Miguel Fleitas

Miguel A. Fleitas is a Cuban-American visual artist, photographer, and film director based in Miami, Florida. Fleitas was a television director and film editor for several popular television programs during his tenure with Univision and Telemundo. As an artist Fleitas has exhibited internationally, participated in high-profile exhibitions, and won awards since launching his art career in the 1980s. He is the son of Cuban filmmaker and artist Miguel Fleitas Sr.

Background

Miguel Angel Fleitas was born in Havana, Cuba on June 22, 1956. He was first exposed to film and the arts through his parents, who were prominent figures in 20th century Cuban film. His father, Miguel Fleitas Sr., was a painter and noted filmmaker who gained recognition for establishing the Cuban Institute of Arts and Industry Cinematography (Instituto Cubano de Artes e Industria Cinematografica; ICAIC) and served as its founding director. His mother, Clarivel Suarez, was a lead production assistant in film for the ICAIC.

Among his father's many directorial film credits are the 1975 film The Smile of Victory, part of the Florida State University Libraries, as well as the 1979 film Etiopia Diario de una Victoria, which was added to the collection of Franklin and Marshall College's Phillips Museum of Art.

Early life and career

Fleitas attended primary school in Valdes Rodriguez within the city of Havana and subsequently conducted his pre-university studies at Saul Delgado high school, also in Havana. He began his professional work in media as a radio operator in the Havana Radio Station. In 1979 he transitioned from radio to film and began working in the ICAIC's Film Laboratory and training in film and photography. During this period and into the 1980s, Fleitas began participating in group exhibitions in Cuba.

Alongside his work in the arts, he spent much of his early career also gaining recognition as a film director and cameraman. His film background would influence his approach to art in photography and later painting. Fleitas studied Art History in the University of Havana while he worked as Chief Graphic Designer for MINFAR Studios Film Department and later as their Documentaries Manager for Tourism. He also studied film and camera techniques in Havana with personal mentoring programs, completing his training in 1985. He then became Television and Technical Director for Venevision International (now Cisneros Media). In addition to being a founding featured artist, Fleitas was also active in helping to organize the event. The event's success prompted a follow-up exhibition the following year at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, near the Miami Beach Convention Center that hosts Art Basel Miami. Fleitas was again invited to participate in the 2010 exhibition, held during Miami Art Week, which was well-received drawing large audiences. Fleitas again participated in the 2011 installment, which saw the venue move to the larger Bayfront Park of Downtown Miami during Art Basel Miami. Fleitas also participated in the 2014 and 2015 installments of the public art series.

Fleitas’ artwork is sold through several major art outlets including Saatchi Art, Artnet, and ArtPrice and others. In terms of market value, Fleitas' best-performing works to date are those of his Breast Project series, which are typically valued above $10,000 and have surpassed $20,000 at auction.

Style

Fleitas is an Expressionist influenced by the art movements of the 1970s as well as his Cuban cultural heritage. His paintings and photography are both influenced by his background in film and emphasize contrast and texture. His photographic style is most known for its use of black and white, but also occasionally ranges to include richly detailed color images. His subjects usually include depictions of scenes from Cuba and later his life in Miami after relocating to the United States.

Fleitas' paints in oil, acrylic, and mixed-media. In contrast with his photography, color is at the forefront of his paintings which were described in his 2007 Nuevo Herald profile as "a festival of color." Fleitas draws from a number of influences from his art history studies that he then applies to his Cuban cultural foundation. Examples include European Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism, especially by way of Van Gogh, Matisse, and Picasso, respectively. Fleitas also explored Latin American women as a subject in his Private Landscapes series. In his artist statement for The Breast Project, Fleitas explained “The word ‘breast’ is a metaphor for ‘women’ in general" and that the series is designed to "challenge our contemporary ideas of beauty, to counter stereotypes and to depict non-idealized women," including reactions against the widespread pressures of artificial breast augmentation and other modern cosmetic "obsessions" that exist in modern life.

In contrast with these abstracted works, his Gallo (rooster) series, focuses on roosters, a quintessential symbol of Cuba, that are frequently done in large scales with an intricately detailed style, often offsetting the hyper-detailed representations of the roosters in black-and-white sketching with selective color usage, evoking his photographic work. When interviewed by El Nuevo Herald for the 2018 “Rooster Gallo Galo Gallus” exhibition at the Milander Center for Arts, Fleitas explained the inspiration behind his Gallo series to be “I have wanted to represent this animal as a bird with great strength, courage, respect, admiration and power.” To this end, each work in the series features only a single color and is paired with intense underlying drawings to communicate a bold, streamlined effect.

Exhibitions

To date, Fleitas has participated in over thirty exhibitions of his art. As both a solo artist and in group exhibitions, Fleitas has exhibited in several prominent fine art markets including New York City, the Wynwood Art District, South Beach, Coral Gables, and Coconut Grove as well as internationally in Cuba, Europe, and Latin America. “Con el mayor respeto... BLACK & WHITE.” Domingo Padron Gallery, Coral Gables, Fl. Exhibited 30 Photographs within three series of work. March 2009 “Somos de la Casa.” Habana 305 Art Gallery. Featured alongside Carlos M. Galindo and Pepe Orbein. February 2015 Clearcast Digital Media & Redd Post, Miami, Fl. Art Basel & Art Miami. 2007.

His art is also featured in literature and books of Cuban art, including Havana in My Heart: A Celebration of Cuban Photography, (republished in English and French in 2004),

In September 2024, a piece from Fleitas’ Gallos series was accepted into the permanent collection of the Alvin Sherman Library, one of the largest libraries in the state of Florida, as part of the Marta Permuy Legacy Collection. The library’s permanent collection features work by other established artists including Salvador Dalí, Peter Max, and Dale Chihuly. The piece was previously featured in Fleitas’ 2013 Coral Gables solo exhibition of his Rooster series. It was subsequently unveiled with an exhibition at the library in October 2024.

Personal life

Fleitas was named after his father, Miguel Fleitas Sr. (1926-2002), who was also a noted Cuban artist and film director.

He has two children, a son, Hiram Fleitas, and daughter Ana Laura Fleitas, both fine art collectors and dealers.

Fleitas currently works and resides in Miami, Florida.