I am a sculptor and painter whose practice revolves around the human body as a primary vessel for ideas. I create figures that blur the line between reality and fiction using wood, plaster, clay, concrete, and oil. My work possesses a wide range of aesthetics from classical to modernist, embodying raw, distorted, gestural corporeality. Often disconcerting and grotesque, these forms reflect society's power dynamics and vulnerability.
Central to my work are figures that act as spiritual protectors or guardians, evolving into conversations around memory, myth, cultural practices, and space. These narrative vessels oscillate between ghostly apparitions and creatures, drawing from classical forms and artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, channeling my dreams and experiences. Themes of life, death, and transformation—flesh to bones—resonate throughout my work, mirroring the human condition.
Engaging with varying wooden logs, I furiously carve their surfaces with chainsaws, torching and charring to breathe life into these figures. Though approached differently, my paintings carry similar energy, with color struggling to shape and refine each form.
The attacking, removing, and refining process imbues my work with a sense of formation while exploring connections to my Caribbean roots to understand and spiritually engage with these traditions.
Napoles Marty Studio
Phone : +01 551 888 6382
Email: napolesmarty@gmail.com
Email: napoles@nxthvn.com
Lives and works between New Haven and Rhode Island, USA
EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2021 - Creative Drawing Teacher. North Star Academy – Washington Park High School. NJ, USA
2020 - Ceramic Teacher . Brooklyn Ascend Middle School. NY, USA
2004/2005 - Sculpture teacher. National School of Fine Arts San Alejandro. Havana, Cuba
2003/2004 - Drawing teacher. National School of Fine Arts San Alejandro. Havana, Cuba
2002/2003 - Drawing teacher. Atelier Heriberto Manero. Havana, Cuba
1998/2002 - National School of Fine Arts San Alejandro. Sculpture. Havana, Cuba
RESIDENCIES AND AWARDS
2024 - NXTHVN Fellowship. Connecticut, USA
2022 - The International Ceramics Studio. Kecskemet, Hungary
2019 - Guttenberg Arts Residency. New Jersey, USA
2019 - Art Residency Isolo 17 Gallery. Verona, Italy
2017 - Residency, Old Furnace Artist Residency. Virginia, USA
2016 - Acquisition Award Antonio López García. Ciudad de Tomelloso 2016. Ciudad Real, Spain
2014 - InteresArte award. 81 Salón de Otoño. Madrid, Spain
2013 - Acquisition fund. Figurativas 13. Fundació de les Arts i els Artistes. Museu Europeu d’Art Modern.
Barcelona, Spain
2011 - Honorable Mention. Figurativas 11. Fundació de les Arts i els Artistes. Museu Europeu d’Art Modern,
Barcelona. Spain
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 - The dreamer/The creature. Flanagan Campus Gallery. RI, USA
2022 - Die Walküre-Land. Knight Campus Gallery. RI, USA
2019 - Frammenti. Isolo 17 Gallery. Verona, Italy
2018 - Meet. Open Studio. Denmark
2017 - Open Studio. Old Furnace Artist Residency. Virginia, USA
2015 - Deconstruction / Restructuring. 12th Havana Biennial. Havana, Cuba
2014 - Diálogos Temporales. Open Studio. Madrid, Spain
2011 - Open Studio. Madrid, Spain
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 - Cuerpos/Bodies. Open Studio 21.0. Carlos Garaicoa Studio. Madrid, Spain.
2023 - This Is Out of Hand. The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Maine, USA
2023 - Made in Hungary. Knight Campus Gallery. Rhode Island, USA
2021 - Premio Combat 2021 Prize. Museo Giovanni Fattori. Livorno, Italy
2021 - 2020 Vision. Cabrillo College. California, USA
2020 - SHIFTING STREAMS: Twelve Artists by the Hudson River. Hostos Center. Bronx, New York
2019 - Guttenberg Arts Gallery. New Jersey. EEUU
2018 - 38th Eva International Ireland's Biennial. Limerick City Gallery of Art. Ireland
2016 - Ciudad Autónoma de Melilla. Casa Ibañez Museum. Melilla, Spain
- International Biennial of Contemporary Emerging Art Eve-Maria Zimmermann. Canary Island, Spain
- Federico García Lorca Cultural Center. Madrid, Spain
- 77 International Exhibition of Fine Arts Valdepeñas. Ciudad Real, Spain
- Ciudad de Tomelloso 2016. Ciudad Real, Spain
- Ensamble 3x1. Open Studio. Madrid, Spain
2015 - 82 Salón de Otoño. Casa de Vacas. Madrid, Spain
- De Facto. Collateral to the 12th Havana Biennial. Havana, Cuba
2014 - 81 Salón de Otoño. Casa de Vacas. Madrid, Spain
2013 - Figurativas 13. Museu Europeu d’Art Modern. Barcelona, Spain
2011 - Figurativas 11. Museu Europeu d’Art Modern. Barcelona, Spain
- Figurativas 11. Museo Casa de la Moneda. Madrid, Spain
2007 - Borders. Fresa y Chocolate Gallery. Havana, Cuba
2003 - From the Earth. Fernando Boada Gallery. Havana, Cuba
- Exhibition Servando Cabrera Gallery. Havana, Cuba
- Heriberto Manero XX. Domingo Ravenet Gallery. Havana, Cuba
2001 - Conjunto. Expocuba Pavilion. Havana, Cuba
2000 - Académica. Casa de la Poesía. Havana, Cuba
- Anatomicum. 10 de Octubre Gallery. Havana, Cuba
1999 - Tribute. Casa Museo Osvaldo Guayasamín. Havana, Cuba
- Two Decades. Her Car Gallery. Havana, Cuba
1998 - 20 Years. 10 de Octubre Gallery. Havana, Cuba
- Parallel Exhibition to the Sculpture Biennial Teodoro Ramos Blanco. 10 de Octubre Gallery. Havana, Cuba
- Naturarte. Horizontes Panamericanos Resort Hotel. Havana, Cuba
1997 - Encounters Cuba- Argentina. Grupo 10 de Octubre Gallery. Havana, Cuba
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Museu Europeu d’Art Modern. Barcelona, Spain
Antonio López Torres Museum, Ciudad Real, Spain
Private Collections
PUBLICATIONS
Jessica Bianchera / Frammenti /Read more
Emanuela Zanon / Frammenti / Read more
39th EVA International / Transhumants / Read more
Suset Sánchez/ Ensamble 3x1/ Read more
Suset Sánchez/ Deconstruyendo el Proceso Escultórico / Read more