The National Council of the Plastic Arts awarded its 2014 National Award to artist Lázaro Saavedra “in recognition of his creative career and values of a work characterized by conceptualism and management of humor and irony.”
Member of PURE, one of the groups that carried out the artistic movement of the eighties in Cuba, Saavedra (Havana, 1964) has developed a versatile work regarding the employment of means of expression.
His creations have been recognized both inside and outside of Cuba and he has developed an outstanding educational work in the training of several generations of Cuban artists.
Saavedra has been a critical artist who has believed from the beginning in the marked social function of art. He has made some controversial performances like Muriendo Libre, last December, in which sarcasm and double entendre play predominant roles. Innovative, daring, iconoclastic and transgressive, he recently presented in Havana Gallery a retrospective of his work.
The jury in this case was presided over by Eduardo Ponjuán National Arts Award 2013, and composed also by National Awards for Visual Arts Osneldo Garcia, Pedro Pablo Oliva, René de la Nuez, Jose Villa, Nelson Dominguez, Ernesto Fernández Nogueras and Ever Fonseca; artists Iván Capote, Abel Barreto and Abel Barroso; Manuel López Oliva, Critical Award for the Work Life and art critics María de los Ángeles Pereira, David Mateo and Axel Li.
For the award were nominated by 25 institutions José Antonio Choy, Lesbia Vent Dumois, Salvador Corratgé, Zaida del Rio, Roberto Salas, Juan Moreira, Pedro de Oráa, José Manuel Fors, Alberto Lescay, Alexis Leyva Machado (Kcho), Eduardo Roca (Choco ), Manuel Valdés Hernández, Rafael Zarza and Rocio Garcia.
Saavedra works are part of the collections of the National Fine Arts Museaum, of Cuba; Galleries Ludwig Forum, Germany and Daros, Switzerland.
Saavedra studied from 1976 to 1979 in the “20 de Octubre” Elementary School of Fine Arts and from 1979 to 1983 at the State School of Fine Arts San Alejandro. Finally from 1983 to 1988 he completed his training at the Higher Institute of Arts (ISA by its Spanish acronym). Member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, the artist has several solo and group exhibitions and has participated in several national and international events such as the Venice Biennale.
Among his awards are first place in theMarti Seminar, with the exhibition Homenaje at ISA in 1986; Grand Prize First Festival of creation and research in 1987 and the award for National Culture in 1999. It is comforting to know that the National Arts Council gives an annual award to the genuine talent and not to the longevity of its artists.
