Carlos Enrique Prado is a visual artist and professor of sculpture and ceramics, born in La Habana, Cuba in 1978. He currently teaches ceramics at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida.
Prado's works of art are predominantly sculpture and ceramics, but he has also made drawings, paintings, photographs, digital art, installations, interventions, and performances. He has also made several public artworks, which include large-scale sculptural projects located in important places in various cities. The content of his works has been focused in part on contextual and social commentary, with emphasis on an anthropological perspective, but at the same time, there are also other interests present in his works ranging from classical portraiture to tribute projects.
In 1996 he graduated in sculpture and drawing at the National Academy of Fine Arts "San Alejandro". In 2002 he received a BFA from ISA University of the Arts of Cuba, the most important art education center in the country. He also received an MFA from the same university in 2008. His works have been exhibited in solo and group shows at major art institutions, museums, and galleries in several countries of America and Europe, and are part of important private and public collections. He has also been an organizer and curator of several projects of solo and group shows. He also has presented his work as a visiting artist and guest speaker at various universities and art schools, including the University of Southern California, Midwestern State University, Arizona State University, University of Mary Washington, and the University of Alabama.
Among the large number of works by Carlos Enrique, the ceramic sculptures and installations stand out. He has achieved great recognition in many events related to ceramics, winning several awards at Ceramics Biennials and with works present in collections of major museums, including the National Museum of Ceramics of Havana and Research Center Ceramics Museum of Art ASU, Arizona. The works in clay have been featured in various solo and group exhibitions, as well as published in books and art magazines. In the field of ceramics, Prado has a solid technical background and masters all the ceramic construction techniques, as well as knows how to operate all equipment and processes of an artistic ceramic studio.
Digital art is another medium where Carlos Enrique has developed a large part of his recent work, also achieving recognition. Establishing a symbiosis between sculpture and digital media, his works are basically a series of 3D models that are later processed as 2D prints and 3D prints. On the other hand, within the two-dimensional sphere, drawing has been the main medium in his work. Both drawing and digital art works have been part of various exhibitions and have been published.
Among the public artworks made by Carlos Enrique are the monument to Dulce Maria Loynaz, commissioned by the City of Puerto de la Cruz, Canary Islands, Spain, and the President Reagan equestrian monument, commissioned by Miami-Dade County for the Tropical Park, Miami, Florida. The most recent finished large-scale public sculpture is located in the Town Hall Plaza, Town of Medley, Florida.
Furthermore, Prado has developed an extensive collection of portrait sculptures, with which he has achieved notable recognition. In addition to public portraits monuments mentioned before, museums and private collectors have also commissioned numerous portrait busts, of different materials, sizes and scales, such as the bust of Alicia Alonso and Ernesto Lecuona for the Museum of Dance in Havana. In this sense, his portraits are characterized by the peculiar ability to represent in-depth the resemblance of the portrayed subject, both physically and psychologically. Although most of his sculptures were initially built in clay to be transferred to another permanent material such as bronze, for that purpose he has recently used the digital sculpting medium to do his work.
Carlos Enrique has been a professor of sculpture and ceramics for over 18 years, teaching various courses, such as the studio practice for art majors, figure sculpting, drawing, as well as all the different levels and techniques of ceramics. He has also supervised or tutored students' thesis and serve as a member of many thesis committees over the years. He has organized and assisted in the organization of numerous student shows. He began his career as a professor at ISA University of the Arts of Cuba, where he worked for 10 years and obtained the category of assistant professor. He is currently a lecturer of ceramics at the University of Miami, Florida. In addition, he has taught multiple courses and several demonstration classes at universities such as the Midwestern State University and the University of Mary Washington in the USA, as well as at The Royal University College of Arts in Sweden. During his time at ISA University of Art of Cuba, he served as head of the sculpture department at the School of Visual Arts, a program that includes areas such as 3d design, ceramics, wood and stone carving, architectural design, metalworks, and bronze casting.
Carlos continues to work hard as an artist and professor. He firmly believes that art must be interconnected with the needs of society, that is why he is currently connecting his artistic and teaching careers with the notion of service, which has also become part of the objectives of his work.