Professional Background

Tomás Esson (b. 1963, Havana, Cuba) graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, in 1987. His work was showcased in a number of controversial exhibitions in the late 1980s, is a contemporary painter known for his politically charged, grotesque, and erotic neo-expressionist works that evolved into abstract pieces later in his career. A central figure in the 1980s Cuban art renaissance, move to the United States in 1990, where he has lived and worked in cities like Miami and New York. His art is held in major collections worldwide, and he had a significant retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, in 2020–21. Esson's work is featured in important international collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, and the Perez Art Museum in Miami. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions internationally since the 1980s.