SANTIAGO OLAZABAL

Born in 1955 in Havana, Santiago Olazábal studied at the San Alejandro National Academy of Art, and held his first exhibit in 1983. Since then he has mounted 43 solo exhibits and has participated in more than 200 group and invitational exhibits in galleries, art centers, foundations, and museums in Cuba and throughout Europe, North America, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. His works grace notable public and private collections around the globe. Olazábal is a priest of the Ifa Orișas religion, a practice of Nigerian origin brought to Cuba with enslaved populations as early as the 16th century. The tenets of Ifa are at the heart of his life and his artwork. Each material, object, and composition in this work has roots in the meaning and practice of the artist’s spirituality.