Tomas Esson

Springbreak

Long Lake Estates

Tomas Esson was born in 1963 in Havana, Cuba and now lives and works in Miami, Florida. From his very first exhibition in Havana, Cuba in 1988, which was censored and closed by Cuban authorities, Esson has developed a major body of expressionist paintings, emerging as one of the most dynamic voices of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora.

Esson was among the most celebrated handful of young Cuban artists in exile from what was called the “Generation of the '80s”, artists who grew up in Cuba after the 1959 revolution. The younger generation was given artistic encouragement, for Esson it meant more artistic freedom.  His work began to involve social commentary.  Beast-human hybrids and sheer monstrosities, often in distorted poses, populated his paintings, drawings, and sculptures.  By the late 1980s, however, he had gone too far in revolutionary themes for the Cuban government.  He began to exhibit internationally in a number of controversial exhibitions and in 1990, he left Cuba for New York City and Miami. 

In 2020-21, Esson was the subject of a 30-year career retrospective The GOAT held at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami.

Articles:

Tomás Esson: The GOAT — Solo museum presentation at the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami