René Peña

René Peña

Havana, Cuba (1957)
About Artist
René de Jesús Peña González (Havana, 1957) is a distinguished self-taught photographer and a graduate in English Language from the Higher Pedagogical Institute for Foreign Languages at the University of Havana. Since 1991, he has presented numerous solo exhibitions both in Cuba and abroad, including notable appearances at the VI Havana Biennial and galleries in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Spain, Haiti, and Germany. His work explores themes of identity, rituals, and corporeality, earning him recognition as a significant figure in Cuban visual arts. Over the years, Peña has also participated in a wide range of international group exhibitions, such as the 2022 Dakar Biennale, the XI Festival of Photography and Video in the Dominican Republic, and showcases across Europe, Africa, and Latin America. His art has been featured in renowned institutions, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Rennes, France, and the Larivière Foundation in Argentina. These opportunities highlight his contributions to contemporary Cuban art and his ability to connect local themes with global perspectives. Peña’s work is part of esteemed collections worldwide, such as the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba, the Southeast Museum of Photography in the United States, the MALBA in Argentina, and private collections in… Read more Show less

René de Jesús Peña González (Havana, 1957) is a distinguished self-taught photographer and a graduate in English Language from the Higher Pedagogical Institute for Foreign Languages at the University of Havana. Since 1991, he has presented numerous solo exhibitions both in Cuba and abroad, including notable appearances at the VI Havana Biennial and galleries in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Spain, Haiti, and Germany. His work explores themes of identity, rituals, and corporeality, earning him recognition as a significant figure in Cuban visual arts.

Over the years, Peña has also participated in a wide range of international group exhibitions, such as the 2022 Dakar Biennale, the XI Festival of Photography and Video in the Dominican Republic, and showcases across Europe, Africa, and Latin America. His art has been featured in renowned institutions, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Rennes, France, and the Larivière Foundation in Argentina. These opportunities highlight his contributions to contemporary Cuban art and his ability to connect local themes with global perspectives.

Peña’s work is part of esteemed collections worldwide, such as the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba, the Southeast Museum of Photography in the United States, the MALBA in Argentina, and private collections in Switzerland, Germany, and the United Kingdom. This broad recognition underscores the global relevance of his work and its enduring impact.

Among his many accolades, Peña received First Prize at the 2002 Caribbean Biennial and the Distinction for Cuban Culture from the Cuban Ministry of Culture. His work has been extensively documented in international publications, further cementing his role as a key contributor to Cuban photography and contemporary Cuban art.

Subjects Human Figure, Representations of Everyday Objects
Mediums & techniques Mixed-Media
Curriculum
Solo Exhibitions
1991- Crónicas de la Ciudad. Fototeca de Cuba, Havana, Cuba. 1993- Muestra Fotográfica. La Madriguera, Havana, Cuba. Limbos del Caribe. Fotografías [Rogelio Álvarez, René Peña, Manuel Piña]. Domingo Ravenet Art Gallery, Havana, Cuba. 1995- El cocinero, el ladrón, su mujer y su amante. Yara Cultural Complex, Havana, Cuba. 1996-Doctrinas de 10 Impropios. Fototeca de Cuba, Havana, Cuba. Dakota Blue, Rituales y Autorretrato. El Voluble rostro de la realidad. Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, Center for the Development of Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba. 1997-Man Made Materials. René Portocarrero Artistic Serigraphy Workshop, Havana, Cuba. Memorias de la Carne. VI Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba. Contemporary Image from Cuba. Absolute La International. Biennial Art Invitational 1997, Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, USA. 1998- Burden and Blessing. Art Beat Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA. Dos caras de una moneda [René Peña/Eduardo Santos]. Jornadas de la Fotografía Cubana, Monachil City Hall, Spain. 1999- Cartas. Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, Fototeca de Cuba, Havana, Cuba. Rites. Bourbon-Lally Gallery, Pétionville, Haiti. 2000- René Peña. Fotografías. Joan Guaita Art, Palma de Mallorca, Spain. 2001- Piel Negra, cosas blancas. Espacio Abierto, Havana. Man Made Materials. Suyama Space, Seattle, USA.  
Group Exhibitions
2020- A imagen y semejanza. Del prejuicio de las verdades. FAC (Fábrica de Arte Cubano), Havana, Cuba. Son de la Habana. Artizar Gallery, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. 10 de 500. La cuadratura del círculo. Factoría Habana, Havana, Cuba. En Diálogo. Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Canary Islands, Spain. The Visual Life of Social Affliction. Tent Rotterdam, Netherlands. Silent Specific. Online Exhibition, Havana, Cuba. 2022-Cómo la caña. Factoría Diseño, Havana, Cuba. Dakar Biennale 2022 (La Havane Forge des Suds), Dakar, Senegal. Los sueños de la mujer araña. Fotografía Latinoamericana. Larivière Foundation, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2023- Requiem. Arco de Belén Space, Havana, Cuba. Foto Cuba. Artes de Cuba Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. ¡Mírame madre! Herencia africana y arte contemporáneo cubano. International Press Center, Havana, Cuba. Tout le poids d’une île. Museum of Fine Arts, Rennes, France. 2024- Maco Art Fair 2024. Artizar Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico. Más allá de las raíces. Factoría Diseño, Havana, Cuba. Black & White. Trazos cubanos. San Ramón Art Gallery, Dominican Republic. Havana Biennial. Baltic Sea Biennial, Kunsthalle Rostock Art Gallery, Germany. Memoria Reciente: Prácticas contemporáneas en la colección CAAM. CAAM, Gran Canaria, Spain. Paisaje infinito. Jeff Art Gallery, Havana, Cuba. De l’autre côté de l’Atlantique. L’art cubaine. Musée Mohammed VI d’art moderne et contemporain, Morocco. XI Festival of Photography and Video PHOTOIMAGEN with Marta María Pérez Bravo and Priscilla Monge, Dominican Republic.
Prizes and Mentions
1992: First Prize in Black & White Photography, III Photography Competition of the UCCI, Spain. 1993: Mention in the II International Photography Salon Abelardo Rodríguez Ante, Havana, Cuba. 1993: Honorable Mention, UNESCO/ACCU Japan World Photography Competition “The Family.” 1995: Honorable Mention, I Contemporary Cuban Art Salon, Fototeca de Cuba, Havana, Cuba. 1996: “Premio Olorum Cubano,” awarded by the Cuban Photography Fund (FCIF). 2002: First Prize, IV Caribbean Biennial, Santo Domingo. 2002: Distinction for Cuban Culture, awarded by the National Council of Plastic Arts and the Ministry of Culture, Havana, Cuba.
Collections

National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
Nuestra América Collection, Casa de las Américas, Havana, Cuba.
Fototeca de Cuba, Havana, Cuba.
Habana Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, Havana, Cuba.
Reinhard Schultz Collection, Germany.
Toscano Photographic Archive, Italy.
Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona, USA.
Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA.
Duhran Contemporary Art Gallery, New Mexico, USA.
Throckmorton Fine Arts, New York, USA.
Hainaut Province Collection, Belgium.
Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, USA.
Beatrice Liaskowski Collection, Zurich, Switzerland.
Reynald Lally Collection, Haiti/USA.
Farber Collection, Florida, USA.
MALBA (Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Andreas Winkler Collection, Zurich, Switzerland/Havana, Cuba.
Factoría Habana, Havana, Cuba.
Contemporary Afro-Cuban Art Collection by Chris von Christierson, London, UK.
The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, USA.
Harvard University Latin American Studies Institute, USA.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. Collection, Cambridge, USA.
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, USA.

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