Susana Pilar

The temporal relation between life and death is one of the subjects of research for Susana Pilar.

Death is recalled in the photographic series “Anexión oculta” and then identified with the concept of accident. Halfway between a scientific truth and a biological necessity, death does not imply either limits or ruptures. Intimate and universal at the same time, death sets the pace for those hidden realities the artist wants to investigate. 

Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1984. She currently lives and works in Havana.

Her work focuses on the body, gender, race and social issues. The artist suffered some family situations that stimulated her interest in the reality of women around the world, as well as the different forms of discrimination against them. These concerns led to a single objective: to work on the basis of physical violence against Cuban women and the scarce information that exists on this phenomenon. In this investigation, she had to look for formal methods to provide solutions to the works, such as constructing photographic scenes from her memories, which resulted in a formal and conceptual device for other works.

In the work process, she began to show an interest in death, obtaining from it several symbolic readings and not considering it as a rupture. To this is added her interest in the physical history and process of the body, as well as the public as an active participant in her work.

One element that connects all her artistic production is her concern with representing what is real and what is supposed to be real. There are realities that are hidden by specific tools created by society to interrupt its knowledge, so the artist uses art as a tool that proposes ways to access its essence.

Susana Pilar studied at the José Antonio Díaz Peláez Elementary School, San Alejandro Academy and graduated in 2008 from the Higher Institute of Art in Havana, Cuba. From 2011 to 2013, she completed postgraduate studies at the HfG | University of Arts and Design in Karlsruhe, Germany, with funding from the DAAD.

She obtained the residency for artists and awards: CAD+SR RESEARCH in Italy and Kenya (2019-2020); CIFO Grants & Commissions Program Award, Miami, USA (2019); AIR of Fondazione Macc, Calasetta, Italy; AIR at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria (2017); El Reino de este mundo Scholarship, Asociación Hermanos Saíz, Havana, Cuba, (2016); AIR Dance Hall Fire Hall, Calgary, Canada (2016); AIR Skövde, Skövde, Sweden (2016); Apexart Fellowship, New York, USA (2016); Maretti Award (shared) (2014); MAP Residency at ARTEZ, Enschede, Netherlands, (2010-2011); Villa Waldberta in Munich, Germany (2010); Art Centre Darling Foundry in Montreal, Canada (2009); Intermediae-Minbak, Matadero Madrid, Spain (2007)

Her work has been exhibited in the following biennials and international art events: 14 Dakar Biennial, Senegal (2020); Lubumbashi Biennial, Democratic Republic of Congo (2019); 12th and 13th Havana Biennial (2015, 2019); 13 Biennial of Media Arts, Centro Nacional de Arte Contemporáneo Cerrillos, Santiago de Chile (2017); New Talents Biennale 2016, Cologne, Germany; Cuban Pavilion at the Venice Biennial (2015); International Biennale of Contemporary Art (BIAC), Martinique (2013); IV Bienal deformes de performance, Chile (2012); III Biennale Arts Actuels Réunion, Reunion Island, France (2011); International Photography Exhibition, World Festival of Black Arts and Cultures, Dakar, Senegal (2010); 7th Gwangju Biennial, South Korea (2008).

Amongst her main solo shows, we mention: Body Present, KIOSK, Gent, Belgium (2019); Jardinera, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, France (2018); Dibujo intercontinental, Galleria Continua, Havana (2017); Un chino de paso por Venecia, ICI, Venice, Italy (2017); Bala perdida, Galería Villa Manuela, Havana, Cuba (2017);  Reclaiming meaning, Skövde Art Museum, Sweden (2016); Tropiques hèritage, André Arsenec Gallery, Tropiques Atrium, Fort de France, Martinique (2015); Sleeper, NAOS gallery, Karlsruhe, Germany (2012); Fiebre cerebral, Villa de Bank Gallery, Enschede, Netherlands (2011).

Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Museo del Barrio, as part of the CIFO Grants & Commissions Program Award; Smart Museum, Chicago; Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, USA; Opelvillen Riisselsheim Art and Culture Foundation, Germany; New Museum of African Civilizations, Dakar, Senegal; Fundación Minera Escondida, Antofagasta, Chile; Galleria Continua, Havana, France, Italy; Fotomuseo de Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City; Alabama Contemporary Art Center, USA; Goodman Gallery, Kapstadt, South Africa; Kunstraum Niederoesterreich, Vienna, Austria; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba; Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba; School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Extra Muros exhibition, curated by M HKA Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, Mechelen, Belgium; ZKM / Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany; among others.