Watercolor on paper, 22.25 x 29 inches, framed. This original work by Cuban artist Armando Mariño is a lyrical, poetic image of a house, seemingly familiar yet dislocated. It invites viewers to reflect on home, memory, and the instability of belonging. The doubling effect suggests memory, echo, or how places live on in our minds.

Armando Mariño was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1968. Mariño defied his family's scientific background, which included a physicist mother and an engineer father, to pursue art. He ultimately trained in Santiago, Havana, and later at the esteemed Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam.

Mariño is best known for layering oil and watercolor in strong, vibrant, and intense palettes, with luminous hues of yellow, green, pink, orange, and dramatic dark shadows. His imagery often draws from media, landscapes, migration, protests, and social upheaval, capturing contemporary issues like war, ecology, and displacement. Mariño's creative process typically begins with found imagery, which he digitally manipulates and then refashions through preparatory watercolors or oils before committing to large-scale canvases, resulting in final works that are visually distinct from their originals.

Mariño has received numerous awards and participated in major residencies, such as Pollock-Krasner, Bronx Museum, and Art Omi, among others. His work is featured in prominent collections worldwide, including the Coca-Cola Foundation (Spain), Deutsche Bank (USA), 21c Museum (USA), Berardo Collection (Portugal), and Cuban institutions such as the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana.

One compelling sculpture, The Raft (La Patera), depicts a wheel-less 1950 Plymouth supported by numerous Cuban legs, symbolizing the difficult journeys of the Cuban diaspora and the strength of its people. A later version resides at the 21c Museum in Kentucky. Mariño's art blends cultural critique, vivid aesthetics, and emotional depthÑoften addressing colonial narratives, identity, and social justice through a transformative visual vocabulary.

This work is from a private collection generously donated to Cuba Art NY.

A certificate of authenticity will be provided.

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