Weekly Artist Feature | Carlos Martiel

Carlos Martiel (b. 1989, Havana, Cuba) is a queer Afro-Latinx performance and installation artist whose visceral, endurance-based works confront the lasting legacies of colonialism, anti-Blackness, and displacement. Of Haitian and Jamaican descent, Martiel uses his own body as both subject and site—rendering it vulnerable in acts of resistance that expose the violence embedded in national borders, patriarchal structures, and racialized systems of control.

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Often staged in silence, his performances bear the weight of history while insisting on the presence, sovereignty, and dignity of Black and queer bodies. Martiel’s work challenges viewers to witness pain, endurance, and beauty as deeply political and embodied forms of protest.

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Click here to learn more about the artist →

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Highlights: 

• Studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts “San Alejandro” in Havana, Cuba, graduating in 2009.
• Awarded the Maestro Dobel Latinx Art Prize in 2023 from El Museo del Barrio in New York, recognizing his outstanding contributions to contemporary Latinx art.
• Martiel is also a recipient of the Latinx Art Fellowship (2021), supported by the Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and US Latinx Art Forum.
• He was recognized by the Arte Laguna Prize in Venice in 2013.
• Martiel’s work is held in the permanent collections of several major institutions, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), the Museu de Arte do Rio in Brazil, and El Museo del Barrio in New York.
• Click the link to learn more about Carlos Martiel and his work through his Instagram and website.

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Ficciones Patógenas –  Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York City, USA (March 13 – July 27, 2025)

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This group exhibition explores themes of queer embodiment and resistance. Martiel contributes a new performance piece that continues his exploration of bodily endurance and political critique.

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Are you in or near New York City? Don’t miss this — Click here to get details and plan your visit today! →

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The Game, 17th Cuenca Biennial – Cuenca, Ecuador (October 24, 2025 – February 1, 2026)

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Are you in or near Cuenca, Ecuador? Don’t miss this — Click here to get details and plan your visit today! →

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Selected Past Exhibitions

• Cuerpo: Carlos Martiel – El Museo del Barrio, New York, USA (2024)
• Arquitectura para un cuerpo – Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, USA (2022)
• Afro Syncretic Group Exhibition – King Juan Carlos I Center, New York University, New York, USA (2019)
• Intruder (America) – AC Institute, New York, USA (2018)
• Mediterráneo – 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2017)
• Condecoración Martiel, Carlos – Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, USA (2014)
• Vanishing Point – Nitsch Museum, Naples, Italy (2013)
• Prodigal Son – House Witch, Liverpool, UK (2013)

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