Pablo Caviedes

ARTIST STATEMENT

My artistic process reflects my life experience in that it is constantly shifting and being shaped by the cultures of the places in which I have lived - Ecuador (my native country), Paris, Barcelona, and currently New York. It developed through the study of concepts and subjects that either touched or intrigued me, such as the coexistence of human beings with nature. This is evident in my longer series of works "Entre blanco obscuro y Negros claros," "Los Ungulados," "Griots," "Silencio," "Bridges and Ways," "Mannequin," "Nomada," and more recently "On the Map." Some address issues involving social matters, such as the serious political and economic crisis that led to the largest migration in Ecuador, and, in my latest series, the complexity of the origins and identity of the American people as a product of on-going immigration, while others are explorations in aesthetics such as my study of monochromatic colors. Through each work, I sought to provoke some kind of reaction from the viewer - reflection, questioning, empathy, sensitivity –­­ with which to form the basis of a new understanding or perspective on the topic. The mediums I use have been greatly influenced by my exposure to various cultures, which has widened my horizons and led to the adoption of various techniques. While I focus mainly on painting, drawing, etching, sculpture, art object and installations, I have also been working using digital art, 3D painting and animation video, to develop a visual language. These techniques have helped me in expressing my philosophy of life.

BIOGRAPHY 

Born in 1971 in Cotacachi, Ecuador, Pablo Caviedes has been exhibiting his work for more than thirty years. In fact, since 1990, his amazing images have graced several prominent venues in Ecuador; in addition to prestigious exhibits in Paris, Marseille, France; Barcelona, Santa Cruz of Tenerife and Madrid, (Spain); Warsaw, Lublin and Kazimierz Dolny, (Poland); Heidelberg, Berlin, (Germany); Aarhus (Denmark); Tirana, (Albania); Bitola, (North Macedonia); Athens, (Greece); Roma, Sardinia, Lecce and Trento, (Italy); Yoshinogawa, (Japan); Washington D.C., New York, New Jersey, Miami, Palm Beach, Oakland, Atlanta, California, Massachusetts, Colorado Georgia and Ponce, Puerto Rico (USA); Mexico City, Campeche, Culiacán, (Mexico); Santo Domingo, (Dominican Republic); Fortaleza, (Brazil); Buenos Aires, Mendoza, (Argentina). After moving to Manhattan in 2001, he’s been regularly displaying his imaginative, shamanic, and animistic work throughout New York City, along with participating in critically acclaimed group and solo shows within the greater metropolitan area. Like so many first-rate Ecuadorian artists (e.g., Gilberto Almeida, Edgar Reascos, Jorge Perugachy, Fernando Torres and Rosy Revelo), he received his artistic training at the esteemed College of Plastic Arts, Daniel Reyes in San Antonio de Ibarra, Ecuador. Afterward, he studied at the prestigious École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France. In 1994, he received the highly-desirable Paris Prize. Consequently, in 1998 in Paris, he was one of ten artists, under 40 years-of-age, selected for the critically acclaimed, art historically significant, comprehensive and pivotal exhibit titled Emergent Artists from Latin America and the Caribbean, identifying a new generation of important up-and-coming Latino artists. Then, in 2002, while living in Barcelona, Spain, he had a solo show at the Museu Molí Paperer de Capellades. During that time, he was awarded an honorable-mention in Vilassar de Mar, at the Second Biennial International of Painting in Barcelona.

Moving to New York has been an important chapter in the artist's career. It opened new opportunities which resulted in the series of exciting art projects. In 2009, he was selected for an exhibition titled: Fusion: American Classics Meet Latin American Art, at the Biggs Museum of American Art, Dover, Delaware, USA. Also, that year he was selected for the illustrious Ecuadorian Contemporary Art Showat the United Nations, New York. In 2010, his art installation was selected for the 2nd Bronx Latin American Art Biennial in New York City.  During that time, he joined the We Are You (WAY) project, Jersey City, New Jersey, a group whose aesthetic focus spotlights 21st Century immigration reform themes. This participation directly inspired his initial On the Map image. This bold image was originally created in 2011 for the inaugural WAY Project International Exhibit, Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, New York City, along with inspiring all subsequent On the Map variations illuminating his work. In 2012, his animated-film On the Map was selected for the renowned A Frame Apart 2 Short-Film Festival, at the Queens Museum of Art, New York City. Moreover, this film amazed viewers at the International Exhibition on Human Rights, Lecce, Italy; as well as the worldwide #Migrantes Exhibition, Trento, Italy. In 2013, he exposed his works for the first time in Poland, at the Wirydarz Art Gallery in Lublin. In 2014, the film was selected at the 4th Bronx Latin American Art Biennial and presented at two venues in New York, Edgar Allan Poe Park Visitor Center Gallery and Bronx Museum of the Arts. In 2015, Caviedes presented his works at the AQ Art Fair in Quito, Ecuador. That same year, he exhibited his sculptures in Remembering Things Past Exhibition at the Islip Art Museum, New York.

Caviedes presented once again his Nomada solo show in Poland, at the Quantum Gallery in Warsaw in 2016. At the same time his new, short animation movie Pop Art - On the Map, was selected for the International Exhibition on Human Rights Diversity in Trento, Italy as well as other international projects including: Navigare i confini/MigrArti, in Cagliari, Sardigna, Italy. The movie was also presented jointly with the art videos of twenty-eight other international artists, for the Contemporary Visions ∞ Videoart in Loop in different countries and cities including: Italy – Genova, Milano, Napoli, Palermo, Perugia, Rome, Salerno, Torino, Verona, Spain – Murcia, Portugal – Aveiro, Argentina – Mendoza, Greece – Thessaloniki, Bulgaria – Sofia, Serbia – Belgrade, United Kingdom – Britol, Czech Republic – Polnà and Morocco – Casablanca. In November.  Also in 2016, the film was presented at the 29th Festival Les Instants Vidéo in Marseille, France. In 2017 through the representation of ARTI.NYC Gallery, Caviedes’s art began to receive more exposure with some notable international art fairs, beginning with Frieze Week, Superfine Art Fair, in New York City, followed by Spectrum International Art Fair in Miami. In 2018, Caviedes got the opportunity to exhibit, for the first time, several of his On the Map works at the prestigious Art Palm Beach International Art Fair in Florida. Then in New York City his On the Map Obama’s Portrait in 3D was shown at the well–known Scope International Art Fair. Also in 2018, the documentary film Pablo Caviedes ON THE MAP, produced and directed by PH Daniel Sanchez, was selected for the Third Inwood Film Festival in New York City. In 2019, the Ministry of Culture and Heritage of Ecuador published and officially presented his book titled Pablo Caviedes On the Map, with text by Jose Rodeiro. His new, pen on white drawings in cardboard of Craniumsseries were selected for participation in a large exhibition of the New York Latin American Art Triennial 2019, exhibited at the Lehman College Art Gallery.

In 2020, Caviedes’s On the Map book and the documentary were presented by the prestigious American Center for Arts & Culture in Paris, France. In 2021, Caviedes’s book, the documentary film, animation art videos and selected works from the On the Map series were part of the Human Crossing project, at the Fondazione Opera Campana dei Caduti Museum in Trento Italy. Later that year, he presented his works in a solo show titled MONO+COLOR at the CJ.ONE gallery in New York City, which was followed by a solo exhibition of his works in silk, as well as the On the Map book and the documentary film presentation at the MAAC Museum of Contemporary Art in Guayaquil, Ecuador.At the beginning of 2022, Caviedes´s series of works Craniums were presented at the exhibition Pandemic Art 1.0, Articulate and published in a book under the same title, in Aarhus, Denmark. That same year, he went to show his works at the NOmade Biennial in Fortaleza, Brazil, which was followed by another participation with his On the Map project and included his graphic works, the book presentation and a documentary screening at the historic Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, in Mexico City. Also in 2022, his graphic works were selected for presentation at the International Biennial of Graphic Arts in Tirana, Albania and for the international graphic show titled GBC-MiniPrint in Berlin, Germany.

At the beginning of 2023, one of his art video works was selected and presented at the collective exhibition “Earth ONE” at the Lite-Haus gallery in Berlin, Germany, which followed his participation in the international engraving exhibition entitled “Self Portrait” at the Pandolfini & Siaterli Graphic Art Center in Athens, Greece. He joined a group of Ibero-American artists in the international graphic exhibition titled “Las Mil 1 Estampas.” This project was carried out throughout the year, in Mexico City, Mexico. His digital artwork, Metamorphosis of Death, was selected for the First International Biennial FMGC in Culiacan, Mexico, which was followed by his solo exhibition at Governors Island, New York, at the invitation of the PTM Contemporary. In September 2023, he presented his works at the Art on Paper New York Art Fair in collaboration with the ArteLatAm artists. A month later, Caviedes participated and obtained an Honorable Mention in the 6th edition of the Awagami International graphics competition and exhibition in Yoshinogawa, Japan. Following this, Caviedes presented his On the Map project which included the On the Map book presentation, his documentary film and the series of silk works, at the Miami Hispanic Cultural Arts Center in the city of Miami followed by a participation at the AQUA International Art Fair represented by the LAAP – the Latin American Art Pavilion Gallery (Booth#119).  At the end of 2023, the artist took part in the First International Biennale of Miniature Art Graphics & Drawing in Bitola, North Macedonia.

In Spring 2024, Caviedes presented a large solo exhibition with over 40 works titled On the Map & Cranium Collection at Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba in NYC. In summer 2024 Caviedes participated in a group show at the Geological Museum of Space Art in Warsaw, where he showed his works in silk. That followed his creation of a large mural painting which was part of the annual Night of Culture event in Lublin, Poland. That project has brought Caviedes a lot of attention. Back in New York Caviedes showed his “Mannequin” series in a solo exhibition at the Sojourner Gallery. In the Fall he presented his etching works at the international graphic exhibition Grabado Sobre Metal at the Spark Sitio de Arte in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Throughout the 2025, Caviedes had worked on a major solo Public Art show, accomplishing 32 works under the title The Unknown Way, which was exhibited in November across the 8 blocks on a busy Broadway Avenue in New York City and could be seen by thousands of passersby.