Esterio Segura Mora Cuba , b. 1970

Esterio Segura was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1970. He attended the Elementary School of Plastic Arts in Camagüey (1982-1985), where he later taught, and then the Provincial School of Plastic Arts and Ballet of the same city. Finally, in 1989, he began a course at the ISA (Instituto Superior de Arte) in Havana, which he completed in 1994. A leading figure in the Cuban contemporary art scene, Esterio Segura is known for his works that combine poetry and imaginative power, and is considered one of the most controversial artists of his generation. 

In his paintings, sculptures, and installations, he uses humorous imagery to address a Cuban story that is fraught with social and political concerns. His work is rich in inspirations such as mythological and popular imagery, religious art, Spanish Baroque and the paintings of Caravaggio. Eroticism, religious rituals and the use of symbols are also recurring themes in his work. Lately, Segura has been incorporating elements of text into his work. He expresses his claims and ideals through works such as "Goodbye My Love," a sculpture combining the wings of an airplane with the simplified and popular representation of a heart. Here, the artist leaves us the choice of interpretation ranging from the most corny and sentimental to the most socially and politically controversial. For the artist, "Goodbye My Love" refers to the experience of uprooting, nostalgia, memory, loss, ultimately how we experience the decay, the destruction of everything we love.

Esterio Segura's work "Hybrid of Chrysler" made a lasting impression at the 57th Venice Biennale. "Hybrid of Chrysler" was described as a work expressing "the beauty of resistance" and "excessive creativity", imaginatively exploiting the minimal resources available on an island whose streets are traversed by almendrones - vintage American automobiles used as cabs. The artist himself calls the work "a provocation to fly, an invitation (for Cubans) to the magic of going beyond the limit of the island's waters, to realize their own dreams with a symbol of success: the American limousine as an object of worship and idolatry, a sex symbol, a symbol of power. "

Esterio has had countless solo and group exhibitions around the world. He has participated in the biennials of Havana in 1991, 1994, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, the Biennial of Cuenca in 1998, the Biennial of the Caribbean and Central America - Dominican Republic, in 2013, Sao Paulo in 2004, Venice in 2017 and will be at the Dakar Biennial in December 2019.

Since 1997 he is present in the most important international fairs of contemporary art (ARCO- Art Chicago - ARTE-BA in Buenos-Aire - Berlin - Art Paris - Art Basel Miami - Pulse, New York - Arte America, Miami... His works are in the collections of the most important museums: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, La Habana. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York. Bronx Museum, New York. Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, California, EUA. Museum of Latin American Art of the University of Essex, England. Museum of Arizona University, Estados Unidos. Museum of the University of South Florida, Tampa. Pérez Art Museum of Miami (PAMM), Miami, Florida, and in major private collections around the world.