CARLOS ALFONZO
Born in Havana, Cuba in 1950
Came to Miami during the Mariel Boatlift in 1980
Died in Miami, FL in 1991
EDUCATION
The Cuban Academy (1969–1972)
Received a degree in Painting, Sculpture, and Printing from the Academia de Bellas Artes San Alejandro (1973)
Received a degree in art history from the University of Havana, Cuba (1974)
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
The Whitney Museum of American Art
New York, NY
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Washington, DC
Perez Art Museum
Miami, FL
NSU Art Museum
Fort Lauderdale, FL
The National Gallery of Art
Washington, DC
The Sheldon Museum of Art
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
Miami-Dade Public Library
Miami, FL
The Margulies Collection
Miami, FL
Museum of Contemporary Art
North Miami, FL
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Washington, DC
The Farber Collection
New York, NY
Lowe Art Museum
Coral Gables, FL
Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum
Miami, FL
De la Cruz Collection
Miami, FL
John & Mable Ringling Museum of Arts
Sarasota, FL
Art Museum of the Americas
Organization of the American States, Washington D.C
PUBLIC PROJECTS
1990
Brainstorm
Florida International University, Miami, FL
1986
Ceremony of the Tropics
Santa Clara Metrorail Station, Miami, FL
AWARDS
1991
Awards in Visual Arts 10 (AVA)
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC
1990
Artist Fellowship in Painting
National Endowment for the Arts, Washington D.C.
1984
Artist Fellowship in Painting
National Endowment for the Arts, Florida
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Carlos Alfonzo: Late Paintings
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, Miami FL
2020
Carlos Alfonzo: Witnessing Perpetuity
LnS Gallery, Miami FL
2017
Carlos Alfonzo: Painting
Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2015-2016
Carlos Alfonzo: Clay Works and Painted Ceramics
Perez Art Museum, Miami, FL
2015
Carlos Alfonzo: Sculpture and Drawing
Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2006
Carlos Alfonzo: Extreme Expression, 1980-1991
The Freedom Tower, Miami, FL
1999
Carlos Alfonzo: Paintings and Works on Paper, 1987 – 1991
George Adams Gallery, New York, NY
1997–1998
Carlos Alfonzo: Triumph of the Spirit, 1975-1991
Miami Art Museum, Florida and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC
1993
Carlos Alfonzo: Major Works
Osuma Gallery South, Miami, FL
1991
Carlos Alfonzo: Images from a Series Dedicated to Friends with AIDS, 1990-1991
Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, FL
Habitual
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
1990
Carlos Alfonzo: Recent Sculptures and Works on Paper
Osuna Gallery, Washington, DC
Carlos Alfonzo: Sculpture, Paintings and Works on Paper
Greene Gallery, Coral Gables, FL
Carlos Alfonzo: New Work
Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL
1989
Carlos Alfonzo
Lannan Museum. Lake Worth, FL
Carlos Alfonzo: Paintings, Sculpture, Works on Paper
Greene Gallery, Coral Gables, FL
Carlos Alfonzo: New Paintings
McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX
1988
The Art of Carlos Alfonzo
Frances Wolfson Art Gallery, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL
Carlos Alfonzo: Paradise
Hal Bromm Gallery, New York, NY
Carlos Alfonzo
Greene Gallery, Coral Gables, FL
Carlos Alfonzo: Development of an Artist, 1976-1988
Bacardi Art Gallery, Miami, FL
Carlos Alfonzo: Paintings
Osuna Gallery, Washington, DC
1987
Carlos Alfonzo
Osuna Gallery, Washington, DC
1985
Carlos Alfonzo: New Paintings
McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX
1984
Carlos Alfonzo: Drama
Galeria Ocho, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL
1978
La tarde y sus dibujos
Traveled to various venues in Cuba.
1977
Experimentos de Carlos Jose Alfonzo
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
1976
Como una vieja estampa
Galeria Amelia Pelaez, Havana, Cuba
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
A Tongue to Utter (1988) and Ballerinas (1988) (Installation)
Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL
Unquiet Harmony: The Subject of Displacement
The Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
Where Oceans Meet
The Freedom Tower, Miami, FL
About Face: Stonewall, Revolt and New Queer Art
Wrightwood 659, Chicago, IL
2017
Fast Forward: Painting from the 1980s
The Whitney Museum, New York, NY
2007
Power of Ten
Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL
2006
Masters of Latin America: From the Joan and Milton Bagley Collection
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
Geometry and Gesture
Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, DC
2005
Rampa: Signaling New Latin American Art Initiatives
ASU Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
2000
Cuban Art of Three Generations: Alfonzo, Azaceta and Bedia
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
1999
Saints, Sinners and Sacrifices: Religious Imagery in Contemporary Latin American Art
George Adams Gallery, New York, NY
1995
Phallic Symbols: Images in Contemporary Art
Life Gallery, New York, NY
1994
Significant Losses: Artists Who Have Died From AIDS
The Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Latin American Art in Miami Collections
The Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
1992–1993
Cuba-USA: The First Generation, Organized by El Fondo de Sol (Traveling Exhibition)
Visual Arts Center, Washington, DC
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
El Fondo de Sol Visual Arts Center, Washington DC, with
The National Museum of American Art and The School for Advanced International Studies/Johns
Hopkins University, Washington, DC
The Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN, with
Film in the Cities, St. Paul, MN and Intermedia Arts Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
The Art Museum at Florida International University, Miami, FL with
New World School of the Arts Gallery, Miami, FL
Contemporary Art Museum/University of Southern Florida, Tampa, FL with
The Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA in association with
Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA,
The Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia, PA and
The Lawrence Art Gallery/Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA
1992
Cuban Masters
The Americas Collection, Coral Gables, FL
Approaching the Quincentenary: Latino Art 1982-1992 (Traveling Exhibition)
Rosenburg Gallery, Goucher College, Baltimore, MD
Stephanie Ann Roper Art Gallery, Frostburg State University, Frostbury, MD
Arts Center/Gallery, Delaware State College, Dover, DE
1991
Biennial Exhibition
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
ArtPark at FIU
The Art Museum at Florida International University, Miami, FL
AVA 10 (Awards in the Visual Arts 10) (Traveling Exhibition)
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. Winston-Salem, NC
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Albuquerque Museum of Art, History, and Science, Albuquerque, NM
The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
The BMW Gallery, New York, NY
Eulogy
Gallery North, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL
New Latin American Painting
Arnold Herstand & Company, New York, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS (Continued)
1990
Abstraction
Greene Gallery, Coral Gables, FL
Twenty-five in Miami
South Campus Art Gallery, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL
The Start of Something Big
Eastbourne Clark Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
The Decade Show: Frameworks of Identity in the 1980s
The New Museum of Contemporary Art. New York, NY
Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, New York, NY
The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
Mariel…A Decade
The Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, Miami, FL
Sculpture of the Americas into the Nineties
Museum of Modern Art of Latin America, Organization of American States, Washington, DC
Art 1990
McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX
Fanciful Feast
Main Library, Miami-Dade Public Library System, Miami, FL
Miami Thriving in Change (1940-1990): Miami Artists, Fifty Years of Collecting
Main Library, Miami-Dade Public Library System, Miami, FL
Southeast Bank Collects: A Corporation Views Contemporary Art (Traveling Exhibition)
Norton Gallery and School of Art. West Palm Beach, FL
Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL
Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL
1989
Artists’ Proofs: Printmaking in South Florida
Frances Wolfson Art Gallery, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL
Made in Florida (Traveling Exhibition)
University of South Florida Art Museum, Tampa, FL
Musee Cantini, Marseille, France
Provincaal Museum, Hasselt, Belgium
Centre d’Art en Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain
Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville, FL
Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, FL
Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL
Critics Choice: Florida’s Experts Choose Florida Artists
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
The 41st Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting (Traveling Exhibition)
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Norton Gallery and School of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Latin American Art from the Private Collections of Maria and Luis Avellana, S.M. Lurie, Peter Menendez
InterAmerican Art Gallery, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL
Southern Expressions: Points of View
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Smaller Works
McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX
Paperwork Six
Center for Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
1988
Colliding: Myth, Fantasy, Nightmare
Artists Space, New York, NY
Hispanic Art
Corbino Galleries, Sarasota, FL
¡Mira!: The Canadian Club Hispanic Art Tour III (Traveling Exhibition)
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, IL
Carlos Alfonzo, Ibsen Espada: Works on Paper
McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX
Featuring Florida 1/Three from Miami: Carlos Alfonzo, Deborah Schneider, Purvis Young
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota,FL
Cintas Fellows Revisited: A Decade After
Main Library, Miami-Dade Public Library System, Miami, FL
Emergence
River North Concourse, Lower Level Gallery, Chicago, IL
Portraits and Self-Portraits
Cuban Museum of Art and Culture, Miami, FL
Artists’ Bookmarks
The Artmobile, Miami-Dade Public Library System, Miami, FL
Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection
The Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
For Art’s Sake
Park Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, FL
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS (Continued)
1987
Outside Cuba: Contemporary Cuban Visual Artists (Traveling Exhibition)
The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, New York, NY
Miami University Art Museum, Oxford, OH
Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, FL
Art Gallery with New Visions Gallery of Contemporary Art, Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA
Carlos Alfonzo, Pablo Cano: New Work
Greene Gallery, Coral Gables, FL
Contemporary Screens
The Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
Hispanic Art in the United States: Thirty Contemporary Painters and Sculptors (Traveling Exhibition)
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
The Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
The Metropolitan Museum and Art Center, Coral Gables, FL
Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
29th Annual Hortt Memorial Competition and Exhibition
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Books and Pages: Florida Artists’ Books
Main Library, Miami-Dade Public Library System, Miami, FL
Public Art Indoors: Fernando Garcia, Carlos Alfonzo
Main Library, Miami-Dade Public Library System, Miami, FL
Ceramics as Canvas
Main Library, Miami-Dade Public Library System, Miami, FL
Art of the 80’s Created in Florida
Greene Gallery, Coral Gables, FL
Visions of Self: The American Latin Artist
South Campus Art Gallery, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL
Challenge: Young Latin America on Paper
CDS Gallery, New York, NY
Cuban Artists in North America/Artistes Cubains en Amerique du Nord
National Library of Canada, Ottawa, ON Canada
1986
New Works: Juan Abreu, Carlos Alfonzo, Gilberto Ruiz
New Gallery, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
Five from Miami
Air Atlanta, Miami International Airport, Miami, FL
Caribbean Art/ African Currents
Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, New York, NY
Expatriates: Paintings by 15 Young Latin American Artists (Traveling Exhibition)
The Thomas Center Gallery, Gainesville, FL
Lee Scarfone Gallery, University of Tampa, Tampa, FL
Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL
V Bienal Iberoamericana de Arte: Naturaleza Muerta o Bodegon
Galeria del Auditorio Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
Hot Off the Press: Monoprints
Barbara Gillman Gallery, Miami, FL
Abstraction: Four from Latin America
Frances Wolfson Art Gallery, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL
Home Sweet Home
Hal Bromm Gallery, New York, NY
Public Art Process: Art Exhibition of Drawings, Models and Photographs /
Metro-Dade Art in Public Places Collection 1973-1985 (Traveling Exhibition)
North Miami Museum and Art Center, North Miami, FL
County Governmental Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Broward County Library, Fort Lauderdale, FL
East Martello Museum and Gallery, Key West, FL
1985
National Endowment for the Arts: Fellowship Artists, Florida 1983-84
Fine Arts Gallery, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
New Works (Traveling Exhibition)
Inter Latin American Gallery, New York, NY
New Gallery, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
North of the Border
Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA
Alloyage ‘85
SIBI Art Gallery, SIBI Cultural Center, Miami, FL
Florida Figures: The Human Figure by Contemporary Florida Artists
Frances Wolfson Art Gallery, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL
Art Cars (Traveling Exhibition)
Beatrice Indy Challenge Tamiami Park, Miami, FL
Barbara Gillman Gallery, Miami, FL
Main Library, Miami-Dade Public Library System, Miami, FL
The Art of Miami
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
Le Petit Format
SIBI Art Gallery, SIBI Cultural Center, Miami, FL
1984
Young Collectors of Latin American Art
Metropolitan Museum and Art Center, Coral Gables, FL
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS (Continued)
1983
Cuban Fantasies
Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
Faces and Masks
Galeria Ocho, Miami-Dade Community Center, Miami, FL
Fine Arts Exhibition for the Festival de las Artes
Tamiami Park, Miami, FL
The Miami Generation
Cuban Museum of Art and Culture, Miami, FL
Roots
University of Miami Gallery, Coral Gables, FL
1982
10 Out of Cuba: A Selection of Cuban Painters
Intar Latin American Gallery, New York, NY
1981
XXPremi Internacional de Dibuix Joan Miro (Traveling Exhibition)
Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona, Spain
XXPremio Internacional de Dibujo Joan Miro to Museo Espanol de Arte Contemporaneo, Madrid, Spain
Seleccao do xx Premio Internacional de Desenho Joan Miro to Galeria Atrio, Nucleo Cultural Municipal, Vila Real, Portugal
Art 10
Koubek Center, Miami, FL
1979
Jovenes Plasticos Cubanos
Galeria de la Habana, Havana, Cuba
XVIII Premi Internacional de Dibuix Joan Miro
Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona, Spain
Pintura Fresca (Traveling Exhibition)
Home of Jose Manuel Fors, Havana, Cuba
Casa de Cultura de la Ciudad de Cienfuegos, Cienfuegos, Cuba
I Trienal de Dibujo Arostodes Fernandez (Traveling Exhibition)
Galeria Oriente, Pinar del Rio, Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
V Salon Juvenil de Artes Plasticas: En Saludo al 11/Festival Mundial de la Juventud y los Estudiantes
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
1978
Salon UNEAC 1978
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
1977
IV Salon Juvenil de Artes Plasticas
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
Primer Salon Nacional de Dibujo
Galeria de Arte, Pinar del Rio, Cuba
1976
Exposicion de Dibujos de la Brigada Heramnos Saiz
Galeria de la Habana, Havana, Cuba
III Salon Juvenil de Artes Plasticas
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
Salon XIII Aniversario del Concurso 26 de Julio de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
Salon Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado (Traveling Exhibition)
La Galeria Matanzas, Matanzas, Cuba
Cede Central del periodico La Unita, Rome, Italy
Sandino y Nicaragua en la Plastica Cubana
Galeria de la Habana, Havana, Cuba
1975
Panorama del Arte Cubano de la Colonia a Nuestros Dias (Traveling Exhibition)
Museo de Arte Modermo, Mexico City, Mexico
Havana, Cuba
II Salon Juvenil de Artes Plasticas
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
XXX Anos Victoriosos
Moscow, Russia
XV Aniversario de los Comites de Defensa se la Revolucion
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
58 Aniversario de la Revolucion de Octubre
Galeria Amelia Pelaez, Havana, Cuba
Arte Cubano Contemporaneo (Traveling Exhibition)
Ministerio de Cultura, Havana, Cuba
Traveled to various venues in Scandinavian countries.
En Homenaje a Antonio Maceo (One Day Event)
Galeria Amelia Pelaez, Havana, Cuba
III Salon de Profesores e Intructores de Artes Plasticas
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
Viva Puerto Rico Libre
Hotel Habana Libre, Havana, Cuba
1974
II Salon Nacional de Profesores e Instructores de Artes Plasticas
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
1973
I Salon Nacional de Profesores e Instructores de Artes Plasticas
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
1970
Salon 70
Museo Nacional, Havana, Cuba
Salon Guerrillero Heroico
Hotel Habana Libre, Havana, Cuba