G U I L L E R M O   P O R T I E L E S

When the Secret Police came to artist Guillermo Portieles' house studio in Havana on February 1989, he knew he was in trouble...and he knew why. The roots of his crime began in his childhood, in the district of Marianao in the capital city, when he refused to go to the regular school with the other children.

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Guillermo was born a Cuban " habanero in Marianao a suburb of Habana " – from campesino parents, in 1963, not very long after the Castro takeover of the island. His early childhood was typical of working-class Cubans of that era: A few hours of schooling each day, some hours helping with chores, all of it mingled with lazy hours playing with friends in the humid Cuban sunshine. But early on he discovered the pleasure of drawing -- first, with crayons on scavenged paper, then with brushes and paints on paper, or wood, or anything he could find -- and by the time he was entering his teen years, his painting endeavors occupied him so much that he ceased playing with his peers, gave up sandlot "futbol" games (soccer), and virtually secluded himself in the pursuit of his artistic potential.

Portieles's father ( Lazaro ) didn't think much of his son's goals. The life of an artist, a painter, was not a thing he wanted to encourage in his son. Nor did his mother ( Ramona ) view such a life as the best outcome for her child. But she did love him dearly, perhaps especially among her children, and wanted him "only to be happy." If art was the thing that made him happy, then that much she would grant him.

Under Castro, Cuba's public school system was built on the Soviet Russian model: basic schooling to age 14, then tracked toward higher education in specialized fields, if you had the talent, or into the working trades if you didn't. The school nearest Guillermo's home didn't offer the higher fields, and the only foreign language it taught was Russian, so he begged his parents to let him transfer to a school outside his district that taught English. Thanks to a recommendation from a kindly neighbor, he was accepted there into an Arts program from which he graduated in 1981. Later, in 1986, he graduated from the San Alejandro School of Fine arts -- with the equivalent of a B.A. in the U.S. university system -- and won permission to enroll for post-grad work in the Institute of Superior Arts in Havana. For the next few years, while working in teaching positions at Havana and attending school, he continued to develop his artistic vision, always searching for subject matter and viewpoints that spoke from his heart and mind to the beholders of his work. And that was what got him into trouble.

By early 1989, Guillermo had strayed from the accepted and safe arena of Cuban "Revolutionary Art." Increasingly, his work depicted visions that were -- to say the least -- less than wholly admiring of Fidel Castro and the communist regime. When he produced a large painting of Fidel in full olive-drab uniform, but with horse-blinders on his head, an informant turned him in to the Secret Police. Apparently, the mere idea of painting Fidel as a dray-horse, incapable of seeing anything outside the narrow tunnel of socialist/communist vision, simply could not be permitted. The charge against Guillermo was "Propaganda Politica" (political propaganda), a very serious crime at the time.

Guillermo faced a draconian choice: (a) Submit to the overview of Cuban political correctness and deny his personal artistic vision, or (b) be sentenced to one of Cuba's infamous prisons, or (c) voluntarily leave Cuba and go into exile. He chose exile.

With help from his family, Guillermo went to Panama, a country with friendly relations with Cuba. From there, he flew to the Dominican Republic where he obtained a teaching position at UCE (East Central University). Unfortunately, the George H.W. Bush-appointed U.S Ambassador in the D.R. denied him a visa as a refugee. Portieles remained in the Dominican Republic for a year. Across the ocean in Tampa, FL, his mother was ill, much to his sadness, he did not receive his red-cross visa in time to be at his mother farewell. She died suddenly in the night from a heart attack .One year later, the new U.S. Ambassador appointed by President Clinton, granted him an entry visa as a political refugee to America. Portieles had relatives in both Tampa and Miami and in October of 1991, he landed in Miami meeting his godfather who drove him to Tampa.


In Tampa, working in the freedom America grants to all artists, Guillermo's artistic career was reborn -- a career that has already earned him acclaim, producing a body of work attracting discerning collectors around the world. And with no Secret Police to tell him what he can or cannot paint.

RESUME
ARTISTIC EDUCATION
1990-91 Attended the Seminar at the Rene Portocarrero Serigraphy Workshops – Habana, Cuba
1988 Studied in the I.S.A Institute of Superior Fine Arts – Habana, Cuba
1986 Graduate of San Alejandro School of Fine Arts – Habana, Cuba
1980-86 Attended Eduardo Abela Fine Arts Workshop – Habana, Cuba
1981 Graduate of Ciudad Libertad School of Sign and Interior Design – Habana, Cuba


FINE ARTS PROFESSIONAL
1990-91 Professor of Artistic Drawing and Architectural Design in Universidad Central del Este (UCE) – San Pedro de Macoris, The Dominican Republic
1987-90 Professor of Art at the Economy School, – Municipio Playa, Cuba
1986-87 Professor of Art at the Politecnico Amistad – Habana, Cuba
1983-84
Professor of Fine Arts at Renato Guitart High School – Municipio Playa, Cuba


SOLO SHOWS
2005 Lo que Cuba USA, AzucArt Gallery (April) Coral Gables-Miami,FL
2004 Cuba Yes, Yankee See, Matthews Gallery – Tampa, FL
2003 Malanga Se Fue, HCC Dale Mabry Campus Art Gallery –Tampa, FL
2000 Rescue from Reality, Fusion Gallery – St. Petersburg, FL
1993 Habana, Caba–a, Papaya, 18 Thirteen Gallery – Ybor City – Tampa, FL
1993
Desde Cuba a Santo Domingo, Casa de Teatro Gallery – Santo Domingo,Dominican Republic
1992 Between Two Rivers, Wilfredo Lam Art Gallery of Universidad Central del Este – San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic
1981 Libertad Technological School Gallery, – Habana, Cuba


COLLECTIVE SHOWS
2005 Nueva Voces Latinas, Oct.20th - Dec.10th 2005 – CFCC – Ocala, FL
2005 Gasparilla Art Festival, March 2005 – Tampa FL
2004 Cuerpos Pintados, AzucArt Gallery (November 5) – Coral Gable, FL
2004 Gala Corina, (Ser Libre) ( November 5) – Tampa, FL
2004 Oye Tampa, Covivant Gallery (July 23) – Tampa, FL
2004 Oye Tampa, Spain Restaurant (February 26) – Tampa, FL
2003 Gala Corina, {MILAGRO} (November 7) –Ybor Square ,Tampa, FL
2003 Sola Creo, The Pier (June 13-15) – St.Petersburg, FL
2002 Gala Corina, Tyen Temple (November 8) –Tampa, FL
2002 Café II, - The Journeys of Cuban Artist, Gallery of Contemporary Art (October 11 – November 2) – University of Colorado Springs
2002 Urban Swank, The Museum of Fine Arts (October 11) – St. Petersburg, FL
2002 Ciguaraya, Hyde Park Fine Arts (October 4 – 26) – Tampa, FL
2000 Valentine Peep Show #2, Hyde Park Fine Art Gallery (February) – Tampa, FL
1999 ABC, (September) – Atlanta, GA
1999 Bay Area Artist, Fusion Gallery (July) – St. Petersburg, FL
1999 Three by Three – Kis, Diaz and Portieles, Hyde Park Fine Art Gallery (June) – Tampa, FL
1999 Valentine Peep Show, Hyde Park Fine Art Gallery (February) –Tampa, FL
1998 HOTEL (L), Tahitian Inn –Tampa, FL
1997 Swank O Roma, 18 Thirteen & Silver Meteor Galleries –Tampa, FL
1997
BRAC Bird Road Art Connection, 18 Thirteen & Silver Meteor Galleries – Miami, Tampa, FL
1997 Art Connection, The Consulate General of Mexico – Miami, FL
1996 Marais, Paul, Portieles, 18 Thirteen Gallery –Ybor City – Tampa, FL
1996 Nocturne des Arts, Florida Orchestra Benefit, 18 Thirteen Gallery – Tampa, FL
1995 Collateral Collective Show, Educational Leadership Lobby Center – Orlando, FL
1995 Collective Show, La Boheme – Coral Gables, FL
1995 A Preview of This Year's Talent, Moss Gallery – Port Charlotte, FL
1994 Enigma (Diversion I), Artist Unlimited –Tampa, FL
1994 Herencia Espa–ola de las Artes, Sociedad Cubana – Orlando, FL
1994 Hispanic Heritage Collective, Hillsborough Community College, Ybor City Gallery – Tampa, FL
1993 Tampa Hispanic Heritage Art Expo, Hillsborough Community College –Tampa, FL
1992 Evening at the Vonoy Hotel, SunCoast Hospital Foundation –St. Petersburg, FL
1990 Collective Exhibit, Eduardo Abela Workshop – Habana, Cuba
1990


La Habana Biannual Collateral Collective Exhibits, Students of Superior Institute of Art I.S.A. – Habana, Cuba
1984 Three by Three, Wilfredo Lam Gallery – Habana, Cuba
1981 Contest of Fine Arts, San Alejandro School of Art – Habana, Cuba
1979 Exhibits of Selected Student Works, Tecnologico Ciudad Libertad Gallery – Habana, Cuba


AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
2005 Award of Merit, Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of Arts, Tampa, FL (March -05)
1997 Best Upcoming Artist, Weekly Planet Newspaper's annual Best of the Bay – Tampa, FL
1993 Honorable Mention, Seventh Annual Tampa Hispanic Heritage Poster Contest – Tampa, FL
1986 Award in Fine Arts, Salon Playa 86' – Habana, Cuba
1984 Recognized in Drawing Contest, – San Alejandro, Cuba
1980 Drawing Award, C-Libertad – Habana, Cuba