Mildo Matos Carcases

Neo-Taíno art visions

An artist whose work has been exhibited in numerous countries in various continents and a member of Cuba’s Union of Writers and Artists (Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba, UNEAC), Mildo was born in Baracoa in 1962. His indigenous grandmother, with whom he shared a great affinity, exerted a significant influence on his sensibility and worldview.

Mildo studied Arts Education at the Instituto Superior Pedagógico de Guantánamo. His art belongs within the neo-Taíno current, shared by other painters in various places in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

His paintings are visions of the Pacha Mama (Mother Earth), showing Taíno deities such as Atabey, Yayael and Toa, among others. Creation, eroticism and fertility are present in his compositions where the region’s cacao pods are woman breasts and polimitas (polymita picta, the colourful tree snails endemic to Baracoa) represent the cosmos.

Mildo cites the artistic influences in his painterly language – baroque, cubism, expressionism and surrealism. Anyone who knows Wifredo Lam will certainly see an influence on Mildo’s art. His love of mathematics and geometry shapes as well the elements, composition and proportions in his paintings.

While he considers himself a postmodern painter, Mildo indicates that the Taíno deities depicted in his work stick closely to the archaeological petroglyphs and paintings found in caves in the Baracoa region.

Just like other artists in Cuba, Mildo uses a range of media and supports – from the most modern ones such as acrylic and canvas to those recovered from the local environment: soil, mud, jute, palm frond and various types of cortex.
Mildo exhibits his work at “El Parque” cafeteria (also known as “Rumbos”), at Casa de la Cultura, at the Eliseo Osorio Art Gallery and mostly at his own home and restaurant.