & 2012 his work drew the attention of critics & curators in New York, leading to an invitation to participate in El Museo del Barrio’s, Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, Biennal (S) Files 2011. He followed that show with Building Identities, Contemporary Art from the Shelly & Donald Rubin Private Collection & Cleveland Clinic’s Arts Program, Arts & Medicine Institute, Ohio 2012. In the summer of 2011 he was invited by the Bronx Museum of the Arts for the Artist Studio in residency program & was awarded The Pollock Krasner Grant.2011/2012 At this time, private collectors continued to purchase his work. The Donald & Shelley Rubin Collection added his work to their collection as well as the Deutsche Bank Collection, USA. In 2012 he had his first solo show in New York, Recent Paintings from the Year of the Protester, at The 8th Floor Space, with the support of the Rubin Foundation & the Bronx Museum of the Arts. This show led to an invitation to participate in Project V at HVCC Peekskill, September 29th, VOLTA NY 2013 ,Skyline Adrift at Art Omi, and Fifteen.Recent Adquisitions from the Deutsche Bank Collection. USA 2013 He resides & works in New York .
