Cuban painter associated with Surrealism, born on 5 January 1934 in Havana, died on 30 March 2011.
Life
Jorge Camacho gave up his law studies in the early 1950s to devote himself to painting, with no artistic training. In 1953 he left for Mexico, where he lived for a year and became friends with José Luis Cuevas; both were interested in the sources of Maya culture. He exhibited in Havana in 1955 and 1958, and received an honourable mention at the São Paulo Biennial in 1959.
In the Havana of the late 1950s he became friends with Joaquín Ferrer, Agustín Cárdenas and Wifredo Lam. In 1960 Camacho and Ferrer met again in Paris, at the Maison de Cuba in the Cité universitaire, and spent a decisive year there: both chose to settle in Paris for good. In 1962 they took part in the major exhibition Art latino-américain organised by Jean-Clarence Lambert at the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris.
Camacho met André Breton in 1961, at an exhibition of Toyen, and joined the Surrealist group; Breton wrote the preface for one of his exhibitions. René Alleau introduced him to esotericism.
The work
Esotericism and alchemy nourish his painting, championed in their day by the galleries of Jacques and Thessa Herold in Paris and Joan Prats in Barcelona. His passion for ornithology gave rise to an exhibition of bird paintings at the Galerie Maeght; a journey to Peru inspired his sand landscapes, shown in 1984 at the Galerie Albert Loeb. Éditions Palatines devoted a major monograph to him, and his illustrated books are the subject of a book by Christian Nicaise (L’Instant perpétuel, 2009).
“Todo el mundo habla de surrealismo, pero son muy pocos los que lo comprenden” (“Everyone talks about Surrealism, but very few understand it”). Jorge Camacho
Exhibitions and collections
- Art latino-américain, Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1962
- Retrospective, Maison de l’Amérique latine, Paris
- Jorge Camacho and Joaquín Ferrer, Two Cuban Friends in Paris from 1960, Galerie Les Yeux Fertiles, 26 January to 9 March 2024 (including Cendres, 1972, oil on canvas, 130 x 97 cm, and L’Engoulevent, 1972, oil on canvas, 98 x 130 cm)
- A Journey through Latin America, Galerie Les Yeux Fertiles, 18 April to 31 May 2025 (including Le Joueur de tours, 1998, pastel and Indian ink on canvas, 215 x 73 cm)