Artist: Magdiel García Almanza

Sean Kelly presents Acana, Magdiel García Almanza’s inaugural exhibition with the gallery and his first solo exhibition in New York. García Almanza constructs geometric sculptures that oscillate between abstraction and figuration, drawing on modernist traditions and the visual language of Cubism. The exhibition brings together a selection of recent works from six ongoing series, underscoring García Almanza’s distinct approach to the body, form and material.

Born and living in Camagüey, Cuba, García Almanza belongs to the generation of artists shaped by the country’s post-Soviet “Special Period,” an era marked by economic instability and material scarcity that demanded ingenuity and adaptability, which informed the artist’s practice. Working primarily with salvaged acana wood reclaimed from centuries-old colonial homes, García Almanza transforms the architectural beams into interlocking components of his dynamic sculptures imbued with lives, stories, and the complex history of Cuba. Acana hardwood or "bullet wood," is a durable lumber native to the Caribbean. Historically, this invaluable resource was extensively logged for its impressive inherent qualities, including resistance to moisture and tropical insects, which made it a favored choice in construction and craftsmanship.

While seemingly abstract, García Almanza’s sculptures are rooted in close observation of figures in everyday life including circus performers, dancers, a figure carrying an umbrella, or a fish, distilled into configurations that feel both familiar and elusive. Each series is defined by a distinctive color applied to facets of the wood. For example, in the Circo series, he employs a radiant orange hue, while for the Girl with Fish series, García Almanza employs a regal shade of violet.

Curved volumes, intersecting joinery, and hollow cutouts suggest bodily presence without ever fully resolving into fixed representations. These modular sculptures appear simultaneously in motion and grounded, creating subtle tensions between equilibrium and entropy. The dense reddish-brown hardwood is hand-carved with meticulous precision, revealing interconnected forms defined by sensuous contours and carefully composed negative space. Light passing through carved openings activate the surfaces, producing shifting rhythms of shadow, depth, and movement that morph with the viewer’s perspective, producing deeply joyful sculptures. Their harmonious composition and fluid geometries inspire uplifting emotional connections, inviting viewers to engage with a visual narrative of hope and imagination, fundaments of the human condition.

Magdiel García Almanza was born in 1971 and lives and works in Camagüey, Cuba. García Almanza is a graduate of the Luís Casas Romero Art School in Fine Arts. His work has been exhibited and is held in private collections internationally in The United States, Europe, and Latin America. He is the recipient of the Fidelio Ponce de León Distinction.