Manuel Mendive Hoyos Cuban, 1944

Manuel Mendive is one of the most outstanding personalities in the entire Cuban artistic milieu. He may be considered the Dean of Afro-Cuban contemporary art, preceded in prominence only by Wifredo Lam, with whom he is not stylistically related. From the beginning, he was one of a kind, an atypical figure, not easily identifiable with any national or international artistic trend, unless –in his initial stages- we go back to the popular plastic expressions associated with the religions of African origin in Cuba, or to Africa itself.