margarita cano

Margarita Cano was born in Havana, Cuba in 1932. Cano is a self-taught naive artist with a very personal view that reflects her Cuban roots. She is currently working in one of a kind art books as well as painting wooden boxes with themes derived from her paintings.

In 1993, Cano retired as Coordinator of Community Relations and Art Services Department from the Miami-Dade Public Library System. Since, painting became her full time job. Her work has been seen at several solo and group shows. She has also written and illustrated several children’s books.

She is listed in “Who’s Who in American Art.”

ARTIST STATEMENT

“My paintings are a window into a dream world of memories which are unattainable but become alive in my pictorial narratives. With metaphors and allegories I retell the story of Cuba so close to us and yet so far away. I will continue my quest in pursuit of a happy closure to this never ending saga.”

TRANSCENDING EXILE

Margarita Cano transforms memory into magic.

Biblical and art historical allusions monumentalize the daily grievances of contemporary life in Cuba.

Cano’s work is reminiscent of the illuminated manuscripts of the High Middle Ages. Distant memory and loss have a way of transforming even the prosaic into a magical recollection. In Cano’s work, the idealized landscapes of her beloved island serve as setting for the interaction of the sacred and the mundane.

Throughout her work, the tension between surface ornamentation and three-dimensionality is enhanced by the rich jewel-like finish that belies the presence of the brush. This tension strengthens the narrative content of the work. It is in the storytelling that Cano invites the viewer to partake of here memory and her magic.

Marijean Miyar
Art Historian



SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1993 - DREAMING CUBA
Gallery of the Eccentric
Coral Gables, Florida


1998 - VISIONS AND DEFINITIONS
Cultural Resource Center
Miami, Florida


2003 - TRANSCENDING EXILE
Coral Gables Library
Coral Gables, Florida


2005 - CUBA-PARADISE LOST
Books and Books
Coral Gables, Florida


CUBA-PARADISE LOST
Connors Rosato Gallery
New York, New York


2006 - MEMORIES AND METAPHORS
Oñate Fine Art
Miami, Florida


2007 - IMAGES AND MEMORIES
Cremata Fine Art
Miami, Florida


2008 - DIVINE PRESENCE/ PRESENCIA DIVINA
Viota Gallery
San Juan, Puerto Rico


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1993 - EXODUS
South Florida Art Center
Miami Beach, Florida


1994 - ANGELS AND DEMONS
Gallery of the Eccentric
Coral Gables, Florida


3 X 5 PROJECT
South Florida Art Center
Miami Beach, Florida


2002 - A IS FOR ART
South Florida Art Center
Miami, Florida


2003 - SUMMER SHOW
Cultural Resource Center
Miami, Florida


2007 - THE CUBAN EXPERIENCE
University of Miami Library
Coral Gables, Florida