AGUSTÍN CÁRDENAS
Bill Hodges Gallery
Right:
Untitled, 1964
Carrara Marble
27 ½ x 16 ½ x 7 ½ in.
(69.9 x 41.9 x 19.1 cm)
Front Cover:
La dompteuse, 1972
Carraran Paonazzo Marble
27 ⅛ x 34 ⅞ x 18 ⅛ in.
(69 x 88.6 x 46 cm)
BILLY E. HODGES
The gallery is excited, proud, and honored to present our first solo exhibition of works by the Afro-Cuban master sculptor and draftsman Agustin Cárdenas. This careful exhibition has taken 6 years to compose, and it seems to have taken almost as long for me to write this foreword. Unlike the many other foreword writings for the catalogues, where I speak of my personal adventures, I will be concise and let the work speak for itself.
Before 2018, I had never heard of this master sculptor, and on a Parisian trip studying the works by the master sculptors Carpeaux and Cordier, I saw a small drawing by this Afro-Cuban and purchased it.
Born, Agustín Cárdenas Alfonso, on the 10th of April 1927, he was a student at San Alejandro Academy of Fine Art, under Juan Jose Sicre (1894-1974), the figurative sculptor. During this time, his affiliation with the artist group, Los Once attained him recognition and an opportunity to exhibit at the Museo National de Bellas Artes de La Habana in 1955. Because of this exhibition, he was soon invited to study in Paris.
Welcome to France
In Paris he met Andre Breton, an important founding member of Europe’s surrealist movement and Breton proposed he join a group exhibition at the surrealist gallery, L’ Etoile Scelle. The L’Etoile Scelle gallery exhibited the works of Man Ray and Salvador Dali among others.
As in Cuba, he carved mostly in wood, probably because of availability and cost. During his lifetime, Cárdenas produced hundreds of beautiful and important works in wood, but I realized there were very few carved in stone, most probably because of cost and weight. This began to change in the mid 1950s when he would travel to Italy to source stone, predominately marble...
The most impressive and commanding work in the exhibition is La Dompteuse, a massive white Italian marble work carved in Italy. Its fluid movements remind me of the early travertine works of the brilliant English sculptor Henry Moore. It is sensitive, sensual, and like many of his works, erotic as the visually imposing figure sits on its side. Cárdenas’s deft creativeness, inoculates and stimulates the viewer’s senses, to carefully visualize, analyze, and dive deep into one’s imagination.
Cárdenas’s sculptures are no less beautiful than those of Constantine Brancusi or Jean Arp; both whom he had met on numerous occasions and encouraged him to continue his work.
The works on paper in this exhibition are no less important, and I’m always curious, what came first, the drawings or the sculpture? I would guess, especially for works like stone, the artist would draw ideas and create the work in the desired material, view the completed work, and produce drawings relating to the completed work. We are fortunate to have 10 drawings in this exhibition, not as a support for the 3 dimensional works, but as a complement.
#34
We produce catalogues as a source of documentation
Agustín Cárdenas
(1927 - 2001)
Agustín Cárdenas (Alfonzo) was born on April 10, 1927 in Matanzas, Cuba. The son of a tailor and the descendant of slaves from Congo and Senegal, Cárdenas pursued art from a young age. In 1943, at the age of 16 Cárdenas moved from his home in Matanzas, a former major port city in the slave and sugar trade, to the bustling capital city, Havana. In Havana, he attended the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes “San Alejandro” studying under the master sculptor Juan José Sicre, renowned for his monumental marble sculptures. For the next six years Cárdenas would begin to hone his craft and familiarize himself with the mediums he would later master. Postgraduation, Cárdenas involved himself with various art groups most notably Los Once (The Eleven), comprised of painters and sculptors who rejected conventional art practices and exposed Cárdenas to more experimental art methodologies. Cárdenas’s involvement in the Havana art scene led to his inclusion in the group exhibition “Plastica Cubana Contemporanea” at the Lyceum, a prominent cultural center in Havana, in 1954, and his first solo exhibition “Exposición Agustín Cárdenas: 20 Esculturas” in 1955 at Palacio de Bellas Artes.
A burgeoning interest in more avant-garde art methods led him to migrate to Paris in 1955 where he found camaraderie with famed French writer and poet André Breton and surrealist artists Constantin Brancusi, and Salvador Dali. During this time, Cárdenas began incorporating elements from the West African Dogon tradition into his art, creating wooden totems with elongated abstracted forms, a practice he would continue throughout his career. In May of 1956, as Cárdenas settled in the Montparnasse neighborhood of Paris, André Breton’s prominent gallery, l’Étoile Scellée, invited him to exhibit alongside fellow Cuban artist Fayad Jamís. Before closing in June of the same year, l’Étoile Scellée welcomed the likes of Max Ernst, Man Ray, and Meret Oppenheim, cementing a 29 year old Cárdenas among some of the most renowned contemporary artists of the 20th century. For the next few years he continued to exhibit his sculptures around Paris in both group shows and solo exhibitions, and in 1961, participated in the Paris Biennale, winning first prize in sculpture.
While finding success in the Paris art scene, in 1962 Cárdenas married a Latvian and Italian multilingual interpreter named Elena Ianotta, whom he met two years prior. In the same year, their first son Arlen was born, followed by Solano, Timour, André, and Fernando. In 1968 he moved his family from the center of Paris to the southwestern suburb Meudon, establishing a studio there and a second in Nogent-sur-Marne, a eastern suburb. Cárdenas frequented Carrara, the Italian town well known for its quarries of highly sought-after white and blue grey marble, which he regularly used as the medium for his sculptures. Along with Carrara marble he continued to sculpt in wood and bronze, employing elegant curves and elongated silhouettes to skillfully communicate both physical and metaphysical forms and ideas. Additionally, numerous works on paper were created, many existing as studies for later sculptural works and containing two-dimensional examples of the same themes.
After decades living in France, in 1994 Cárdenas fell ill and returned to Havana, Cuba where he remained until his death in 2001. Agustín Cárdenas is buried in the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris and is survived by his sons. During his lifetime he was celebrated for his contributions to the global art community receiving the William and Noma Copley Foundation Award for visual arts in 1964 and 1995 the Cuban National Fine Arts Award, alongside sculptor Rita Longa. Throughout his career he traveled extensively and from 1956 to 1997 he participated in approximately 100 group exhibitions and 34 solo exhibitions located around the world. Cárdenas’s commissions and exhibitions took him to Canada, Austria, Japan, Israel, South Korea, Germany, The United States, and Italy. His works are also in the permanent collections of many prestigious institutions globally, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Cuba.
In this solo exhibition we highlight sculptures and works on paper spanning Cárdenas’s decades-long career. These works fluidly express a visceral and boldly sensual allure which beckons the viewer to look closer. The sculptures La Dompteuse (The Tamer) (1972) and Vertical Form (1983) utilize delicate structure and elongated forms to connote the presence of bones, tendons, and other organic matter where only simplified abstraction exists. In many of these works negative space plays a significant role, allowing light and air to flow freely. For example, the composition of Untitled (1964) evokes the appearance of a door, framing the space behind it and interacting with the light that flows through. This sculpture’s smooth, lustrous surfaces serve to accentuate the characteristic grace of Cárdenas’ forms. Forme Allongée (1991) exemplifies this elegance, appearing akin to a reclining figure whoese thin, sloping, multifaceted form catches the light and gently reflects it.
Juxtaposed with these sculptures, the works on paper provide insight into Cárdenas’ art practice as he explores form in three dimensions. These biomorphic studies reveal a thoroughly researched process of envisioning forms in space while moving from two dimensions to three, illuminating the challenges inherent in this process. While sculptures require the practical ability to support their own weight, works on paper are not subject to these same limitations, allowing more freedom for theoretical exploration.
The studies also reveal edges that are obscured in a three-dimensional work but can exist in fine detail in the two-dimensional. For example, in untitled works from 1956 and 1957, by alternating line weights, Cárdenas denotes the overlapping three-dimensional positioning of organic forms. Some drawings are depicted with shadow and depth while others present forms which are utterly flat and directly intersecting. In Untitled (1973), Cárdenas discards the illustration of light and shadow, instead presenting the sculptural elements as a set of purely flat, white surfaces. By loosely tracing delineated lines indicating concave and convex points, viewers can easily imagine a circular formation. These works on paper function as examples of how Cárdenas develops spatial relationships within his sculptures, allowing the viewer to imagine how material might curve and fold in the process of materializing devised form.
While some of the rich and organic elements present in his work are notably consistent with those present in the works of his Surrealist contemporaries, Cárdenas is able to create an overall product that is fully unique. These forms are not bound by traditional formal rules, and Cárdenas finds freedom in breaking with these conventions - the works on view here challenge distinctions between abstraction and figuration, commanding interest and attention both as abstract forms and organic figures.
Provenance
Private Collection, Monaco
Galerie Retelet, Monaco
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
Paris, Galerie Mitterrand, Agustin Cardenas, 7 September – 3 November 2018
Literature
Galerie de France et du Benelux. Cardenas, Brussels, 1974, illus. pp. 24, 34
La Connaissance. La Sculpture de Cardenas, Brussels, 1971, illus. pp. 95, 122
Galerie Mitterrand. Agustin Cardenas, Paris, 2018, illus. pp. Cover, Inside Front Cover, 5, 9, 10, 13
Le Point Cardinal. Cárdenas, Paris, 1973, illus. p. 13
La Dompteuse, 1972
Carraran Paonazzo Marble
27 ⅛ x 34 ⅞ x 18 ⅛ in. (69 x 88.6 x 45.7 cm)
Study of a Sculpture, 1968
½ x 19 ⅝ in. (64.8 x 49.8 cm)
Signed and Dated, Lower Left
Graphite on Paper
25
Untitled, 1964
Signed and Dated, Back
Carrara Marble
27 ½ x 16 ½ x 7 ½ in. (69.9 x 41.9 x 19.1 cm)
Provenance
The Artist
Paul Haim, 1964 (Acquired Directly from the Artist)
Thence by Descent Private Collection, 2020
Bill Hodges Gallery
(Larger Version Appears in the Following)
Galerie, Cárdenas, Paris, France, 2003, illus.
JGM Galerie, Le Monde Legendaire de Cárdenas, Paris, France, 2012, illus. pp. 54, 96
Forme Allongée, 1991 Carrara Marble
7 x 14 x 7 in.
(17.8 x 35.6 x 17.8 cm)
Signed on the Back
Provenance
Private Collection
Bill Hodges Gallery
Literature
JGM
17 ¾ x 11 x 9 in. (45.1 x 27.9 x 22.9 cm)
Base: 3 x 11 x 11 in. (7.6 x 27.9 x 27.9 cm)
Total: 20 ¾ x 11 x 11 in. (52.7 x 27.9 x 27.9 cm)
Signed and Dated on the Back
Le Cygne, 1992
Carrara Marble on Black Marble Base
15 April – 29 May 2021
September - 5 November 2021
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Selections From the Collection,
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 27
Signed and Dated, Back
Forma III, 1967
Carrara Marble
16 ½ x 11 ¼ x 11 in. (41.9 x 28.6 x 27.9 cm)
Provenance
The Artist
Private Collection
Private Collection, 1989
Bill Hodges Gallery
Vertical Form, 1983
Bronze with Black Patina on Marble Base
Edition of 8
15 ⅞ x 3 ½ x 3 ½ in. (40.3 x 8.9 x 8.9 cm)
Signed and Numbered, Bottom Left
Stamped, Front
Provenance
Private Collection, Paris
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
Paris, Galerie Trigano, Cárdenas, 10 March - 10 April 1999
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Literature
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 32
Please note: this work is misdated 1956 in Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas
Untitled, 1980
Gouache, India Ink, Collage and Graphite on Handmade Paper
26 ⅛ x 19 ¼ in. (66.8 x 48.9 cm)
Signed and Dated, Lower Right
Provenance
Private Collection, Paris
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Paper, 22 October 2020 - 29 January 2021
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Literature
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 27
Untitled, 1973
Felt-Tip Pen on Paper
13 x 9 ½ in. (33 x 24.1 cm)
Signed and Dated, Lower Right
Provenance
F. Zbona, Slovenia
Private Collection, Paris
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Literature
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 38
Untitled
Ink Wash on Paper
31 x 22 ½ in. (78.7 x 57.2 cm)
Signed, Lower Right
Provenance
Private Collection, Brussels
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September - 5 November 2021 Literature
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 31
Untitled, 1972
Signed, Lower Right
Provenance
India Ink and Ink Wash on Handmade Paper
19 ⅜ x 25 ⅜ in. (49.2 x 64.5 cm)
Private Collection
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Literature
Untitled, 1980
India Ink and Ink Wash on Handmade Paper
9 ½ x 12 ⅜ in. (24.1 x 31.4 cm)
Signed and Dated, Lower Right
Provenance
Private Collection, Paris Bill Hodges Gallery
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 39
Untitled, ca. 1960
Watercolor and Ink on Handmade Paper
12 ¾ x 9 ½ in. (32.4 x 24.1 cm)
Signed, Lower Center
Provenance
Private Collection, Paris
Private Collection
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Literature
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 36
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín
Untitled, ca. 1960
Gouache and Graphite on Paper
12 ½ x 9 ⅛ in. (31.8 x 23.2 cm)
Signed and Dated, Lower Center
Provenance
Private Collection, Paris Private Collection
Exhibition History
, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Literature
, New York, 2021, illus. p. 37
Bill Hodges Gallery
Cárdenas
Cárdenas
Sculpture Project, 1978
India Ink and Colored Pencil on Paper
12 ½ x 9 ¼ in. (31.8 x 23.5 cm)
Signed and Dated, Lower Right
Provenance
Private Collection, Paris
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Literature
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 40
Untitled, ca. 1960
Charcoal on Paper
25 ¾ x 19 ⅞ in. (65.4 x 50.5 cm)
Signed, Lower Center
Provenance Private Collection, Paris Private Collection
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Literature
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 35
Composition, 1956
Ballpoint Pen on Paper
8 ⅛ x 5 ¼ in. (20.6 x 13.3 cm)
Signed and Dated, Lower Center
Provenance
Private Collection, Paris
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Literature
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 42
Exhibition History
Literature
Untitled, 1957 Colored Pencil on Paper
8 ¼ x 5 ¼ in. (21 x 13.3 cm)
Signed and Dated, Lower Right
Provenance
F. Zbona, Slovenia Private Collection, Paris Bill Hodges Gallery
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 42
Untitled
Graphite and Ink on Tracing Paper
12 ⅝ x 8 ⅜ in. (32.1 x 21.3 cm)
Signed, Lower Center
Provenance
The Artist
Thence by Descent
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Literature
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p. 41
Untitled, 1975
India Ink on Handmade Paper
25 ½ x 19 in. (64.8 x 48.3 cm)
Signed and Dated, Lower Right
Provenance
Private Collection
Bill Hodges Gallery
Exhibition History
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September - 5 November 2021
Literature
Bill Hodges Gallery, Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas, New York, 2021, illus. p.34
Art Public Montreal, Canada
Centre Pompidou, Paris
de la Cruz Collection, Miami
Hakone Open-Air Museum, Japan
Modern Art Museum, Tel Aviv
Musée d’Art et d’Industrie, Saint-Étienne, France
Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris
Museo d’Arte Moderno, Caracas
Museo d’Arte Moderna, Rome
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Cuba, Havana
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas, Miami
Nader Museum, Miami
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Passy Commune Collection, France
University of Miami, Lowe Art Museum, Florida
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Maryland
Weatherspoon Art Museum, North Carolina
1955
Havana, Cuba Palacio de Bellas Artes
1959
Paris, Galerie de la Cour d'Ingres (presented by André Breton)
1961
Paris, Galerie du Dragon
1962
Chicago, Richard Feigen Gallery
Milano, Galleria Schwarz
1965
Paris, Galerie du Dragon
1968
Bruxelles, Galerie Arcanes
1969
Torino, Galleria La Bussola 1971
Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli
Paris, Galerie Boulakia
1972
Paris, Museé Galliera
1973
Paris, Le Point Cardinal 1974
Bruxelles, Galerie de France et du Benelux
1975
Paris, Le Point Cardinal
Genève, Galerie Jacques Benador Montbelliard, Maison des Arts et Loisirs
1977
Bruxelles, Galerie de France et du Benelux 1979
Paris, Le Point Cardinal 1980
Tokyo, Fuji Television Gallery
Madrid, Barcelona, Barcelona, Galeria Théo Paris, FIAC
1981
Paris, Le Point Cardinal
Paris, Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiquess
Solo Exhibition
1982
Madrid, Barcelona, Galeria Théo
Caracas, Museo de Bellas Artes 1984
Paris, FIAC
1987
Seul, Galerie de Corée
1988
Paris, Galerie J.G.M
1990
Paris, Galerie J.G.M
Chicago, International Gallery, Invitational one man show.
Caracas, Galerie Dúrbán
1991
Miami, International Art Exhibition
Tokyo, Art exhibition 1992
Caracas, Galerie Dúrbán
Paris, Galerie J.G.M
Paris, Le Point Cardinal
Paris, Galerie de l'Echaudé
Genève, Galerie du Chateau 1993
Havana, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de la Habana 1997
Milano, Galleria delle Steline, Gruppo Credito Valtellinese, "Retrospettiva"
Paris, Couvents des Cordeliers, Mairie de Paris, “Retrospective“ 1998
Biarritz, Festival International de Biarritz 1999
Coral Gables, Gary Nader Fine Arts 2002
Paris, Galerie Vallois
New York, Haim Chanin Fine Arts 2012
Biron, Galerie Mitterrand 2018
Paris, Galerie Mitterrand
London, Almine Rech Gallery 2021
Paris, Maison de L’amerique Latine, “Agustin Cardenas: Mon Ombre Apres Minuit”
Selected Group Exhibitions
1954
Havana, Cuba, Lyceum Center, "Plastica cubana contemporanea"
1956
Paris, Galerie L'Etoile Scellée (André Breton)
Paris, Galerie Suzanne de Conninck, "Hommage de la sculpture à Brancusi"
1956-1971
Paris, Salon de la Jeune Sculpture
1957
Paris, Galerie Suzanne de Conninck
1957-1965
Paris, Realites nouvelles
1959
Paris, Galerie Saint Augustin, "Cinq jeunes sculpteurs de l'École de Paris"
Houston, Museum of Fine Arts
Paris, Galerie Daniel Cordier, "Exposition internationale du Surréalisme"
1960
Musée de Saint-Etienne, "Cent sculpteurs de Daumier à nos jours"
1960-1971
Paris, Zürich, Tokyo, Havana, Salon de Mai
1961
Paris, Galerie du Dragon, "Art cubain contemporain",
Presentato da/présenté par Robert Altmann
Paris, Galerie de Varenne, "Dessins de jeunes sculpteurs"
New York, d'Arcy's Galleries "Exposition internationale du surréalisme"
Paris, Biennale (premio per la scultura/prix pour la sculpture)
Festival di Spoleto, Italia
1962
London, Hannover Gallery
Paris, Galerie Blumenthal, "Sculpteurs d'aujourd'hui"
Paris, Galerie du Cercle, "Un demi-siècle de sculpture"
Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, "L'Objet"
1963
Paris, Galerie Creuze, “Actualité de la Sculpture”
1964
Mannheim, Margarete Lauter Galerie, “ Montparnasse heute”
1965
Paris, Musée Galliera, “Babel 65”
Paris, Galerie de Lœil, Exposition internationale du Surréalisme, “L’Écart absolu”
Paris, Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, “Sculptures contemporaines”
Tokyo, Biennale internationale
Paris, Galerie Claude Bernard, “La Main”
Paris, “Comparaisons”
Antwerp, Biennale de sculpture
1966
Paris, Galerie Saint-Germain, “Un sculpteur et neuf peintres Cubains”
Paris, Eva Eyquem et Galerie Maywald, “Sculpture et bijoux”
Frankfurt, “École de Paris”
Paris, “Grands et Jeunes d’aujourd’hui”
1967
Yvelines, Relais de Vaux-de-Cernay, "Le jardin de la Sculpture"
Carrara, Biennale Internazionale di Scultura
1968
Carrara, Biennale Internazionale di Scultura
Cecoslovacchia/Tchécoslovaquie, "princip slasti"
Ancy-le-Franc
Paris, Galerie Europe, "Trois Sculpteurs"
1969
Antwerp, Biennale de Sculpture
Avignon, Festival
Carrara, Biennale Internazionale di Scultura
Port Barcares, exposition internationale
Musée de Saint-Germainen-Laye, “Depuis Rodin”
1970
Paris, Salon Grands et Jeunes d’aujourd’hui
Roma, “Visione 24”
Stockholm, Moderna Museet “Surrealism?”
Rouen, “Sculptures dans la Cité”
Mâcon, “ Sculptures à ciel ouvert”
Paris, Les Halles, “Art et Architecture, bilan et probleme du 1%”
Paris, Galerie Vercamer, “Presence européenne”
1971
Paris, Salon Grands et Jeunes d’aujourd’hui
Oslo, Charlottenlung, Lund, Göteborg,”Art latino-américain en Scandinavie”
Köln, Baukunst, “Der Geist des Surrealismus”
Paris, Nuit du Faubourg St Honoré, “sculpture monumentale”
Germania/Allemagne, Gallerie Vercamer, “Europa International”
Paris, Galerie Saint-Germain, “25 sculpteurs contemporains”
1972
Paris, Musée Galliera
1973
Budapest, Il Bienale Internationale de la Petite Sculpture
Passy, Plateau d’Assy, “Sculptures en montagne”
Paris, Galerie de Seine,
Paris “Collection fantôme”, Galerie de Seine
1974
Brussels ‘Agustín Cárdenas’, Galerie de France et du Benelux
Sevres, Exposition des œvres de la Manufacture de Sévres
1976
Madrid, Galeria Théo, “Formas en el espacio”
1977
Ratilly, “Espace-lumiere dans les sculptures du Cubisme à aujourd’hui
Paris, Galerie Francoise Tournié, “Huit Sculpteurs” (Hadju, Stahly, César, Penalba, Poncet, Cárdenas, Parvine Curie, Etienne Martin)
1978
Lyon, Festival de Lyon
1980
Giappone/Japon, Mostra Colletiva/ Exposition de groupe
1984
Verona, “Idiomi della sculptura contemporanea”
1985
Tarbes, “En hommage à Alicia Penalba”
1986
Collioure, “Exposition internationale de sculpture contemporaine”
1987
England, Yorkshire, Open Air Museum
1988
Paris, Galerie du Dragon, “Autour d’Edouard Glissant” Caracas, Galeria Durban
1989
Paris, Salon de Mars
Carrara, Pietrasanta ”Scolpire” Caracas, Galeria Durban
1990
Paris, Foire internationale d’art contemporain Caracas, Museo de Bellas artes, “Figuración, Fabulación”
1991
Paris, Artcurial, Belvedére d’André Pierre de Mandiargues
Bogota, FIART
Paris, Musée National d’art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, ”André Breton Caracas, Galeria Dúrbán, “Lengua/Esenciales de la Epoca” 1992
Caracas, FIA (Feria Ibero Americana de arte)
Miami, International Art Esposition Arco Caracas, Galeria Dúrbán, “Blanco/Negro”
Paris, Centre culturel du Mexique, “Trente sculpteurs latino-americains” 1993
Bochum, Museum Bochum, “Lateinamerika und der Surrealism”
New York, Museum of Modern Art, “Latin American Artists of the Twentieth Century“ 1995
Musée de Meudon, “Hommage à Denys Chevalier” Padova, “Concorso Internazzionale del Bonzetto” 1997
New York, The Art Show, Jeffrey H. Loria
Paris, Galerie Claude Lemand, “Autour de José Pierre” Paris, Pavillon des Arts, surréalisme et l’amour” Milano, PAC, “I Caraibici”
Barcelona, Palma de Majorca, “Cuba, Siglo XX” 2001
Jerusalem, Israel Museum, “Dreaming with Open Eyes: The Vera and Arturo Schwarz Collection of Dada and Surrealist Art in the Israel Museum” 2002
Paris, JGM Galerie, FIAC
San Francisco, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, “Dreaming with Open Eyes: The Vera and Arturo Schwarz Collection of Dada and Surrealist Art in the Israel Museum”
2008
Coral Gables, Tresart, “Arte Americas The Latin American Art Fair” 2009
Coral Gables, Cernuda Arte, “La Barbacoa, Group Show of Contemporary Cuban Art” 2014
Coral Gables, Cernuda Arte, “Important Cuban Artworks, Volume 10”
2015
Coral Gables, Cernuda Arte, “Important Cuban Artworks: Volume 12”
2017
Paris, Galerie Thessa Herold, “Pas de mur pour l’art”
New York, Almine Rech, “Imaginary Ancestors”
Miami, Pan Amerian Art Projects, “La Republica vista por sus artists/ The Republic through the Eyes of its Artists” 2018
New York, Di Donna Galleries, “The Life of Forms”
Miami, LNS Gallery, “Winter Highlights”
2019
Barcelona, Galeria Marc Domenech, “Those Small Things...”
Miami, Pan Amerian Art Projects, “The Universal Language of Abstraction”
Paris, Galerie Mitterrand, “Une Breve Historie de la Modernité des Formes”
2020
Los Angeles, BLUM, “New Images of Man”
New York, Waterhouse and Dodd, “Online: Modern Masters”
Miami, LNS Gallery,
“The Summer Collective: A Group Exhibition of 20+ Artists”
Miami, Ascaso Gallery, “Abstraction and Figuration in Space”
2021
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, “Paper”
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, “Selections from the Collection”
London, Aktis Gallery, “Minimo- Minimal and Monumental Art”
Paris, Almine Rech, “Portraits/Abstraits“
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, “ Wifredo Lam + Agustín Cárdenas” 2022
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, “Masters of Sculpture”
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, “Surrealism Beyond Borders”
London, Tate Modern, “Surrealism Beyond Borders”
Paris, Almine Rech Gallery, “Dialogues”
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, “Blockbuster” 2023
Miami, Ascaso Gallery, “Contemporary Sculpture” 2024
Miami, De la Cruz Collection, “House of Motion/ New Perspectives”
Fort Worth, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, “Surrealism and Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists Since 1940”
Bibliography
“Agustín Cárdenas,” Lorenzelli Arte, accessed January 24, 2024, https://lorenzelliarte.com/en/artists/38-agustin-cardenas/biography/.
“Agustín Cárdenas.“ Pan American Art Projects, 1 June 2008. panamericaart.com/artist/Agustin-Cardenas
“Agustín Cárdenas,” Rosenberg & co., accessed January 24, 2024, http://www.rosenbergco.com/artists/agustin-cardenas. “Biographie,” agustincardenasofficial.com, accessed January 24, 2024, https://www.agustincardenasofficial.com/read-me.
Breton, Andre. “Andre Breton.” Le Monde legendaire De Cardenas: Le chateau De Biron Et Les Jardins Du Manoir D’Eyrignac, JGM Galerie, 2012, p. 73. Galerie Mitterand, Agustín Cárdenas (Paris: Imprimerie Jouve, 2018).
JGM. Galerie, Cárdenas (Besançon: Néo-Typo, 2003).
Pierre, José, and Martine Franck. La sculpture de cárdenas. Bruxelles: La Connaissance, 1971.
Credits
Foreword
Biography
Editors
Catalogue Photography
Research Asssistant
Billy E. Hodges
Qiang Hu
McKenna Meskan
Joy Smith
Navindren A. Hodges
Joy Smith
Angel Hurtado
Zachary Bunin
Billy E. Hodges
Adam Reich
Fiona Donovan
Qiang Hu
ISBN 1-891978-32-2
Edition of 1,000
Printed in China
Left:
Untitled, 1964
Carrara Marble
27 ½ x 16 ½ x 7 ½ in.
(69.9 x 41.9 x 19.1 cm)
Back Cover: La dompteuse, 1972
Carraran Paonazzo Marble
27 ⅛ x 34 ⅞ x 18 ⅛ in.
(69 x 88.6 x 46 cm)
www.billhodgesgallery.com
Bill Hodges Gallery