Kcho

Alexis Leiva Machado, known as KCHO (sometimes spelled K'cho) is a Cuban artist. He was the winner of the grand prize at South Korea's Gwangju Biennale in 1995.

Early life and education

Alexis Leiva Machado (KCHO) was born in Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Pines), on February 12, 1970. His father, Ignacio de Loyola Leiva Abreu, was a carpenter and telecommunication technician, and his mother, Martina Primitiva Machado Cuní (better known as Martha Camacho) was a famous artist. He grew up alongside his four sisters.

KCHO attended Josué País primary school and Manuel Alcolea primary school. He then attended Elementary Art School Leonardo Liberta in Isla de la Juventud.

In 1986, KCHO enrolled in the National School of Plastic Arts (ENA) in Havana and graduated in 1990, specializing in painting and sculpture. In 1986, he had a solo exhibition "Kcho Expone Favelas" at the Centre of Plastic Arts in Nueva Gerona. One of KCHO's works from his graduation thesis Paisaje Popular Cubano (Cuban Popular Landscape) (1990) was selected for the permanent collection displayed at the Fine Arts Museum of Cuba (MNBA).

Work KCHO has gained a knowledge of a range of engraving techniques. His interest in this area made him create or restore a series of Engraving Workshops all along Cuba, which facilitated the creative work of artists and students specialised in this branch of the plastic arts in the country.

Career

1990s

Beyond his studies, KCHO began displaying works in individual and group exhibitions from 1990 onwards.

In 1991, KCHO had his first solo exhibition at the MNBA, as part of their "Artist of the Month" series. In the same year, he was awarded the Prize granted by the National Group of Art Schools' Teachers at the Centre of Plastic Arts and Design of Havana, Cuba.

In 1993, Kcho exhibited his works in Cuba, the United States, Mexico, and Holland, among other countries.

In 1994, he won a scholarship to the Ludwig Foundation for art studies in Aachen, Germany. He was also invited to participate in the 22nd Biennial in São Paulo, Brazil, by curator Nelson Aguilar.

In 1995, KCHO participated in the 1st Kwang-Ju Biennial, Korea, where his work won the Grand Prix. By the end of the year, KCHO had met Barbara Gladstone, owner of the Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York, in Havana, with whom he organized two significant exhibitions that helped develop a greater awareness of his work in the United States and the rest of the world.

In 1997, KCHO held his show Todo cambia (Everything Changes), organised by Chief Curator Paul Schimmel and Assistant Curator, Alma Ruiz, for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, California. KCHO could not go to the opening himself because the government of the United States refused his entry visa.

In 1999, KCHO was admitted into the Atelier Calder Residence in Saché, France, after receiving the prize granted by the Calder Foundation and the Ministry of Culture of France. The award allowed him to live and work at the Calder studio with a grant to support the production and promotion of his artwork. The residency ended with an exhibition of his work titled Klder. C.C.C.

2000s Coluna infinita (2002). Sculpture by Kcho at the Brazilian Museum of Sculpture, São Paulo. KCHO was part of the travelling portfolio "Suite Europa 2001", carried out by the Dirección General de la Secretaría de Estado para la Cooperación Internacional y para Iberoamérica (General Management of the State Department for International Cooperation and Latin America) organiSed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid, Spain.In 2003, KCHO collaborated with Cuban singer-songwriter Santiago Feliú using the work Para olvidar as scenery for his concert at the National Theater of Cuba.

He returned to Havana and opened the doors of his studio to show the work Archipiélago to artists and guests for the 8th Biennial in Havana, held at the Cuban capital then and where he also shared with the audience the performance Pocas Palabras (Few Words). In 2003 Kcho kept being part of the most important exhibitions and biennials worldwide, such as Arco, Madrid, Art Miami and Basel in Chicago.

Works by his authorship were part of the lots at the auctions of Latin American Art of Christie and Sotheby's. In 2004, he participated at the Art Fair in Chicago, USA, invited by Galería Habana de Cuba, with a personal project called La conversación (Conversation). In the Cuban capital, he exhibits part of his installation Núcleos del Tiempo (Time Nucleuses) at the Villa Manuela Gallery –the venue of the Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba, UNEAC (Association of Writers and Artists of Cuba).

Once more, his work is part of important exhibitions in Europe and the United States, for instance: La Jungla, Openasia 2004, in Venice; Obra gráfica original. Artistas contemporáneos Internacionales (Original Graphic Work. International Contemporary Artists) at Miami Beach; as part of the collection MOMA at the Museo del Barrio: Latin American and Caribbean Art, put together by the Museo del Barrio in New York; Art Miami 2004; the Fair of the Americas in Miami, among others.

In 2005, he continued to present his work in galleries and museums in Venezuela, Colombia and Spain. He makes the piece Autorretrato (Self-portrait) for the Fair Arco, in Madrid, with the Joan Guaita Gallery. He is part of the essential collective exhibition Nueve pintores contemporáneos Cubanos (Nine Cuban Contemporary Painters) put on at the Exhibition Hall of the Quay Anthony I in the Principality of Monaco. Other personal exhibitions are Kcho, viajero inmóvil (Kcho, Still Traveller) at the Louis Carré Gallery in Paris, France, by curator Daniel Abadie; Kcho, un hombre de isla (Kcho, an islander) in Houston, Texas; Los animales (Animals) in Galería Habana, Cuba; and Kcho – Casa 5 – Las playas infinitas (Kcho – House 5 – Infinite Beaches), Atteresse Kusnt, in Salzburg, Austria.

During this period, he started working for a longer time in Cuba, not only in Havana but also in Isla de la Juventud and Matanzas. In 2006, he moved to Barcelona for several months to work in a group of choreographies at the workshops of Poligrafa, Spain. There he prepares the exhibition Paso de Los Vientos (Windward Passage), shown later at the Joan Prats Gallery in Barcelona. Besides, there was also the show La nave de Kcho (Kcho's Ship) for the Castillo de Santa Bárbara (Castle of Saint Barbara) in the Patronato Municipal de Alicante by curator Pablo Rico from the Joan Miró Foundation. He returns to Cuba to make his popular work-installation-performance Vive y Deja Vivir (Live and Let Live) for the 9th Biennial of Havana at the Plaza Vieja and in La Casona Gallery.

In the same year, 2006, Kcho went to Colombia, invited by the ex-president and art collector César Gaviria for the exhibition Llegó el Cubano (The Cuban Has Arrived) at the Alonso Garcés Gallery in Bogotá. He also participated in the collective exhibitions Art Miami 2006 in the USA, Arco 2006 in Madrid and the Louis Carré et. Cie. gallery in Paris. At the invitation of the Marlborough Gallery, he went to Madrid for the opening of the Chilean artist Claudio Bravo. Once there, he was proposed to be part of the select list of artists that exhibit at the gallery and its venues in the art-capitals of Monte Carlo, Santiago de Chile, Barcelona, Madrid, New York and London.

In 2007, he made his first personal exhibition with Marlborough Gallery called Retrasando lo inevitable (Delaying the Inevitable) at its venue in Madrid, Spain; he also participated in other critical collective exhibitions organized by this institution, such as Exhibición de Verano (Summer Exhibition) at the venues in Madrid and New York, as well as in the collections shown that year at the fair Arco in Madrid and Art Miami. Other critical personal exhibitions this year were organized at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Panama, under the title El Viaje (Journey) and at the Gallery in Maracaibo, Venezuela, called El Cuadernos del hombre de Los pies de Barro (Notebook of the Man with Mud Feet).

Also, in 2007 he participated in the collective exhibitions: Cuba Avant-Garde: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Farber Collection at the University of Florida; Homing Devices at the Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of South Florida, both in the USA; and Ojos de Mar (Sea Eyes) at the Institute of Modern Art in Valencia, Spain. Once more, he is part of the lots at the Latin American auctions by Sotheby's and Christie in New York, USA. He was part of the 1st Biennial Fin del Mundo (End of the World) in Ushuaia, Argentina, with the installation Señores de la playa (Beach Lords) by curator Leonor Amarante.

In 2008, he participated in a considerable number of national and international exhibitions such as Cartografías de Ultramar (Cartographies from Overseas) at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, Cuba; El Futuro del futurismo (The Future of Futurism) at the Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Bergamo, Italy; and the Auction No. 156 of Latin American Art organized at the Palace Hotel in Madrid, Spain.

His work is also part of several shows in the United States, like ¡Cuba! Los Artistas experimental en su país (Cuba! Artists Experiment in Their Country) at the Hunterdon Art Museum in New Jersey; Summer Exhibition and Latin American Art organized by the Marlborough Gallery in New York; Visiones, Centuria de Arte Latinoamericano (Visions, a Century of Latin American Art) at the Art Museum Boca Ratón in Florida; Sin ruptures: Diálogos en el Arte Cubano (No Ruptures: Dialogues in Cuban Art) at the Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale; NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith in Houston, Texas; and A Wake-up Call: Cuban Contemporary Art at Tresart, Coral Gables, Florida.

In February 2008, he organized a project with the Marlborough Gallery in New York called Cadena de reunificación familiar (Family Reunification Chain). Here Kcho defines new ways of approaching the migration subject, which is fundamental in the artist's work. Magazine ArtNexus No. 69 echoes this exhibition with the article Kcho. Marlborough Gallery by critic and journalist Alberto Barral.

On June 3 of this year, Kcho donated his private collection of Cuban art to the Museo Municipal de la Isla de la Juventud, where Kcho Studio built a Cuban Art Exhibition Hall to contribute to the study and knowledge of national painting. The collection amounts to a total of 52 works by fifteen of the most important Cuban artists, among which we can find: Vicente Escobar, Leopoldo Romañanch, Antonio Rodríguez Morey, Eduardo Abela Villareal, Domingo Ramos, Fidelio Ponce de León, Amelia Peláez, Wifredo Lam, Marcelo Pogolotti, Luis Martínez Pedro, René Portocarrero, Mariano Rodríguez, Servando Cabrera, Raúl Martínez, and Antonia Eiriz.

In 2008, Cuba was battered head-on by hurricanes Gustav (August 30, forced four on the Saffir-Simpson scale), Ike (September 9, forcing four) and Paloma (November 8, forced three), all of which severely affected the island and socioeconomic infrastructure.

Isla de la Juventud suffered heavy damage of two of these natural phenomena, Gustav and Ike, so as an immediate response to the urgent human need to restore hope and confidence in the morning entire population, founded on September 6, 2008, the Art Squad "Martha Machado". Kcho, the Brigade managed to score more than 500 artists and renowned friends, both national and international painters, actors, musicians, dancers, circus performers, and stilt walkers, who left their jobs, leaving the comforts of their daily lives to live in tents and provide his art. The community artists painted workshops, music and dance to encourage creativity and educate children and adolescents as a palliative education for those who could not attend school because the facilities were partially destroyed.

The Brigade worked continuously throughout Cuba, where he installed 13 camps. Kcho bears his study with each of the provinces to visit the Brigade. They continued to work on their drawings, sculptures and installations projects but found that the Brigade formed a collective work of art that continues to grow and to retrieve villages, dreams and hopes.

Experience in Cuba with all the educational work, humanitarian and social, to bring solidarity, culture and joy to the most remote places and people affected psychologically and economically, made it possible for a representation of over 70 Cuban artists of the highest level, members of the brigade "Martha Machado", travelled to the people of Haiti in March 2010 after being hit by a devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010, seriously affecting the Caribbean country's infrastructure. The Brigade travelled over four thousand kilometers from their base in Port-au-Prince to all corners of the country. From the outset, the work of the Brigade placed particular emphasis on children, knowing that they are the most affected and the wounds of the soul are the hardest to heal. These wounds compromise the future of a nation.

Kcho considers this significant inspiration for the benefit provided to recipients of both art and those who offer it. Currently still working on this idea of multiplying Brigade "Martha Machado".

In 2009, he focused his work on issues that most concern: life, man, customs and culture, with particular emphasis on its way and movements.

He received an invitation from Leonor Amarantes to participate in the V Latin American Biennial of Visual Arts in Curitiba, Brazil. For this particular occasion, the artist created a large installation, making the classroom of a school with all their property in a great "Archipelago in motion," this creation becomes part of the Nuclei of Time series, the artist structure by way of a poem where he talks about the journey that the man with knowledge.

March 2009 marked the Tenth Havana Biennial, Cuba, in which said Kcho had broad participation; an example of this was to install "Core Time" in the contemporary Cuban art exhibit that HB remained in the exhibition room Pabexpo B, which also presented their works artists like Luis Gomez, Rene Francisco, Sandra Ramos, The Carpenters, among others.

But without doubt, one of the essential flags in this biennial project proved to be the curatorship Meeting Point organized by Kcho in the Convent of St. Francis of Assisi in Havana, where he includes his work history as a carousel that appears from the darkness.

Kcho met in Havana, as a meeting point, prestigious international contemporary art creators, such as Cai Guo-Qiang (China), Peter Nadin (USA), Patrick Tuttofuoco (Italy), Jane Alexander (South Africa), Tatsuo Miyajima (Japan), AES + F (Russia), Mariana Bunimov (Venezuela), and Patricia Gerber Jallageas Flaminio (Brazil), Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari (Iran-US), Tomas Sanchez, Edgar Hechavarría, Luis Gomez and Yoan Capote (Cuba).

Another significant group shows this year, for the work of Kcho, was: I have a Dream (I have a dream) at the Carriage House Center for the Arts in New York on art paper. Ten contemporary artists, in Granada, Spain, the Summer Exhibition and the Exhibition of sculptures collectively organized by the Marlborough Gallery in Madrid and New York, respectively, met with a select roster of artists.

2010s In 2010 the artist received an invitation to participate in the piece's history as a carousel that appears from the darkness at the Biennale Cuvée, OK Center, Linz, Austria, and in various collective exhibitions organized annually by the Marlborough Gallery in headquarters and at international art fairs. Celebrating its 40 years, making the second edition of Live and Let Live in Central Park Line and L, in Havana, Cuba, again, with massive public participation.

In early 2011, he moved to Europe to participate in two solo exhibitions he organized with headquarters in Marlborough, called Recent Works (Oeuvres recentes) in Monaco and Barcelona Night View, while in the old continent formed the works exhibited at the Palace Grimani as part of the 54th Venice Biennale, entitled Monument end, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi and Luciano Caprile, with the collaboration of Tega Gallery.

Back in Cuba, he travelled to the Isla de la Juventud and continued to organize and develop the Isla de la Juventud Days Mine, Cuba, by the Revolution as part of the actions of the brigade "Martha Machado" and took this stay in their homeland for the third edition of his performance-installation-Live and Let Live, this time within the Gallery Martha Machado.

Currently, the artist is working on several projects in Europe and America. But mostly, the sample Sacrifice at the crossroads, ready to open in the coming month of November, gives significant importance because it showed a group of essential works made between 2005 and 2011, summarizing the course of their work by making explicit its concerns about the man, his cultural essences and sorrows.

His short career - until 2011 - more than 90 solo exhibitions and 200 group exhibitions in 35 countries. His work has been exhibited in major museums and galleries worldwide and has hosted major biennial work. Kcho has also been honoured for his work as a social being, as a Cuban who loves his country. Among the most significant awards include the distinction "National Culture" in 1998, awarded by the Ministry of Culture and in 2003 received the Medal "Abel Santamaria" award by the State Council on the proposal of the Young Communists (UJC) and the Replica of the Machete of Maximo Gomez. He delivers the minister of the FAR.

In 2008, he was awarded the Order "Julio Antonio Mella", issued by the State Council, a proposal from the National UJC. As a creator of the brigade "Martha Machado" received in 2008, in conjunction with the other members, the Flag Feat Labor conferred by CTC and the Commemorative Medal for the Bicentennial of the Republic of Haiti in 2010, the artwork and solidarity developed in that sister nation.

He was elected deputy of the Popular Power National Assembly in July 2003 to represent the people of the Isla de la Juventud and was reelected in January 2008. Kcho received in April 2011 the stamp commemorating the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC) on the 70th anniversary of its founding.

Awards

1991 – Prize – National Group of Art Schools' Teachers at the Centre of Plastic Arts and Design 1995 – Grand Prix – Kwang-Ju Biennial 1995 – Prize for the Promotion of Arts – UNESCO 2001 – Prize for Cuban Delivery – 4th Caribbean Biennial at the Museum of Modern Art in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Exhibitions

Solo

Group

Collections KCHO has several works in collections including:

La Regata – Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Germany Columna Infinita # 1 (Infinite Column # 1) and A Los Ojos de la history (In the Eyes of History) (1995), Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York Exhibited Archipiélago de mi pensamiento (Archipelago in My Mind), private collection, Italy

Commercial use of works KCHO's work La Regata appears on the cover of Revolución y Cultura magazine (issue No. 5, 1994) and in Artnews, June 2000.

In 1996, KCHO's installation Obras escogidas (Selected Works) appeared on the cover of Flash Art magazine, May/June issue.

Commentary Alfred Weidinger: KCHO - Casa 5 - Las Playas Infinitas. Edition Anteros, Vienna 2005,