José Ramón Villa Soberón (born September 2, 1950,

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

) is a Cuban artist, particularly known for his public sculptures around

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. He studied at the ''Escuela Nacional de Arte'' ( en, The National School of Art) in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba and the Academy of Plastic Arts in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. He is a professor at the

Instituto Superior de Arte The University of Arts of Cuba / Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) was established on September 1, 1976, by the Cuban government as a school for the arts. Its original structure had three schools: Music, Visual Arts, and Performing Arts. History ...

in Havana. His sculptures, paintings, engravings, drawings and designs are held by the

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana The National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana) in Havana, Cuba is a museum of fine arts that exhibits Cuban art collections from the colonial times up to contemporary generations. History It was founded ...

, and in 1996 he was one of the selected artist in the second ''Trienal Americana de Escultura'' in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

His artwork has been part of many collective exhibitions. In 1969 he was included in the collective exhibitions of painting and esculpture ''Exposición Escuela Nacional de Arte'' in the Centro de Arte Internacional, Havana, Cuba. In 1971, he participated in the Salón Nacional para Artistas Jóvenes.

Awards

His awards include the Third Prize in the ''Salón de Profesores e Instructores de Artes Plásticas'', Escuela Nacional de Arte (1973); Mention in Sculpture in the ''VII Salón Nacional Juvenil de Artes Plásticas'', Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (1978); and First Prize in the ''II Trienal Americana de Escultura'',

(1996).

Public sculpture

The artist is noted for his public sculptures around Havana. These include statues of

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

(2003, sitting on a barstool in the

Floridita Floridita () or El Floridita is a historic fish restaurant and cocktail bar in the older part of Havana (''La Habana Vieja''), Cuba. It lies at the end of '' Calle Obispo'' (Bishop Street), across Monserrate Street from the National Museum of Fi ...

bar and restaurant),

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quot ...

(1982, Palacio Central de Pioneros Ernesto Che Guevara, Parque Lenin), and

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

(2000,

John Lennon Park John Lennon Park or Parque John Lennon (formerly known as Parque Menocal) is a public park, located in the Vedado district in Havana, Cuba. Overview On one of the benches of the park, nearer the corner of streets 17th and 6th, there is a sculptu ...

, Vedado, Havana). In 2001 his statue of José María López Lledín, a local vagabond dubbed the "Gentleman from Paris" (El Caballero de Paris), was placed outside Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis, and is stroked by visitors for good luck. His 1986 '' Monumento a Martí'' (José Villa y Rómulo Fernández) is in the Plaza de Quito, ,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Spain. In 1992 he made ''Escultura ambiental'', in the Campus de la Universidad de Valencia, Spain. In that year he also made the one Escultura ambiental, in the Exteriores del Museo de Bellas Artes, Santiago de Chile,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

External links

José Villa Soberón, Cuban sculptor

References

Cuban contemporary artists Living people 1950 births Instituto Superior de Arte faculty {{Cuba-sculptor-stub