Artist Profile: Armando Torres

Armando Torres, 52, is a world-class artist whose work is in constant demand in Paris and Barcelona. He lives with his mother in the outskirts of Havana and works constantly, 24-7. He is self-taught, and turned down the chance to go through formal art training. When his work began getting noticed by European collectors back in 1984, he thought that perhaps he should become an academic painter. While he did not attend one of Cuba's very thorough art academies, he does incorporate well thought-out elements of design in his paintings. This, combined with a fecund imagination that draws inspiration from his dreams, classical music, and top artists in history, gives rise to the extraordinary art that you are seeing here at Rembrandt Yard. Armando's wonderful creativity and sensitivity is of the type seen only in the greatest of artists, musicians and poets, and entrances all who see it. There was no hesitation in his voice when I asked Armando when he knew he would become an artist: "When I was 4 years old." One of Armando's paintings in "La Mirada Posible" is "Musical, Poetica y Loco."� This translates as "Musical, Poetical and Crazy." This is a colloquial Cuban saying, meant as a compliment for someone who can do many things. Such is the condition of artists in Cuba, forced to make do in many different ways, but producing significant art through it all... Trees are very important in Armando's paintings, but like many artists, he prefers not to talk much about the meaning in his works. Look closely and see how you respond to the paintings of Armando Torres, and please give us any comments you might have.

—Ana Weir