Antonia Eiriz

Antonia Eiriz Vázquez (1929–1995) She began her studies of fine arts at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro" in 1953. While there, she exhibited her work with artists that would become known as Los Once ("the group of eleven"), one of whom, Guido Llinás, would become a close friend and mentor. Eiriz graduated from San Alejandro in 1957.

Eiriz continued to be active and influential force in the arts following the 1959 Cuban Revolution. In 1964, she held three solo shows (two in Cuba and one in Mexico), in which she would position herself as "one of the strongest voices in the art landscape of Cuba". Eiriz's career took a sharp turn by the end of the decade when her 1968 work Una tribuna para la paz democratica ("a platform for democratic peace") was deemed "defeatist" by the Cuban government, which effectively marked her as a dissident. Upon arriving in the US she returned to painting and lived the final two years of her life in Miami, Florida. In 1989 the Cuban government awarded her the Félix Varela Order; in 1994 she was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Eiriz's mentorships during her period of imposed retirement gave her a new level of influence over the younger generation of Cuban artists.

Her paintings are prominently featured in the features of filmmaker Miguel Coyula.

Her work is included in the permanent collection of Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana and NSU Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale.

Selected solo exhibitions

1964 Ensamblajes, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana 1964 Pinturas y ensamblajes, Galería La Habana, Havana 1993 Antonia Eiriz se expone: Óleos sobre telas y tintas, Weiss Sori Gallery, Coral Gables, FL 1993 Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY 1995 Antonia Eiriz: Tributo a una leyenda; Óleos, pinturas, tintas, grabados, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL