Henry Ballate
Henry Ballate (b. Aguada de Pasajeros, Cuba, 1966). He is a Cuban-American visual artist, curator and Art History Professor. He received his MFA in Visual Arts and his BFA in Graphic Design from Miami International University of Art and Design (2007). Previously, he studied drawing and painting at the Accademia Italiana in Florence, Italy, and graduated from the Art instructors School in Matanzas, Cuba, (1900). Henry Ballate is an innovative, eclectic and provocative figure in the local art scene. His work is easily recognizable through his use of known iconography, which are essential to his public interventions and appropriations. Throughout his career he has exhibited at solo and group shows in America, Europe, and Asia such as, Galeria, Matanza, Cuba. Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Cuba. Bienal de La Habana, Cuba. Miami Art Basel, FL. US. Miami’s Independent Thinkers, FL. US. Miami International University of Art and Design, FL. US. Soho Arts Miami, FL. US. Arteamérica, FL. US. Solo Art Miami, FL. US. San José’s National Gallery, Costa Rica. National Art Gallery in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Contemporary Art Museum, Moscow, Russia. Vargas Gallery, Pembrokepine, FL. US. London Art Biennale, Chelsea, London, UK. Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL. US, Foosaner Art Museum, Melbourne, FL. US, Cornell Art Museum, Delray Beach, FL. US, Doral Contemporary Art Museum, Doral, FL. US. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, FL. US. His works are part of private collections in Canada, France, Germany, Italy and USA.
STATEMENT
I work in an art form that deals with past and present, from the museum to the screen, mixing traditional methods of painting with the implementation of innovative techniques, giving birth to new works that are rooted in art history. My Fragments are stimulated from the passion of one artist to another showing a wide range of influences, including sources from the Renaissance to contemporary artists. Many of these works were the pornography of my childhood, and still today I look at them with the same curiosity. My process starts with a collage made with the use of a computer. Observing works of art on the computer gives me the possibility of walking into a piece and stop where it provokes and excites me. The ideal model has already been created and has eternal form. I rape it, I use it and destroy it purely for aesthetic reasons, recovering and bringing it out from the darkness, releasing it from its Baroque frame and putting it into contemporary context. Today’s technological advances have shortened our attention spans and my art reflects and even celebrates that reality. Technology has also given me the opportunity to contemplate these works in private; to possess, to penetrate and to make them mine.
Selected Exhibitions
2019 - Foosaner Art Museum, Melbourne, FL. US
2018 - Cornell Art Museum, Delray Beach, FL. US
2018 - Doral Contemporary Art Museum, Doral, FL. US
2018 - MUD Foundation Gallery, Miami, FL. US
2017 - Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL. US
2017 - Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL. US
2016 - Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL. US
2016 - Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, FL. US
2015 - Vargas Gallery, Pembroke Pines, FL. US
2014 - Art-Street Project, Valencia, Spain
2013 - London Art Biennale, Chelsea, London, UK
2013 - Art-Street Project During Art Basel Week, Miami, FL. US
2012 - Vargas Gallery, Pembroke Pines, FL. US
2011 - MIU Gallery, Miami, FL. US
2011 - SOHO Arts, Miami, FL. US
2010 - Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL. US
2009 - Arteamericas, Miami, FL. US
2009 - National Art Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2009 - Galeria Nacional, San Jose, Costa Rica
2008 - Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL. US
2008 - State Art Collection, Tallahassee, FL. US
2007 - FYR Arte Contemporanea, Florence, Italy
2006 - Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL. US
2005 - Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL. US
2004 - Art Miami, Miami, FL. US
2004 - Latin American Art Museum, Miami, US
2003 - Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL. US
2003 - Latin American Art Museum, Miami, US
2002 - Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL. US
2001 - Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL. US
2000 - Sirius Studio Art Gallery, Miami, FL. US
Selected Curated Exhibitions
2020 - Women Artists in the Rodríguez Collection, The Museum of Arts & Sciences (MOAS) Daytona Beach, FL.
2019 - Retratos en chino / Aldo Menéndez Retrospective (1999-2019), Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2019 - Land-Scape of the Cuban Art: Ciro Quintana, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2018 - Cuban Abstractions: Pedro Avila, Pedro de Oraá, José Villa, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2018 - D FINE Artists and Exhibitions in the Rodríguez Collection, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2018 - Miguel Saludes / American Rural Idylls, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2018 - Vicente Dopico-Lerner / Demons Inkpirations, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2018 - Alvaro Labañino / Echoes of Silence, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2018 - Maikel Domínguez / Full of Pollen, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2018 - Unofficial, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2017 - Across Time, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2017 - Artists in Purgatory, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2017 - Cuban Slugger by Reynerio Tamayo, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2016 - Diálogos Místicos by José Bedia, Kendall Art Center, Miami, FL.
2016 - International Group Exhibition, 21 New Abstract, Vargas Gallery, Pembroke Pines, FL.
2015 - Explor-Art Puerto Rico, Group Exhibition, Vargas Gallery, Pembroke Pines, FL.
Bibliography
Ballate, Henry. “D-Fine,” Rodríguez Collection, 2021. ISBN-13 979-8707999192
Ballate, Henry. “Noche Insular: Pedro Ávila Gendis" Art-Solido, 2021. ISBN-13 979-8702933757
Ballate, Henry. “Luna Over Miami: Poesía,” Art-Solido, 2020. ISBN-13 979-8633171136
Ballate, Henry. “Error de Imprenta: Poesía,” Art-Solido, 2020. ISBN-10 1701624265
Ballate, Henry. “Re-Appropriation of Fine Arts Through Technology,” Art-Solido, 2020. ISBN-13 979-8634065700
Ballate, Henry. "Dressed of Waters: Gina Pellón. Rodríguez Collection, 2019. ISBN-13 979-8650950349