Diango Hernandez

Born in 1970 in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, Diango Hernandez lives and works in Dusseldorf. Hernandez uses a range of media, focusing primarily on drawing and installation. He creates images and objects characterized by a poetic literalness streaked with dark humor. Marked by the Cuban economic crisis that followed the dismantlement of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, his visual lexicon often borrows elements from socialist iconography. Hernandez’s works denounces his native country’s precarious socio-economic situation but also celebrates the ingenuity of individuals caught in social turmoil who find personal solutions to compensate for the basic necessities that the system is unable to provide. Hernandez is the co-founder of Ordo Amoris Cabinet (1994-2003), an artist collaborative that re-created basic amenities to illustrate the destituteness of extreme poverty while suggesting that such conditions may be a site of creative potential.

Recent solo exhibitions include ”Third Hand” at Alexander and Bonin, New York (2009), "Out-of-place artifacts" at Barbara Thumm, Berlin / Michael Wiesehàfer, Cologne (2008), “Inspire me, Again” at Stella Lohaus Gallery, Antwerp (2008), “Diamonds and Stones: My Education” at Federico Luger Gallery, Milan (2008), "Diamonds" at Miart, Milan (2008) and “Victoria” at the National Museum, Warsaw, Poland (2007). His work has been shown in numerous museums and international exhibitions, notably "Open Plan Living", Art TLV, Helena Rubinstein Pavilion & Gan Ka'akov, Tel Aviv (2008), the 2nd Seville Biennial, Spain (2006), the 27th Sao Paulo Biennale (2006), the 2006 Sydney Biennial and the 51st Venice Biennale as part of “Always a little further” presented in the Arsenale (2005).

Diango Hernandez is represented by Alexander and Bonin, New York, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin, Galerie Michael Wiesehàfer, Cologne, Galeria Pepe Cobo, Madrid, Frederico Luger Gallery, Milan and Pablo Maria Deanesi, Rovereto.