« Witnesses of his first culture, his nomadic life and the cultural and spiritual worlds encountered along the way, his enigmatic and captivating paintings draw us into a naturally mixed and tropical dreamlike world. »
Career
Ciego de Ávila · Havana, Cuba
Born in Ciego de Ávila. Grew up in Cuba in a family of Spanish, African, Chinese and French origins. Discovered painting self-taught, nourished by Cuban cultural and spiritual richness.
France
Based in France. Lives and works successively in Marseille, Aix-en-Provence and Paris. First Parisian exhibitions and first institutional recognition: Maison de Radio France (2002), UNESCO Palace (2001).
New Caledonia · New Zealand
Founding period in Oceania. Artist residencies at the Centre d'Art and Centre Culturel Tjibaou in Nouméa. Encounter with Melanesian and Polynesian cultures that permanently enriched his visual universe. Exhibited in New Zealand (Palmerston North, 2011).
Création du Conservatory of Faces
Naissance d'un projet artistique et poétique unique : le Conservatory of Faces, une collection de portraits anonymes qui explore la diversité infinie du visage humain.
South-West France
Installation dans le Gers et le sud-ouest de la France (Marciac, Toulouse, Bordeaux). Participation régulière à des expositions collectives et personnelles. Gallery Le MARCO à Marciac (2024), Festival de jazz de Marciac, MACLA à Bordeaux.
The artistic universe
Hans Christian Vergara develops a syncretic pictorial language, reflecting his multiple origins. His work brings together the orishas or deities of Afro-Cuban santería — Elegguá, god of crossroads; Ochún, patroness of rivers; Yemayá, goddess of the sea — with egguns (protective spirits of the dead), Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man and a cemí, the supreme being of the Taíno people.
At the heart of this mythological universe evolve his "virtuosos": strange hybrid creatures with animal, plant or human bodies, incarnations of spiritual entities who, with their rooster (their lookout) or their pineapple (their spiritual potential), travel the paths of life in search of elevation.
His automatic drawings — the Zinzins — bear witness to another aspect of his practice: the exploration of the unconscious through Indian ink, without repentance or retouching. The line follows the gesture, the gesture follows the spirit.
The works of Hans Christian Vergara are true invitations to travel, contemplation and meditation. They reflect the diversity of spiritual consciousness and above all its universality.
Discover the works