Juan Carlos Alom

Juan Carlos Alom (born December 1964) is a Cuban photographer and filmmaker.

Biography Juan Carlos Alom was born in December 1964 in Havana, Cuba. He has been active since the beginning of the 1990’s. Alom worked with a distinctive visual language in his photos, which empathized symbolism, improvisation, and an overall connection to Cuba’s culture and landscapes.

In 2023, Alom was the Mellon Artist in Residence at Hemisphere Institute, from the Hemispheric Institute of Performance & Politics New York University.

Education In 1989, Juan Carlos Alom received a formal education at two institutions: The Studio of Restoration of Photographic Images at the Cuban Photographic Library, and the Studio of Manipulated Photography at the Cuban Photographic Library. One year later in 1990, he also attended the Semiotic Studio of Urban Environment at the International Institute of Journalism. These schools were located in Havana, where he studied restoring film negatives and photographic images. He studied under a photographer named Gerardo Suter, which is where he learned the importance of symbolism in photos, which would later become one of the most defining aspects of his work.

Nacimiento de una Tierra (Birth of a Land) Alom’s work mainly centered around Afro-Cuban religious practices. One of his series, titled Nacimiento de una Tierra(Birth of a Land) from 2010, details a ritual held by an all male religious secret society known as the Abakuá. In an interview with Iberia Pérez González, Alom describes that the ritual was held in memory of two members of the brotherhood that had passed, and he was asked to document the ritual in order to share it with members located in the United States. In the series, Alom captures the intricate connection between music, dance, and spiritual symbolism illustrated in the ritual. Something important worth noting is Alom’s authenticity, with him respecting the secrecy of the Abakuá’s practices, embracing the limitations of documenting these secret practices.

El libro oscuro (The Dark Book) and The Special Period Another important series Alom worked on is El libro oscuro (The Dark Book) which was shot from 1991 to 1995. For Cuba, the 1990’s was known as “The Special Period.” Up to this point, Cuba’s economy had been relying on the Soviet Union, and when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Cuba’s economy was severely effected. Resources like film and other photographic materials were very scarce, so Alom was forced to ration the resources he had. He learned how to use expired film and X-Ray chemicals to continue his work. Due to the properties of old film, his pictures appeared much darker and dreamlike. The main focus of “The Dark Book” centered around Afro-Cuban Myths.

Artistic style Most of Alom’s photos are made using black-and-white film rather than color film. In an interview, 2013 – 1989-2012 Fotografías de Juan Carlos Alom, BuzzArt, Miami 2009 – Esperamos en el Monte Claro, Galería Villa Manuela, Havana, Cuba 2003 – Ritual a la Ceiba. 8th Havana Biennial, Cuba 2001 – Shifting Tides: Cuban photography after the Revolution. Tim B. Wride, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles 2001 – Sombras Espesas. Throckmorton Gallery, New York City. 2000 – Sombras Secretas, Throckmorton Fine Art, New York City 1998 – Iturralde Gallery, West Hollywood, California 1996 – " The Dark Book/El Libro Oscuro. Juan Carlos Alom", Throckmorton Fine Art, Inc., New York City 1996 – "El voluble rostro de la realidad ", Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales(CDAV), Havana 1995 – "Arenas Movedizas" together with Luis Gómez this was part of a very large visual event "Una de Cada Clase" organized by Ludwig Foundation in Cuba 1990 – "Laura", Fototeca de Cuba, Havana

Group exhibitions 2024 – "Attitüde", Fabian & Claude Walter Galerie, Zurich 2020 – Allied with Power: African and African Diaspora Art from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Pérez Art Museum Miami 2004 – "Mapas Abiertos, 100 Años de la Fotografía Latinoamericana", Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, Spain 2004 – "Mapas Abiertos, 100 Años de la Fotografía Latinoamericana"; Palau de la Virreina, Barcelona, Spain 1999 – "Queloides", Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba 1999 – "Latinoamérica 92", Kuntbysningen, Denmark

Screenings 2009 – Experimental video and video art: Artists from Cuba. Museo D'Antioquia, Colombia 2009 – Diario. Salle Zero, Alianza Francesa, Havana, Cuba. 2008 – Habana Solo. Visionarios, Audiovisual en Latinoamérica, São Paulo: Itaú Cultural, Brazil 2008 – Las ciudades invisibles, Videos sobre Arte, Arquitectura y Ciudad. Colegio Territorial de Arquitectos, Valencia, Spain 2007 – Ultramar, Videoartistas hispanoamericanos. Centro Cultural São Paulo, Brazil 2007 – Habana Solo. Ambulante Gira de Documentales, Mexico 2006 – Fast Forward III, 28 Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, Havana, Cuba 2004 – Presentación de Habana Solo, 15 min en película de 16 mm. Video Marathon. Museo del Barrio, New York City 2004 – Pabellón Cuba, 35 mm b/n 54´. 8th Havana Biennial, Cuba. 2004 – Iroko. 16 mm b/n 15´. Ciudadela La California. 8th Havana Biennial, Cuba. 2003 – 17e Encontres video art plastique. Wharf Centre d'Art Contemporain de Basse Normandie, France

Collections Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California Ludwig Forum for International Art, Germany Fototeca de Cuba, Havana IF, Milan, Italy Bronx Museum, New York City FOTOFEST, Houston, Texas Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, Florida

Publications Osvaldo Salas, Roberto Salas, & Gregory Tozian. Fidel's Cuba: A Revolution in Pictures; (Atria Books/Beyond Words 1999); José Veigas-Zamora, Cristina Vives Gutierrez, Adolfo V. Nodal, Valia Garzon, Dannys Montes de Oca. Memoria: Cuban Art of the 20th Century; (California/International Arts Foundation 2001); José Veigas. Memoria: Artes Visuales Cubanas Del Siglo Xx; (California Intl Arts 2004);