Helter Swelter
Gabriel Sanchez is a Cuban American artist born in Miami in 1993. He splits his time between New York City, where he is currently pursuing a Master of Fine arts degree at the New York Academy of Fine arts, and his home in Colorado.
For his solo exhibition debut in Miami, he showcases the notion of heat—the lingering, soul sucking humidity of the tropics as a metaphor for the Latin American experience. “In this particular collection, I delve into the sweltering heat that blankets Latin countries—a relentless, oppressive force that doesn’t just overwhelm the body but also the spirit. It’s a heat that compels stillness, a weight that pushes down on the soul, urging one to retreat into silence in a desperate attempt to regain a sense of coolness, both physically and emotionally. Through these works, I aim to explore the tension between external forces and internal resilience, capturing the essence of life lived in stillness, under the weight of an unyielding sun.”
The metaphor of the unyielding sun speaks to a sense of unbearable longing. The sort of pain one feels in a one-sided love affair. A painful, prolonged urgency. A need to feel the intensity, but not for the unendurable dissatisfaction. In Mala Noticia, 2024 we see a couple communicating in a way that does not appear relaxed and satisfying. The woman on the right is covering her face, her head downcast. The man on the left has his hand on his hips looking at her in a way that appears frustrated and impatient. The viewer feels a sense of awkwardness, as if we have stumbled upon an uncomfortable private moment. The simple interaction of the two people speaks to frustration and stagnation. In the painting Muerte Colonial, 2024 we see an image of a man alone, self-soothing in a fetal position, the brightly patterned sheet a lively contrast to his troubled introspective gaze.
Many works in the exhibition emanate a sense of longing. Figures stare out into space—remembering, pining, contemplating…their frustration palpable. Helter Swelter captures a moment in time. Still and silent, it is a place to just be, and sometimes that is the best place to begin again.
About Gabriel Sanchez
Gabriel Sanchez recent paintings focus on Cuban current events, politics, and daily life as seen through the lens of portraiture. His work explores how proximity and union, ever-present aspects of Cuban society, inform notions of solitude and intimacy. Each painting captures a small scene of mundane events that occur daily on the island. In these snapshots the distractions of urban life are minimized and attention is brought to bear on a particular and present moment. Sanchez’s oil paintings are carefully rendered with classical technique. His use of realism produces “an authentic and inescapable illusion of existence” that brings the viewer into a closer relationship with his subject. The figures portrayed—his wife, family, friends, and acquaintances—serve as depictions of the warm yet stoic nature of Cuban culture that has changed little over time—a reminder to the world of what has been lost. Sanchez excels at creating scenes of togetherness and social unity.
Gabriel Sanchez is a Cuban-American artist. Born in 1993 in Miami, Florida, he received his Bachelors of Fine Arts at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His work is in the collection of the Xioa Museum, Rizhao, China; Kaiser School of Medicine, Pasadena, CA; the Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH, Beth Rudin Dewoody Collection, Palm Beach, FL; Bill and Cindy Gautreaux Collection, Kansas City, among other private collections.
