Rubén Tomás Hechavarría Salvia (1967)
gratuated in 1991 from the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in Havana with a licentiate in fine arts specializing in painting. For 25 years he lived and worked under the name SALVIA as a freelance artist, teacher and curator in Holguín, the third largest city in Cuba. He has lived in Berne since 2017 and has set up his Swiss Studio there.
From 1993 to 2015 Salvia held a chair for fine arts at the Art Academy "El Alba" in his hometown of Holguín. So far, Salvia has participated in 161 collective and 26 personal exhibitions inside and outside of Cuba. His works are in the possession of private collectors from Cuba, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
Painting, drawing, photography, installation and performance - Salvia brings togehter a wide variety of talents.
Salvia's diverse work has always reflected his life and his personal impressions from everyday life. In earlier works the are often hidden messages about the difficult living conditions and the repression tha Cuba's population is still exposed to today. The last few years have shown the artist's great concern about the western consumerism and throwaway mentality, environmental problems and, time and again, his sensitive perception of social norms and absurdities. Salvia immerses the viewer in the world of everaday details, invites them to look at what is supposedly familiar with different eyes. The highly professional implementation using a variety of techniques, materials and formats identify him as an experienced master of his field.
As the organizer of several joint projects, he has left his mark on the cultural scene in eastern Cuba. The performances of the art action group "VACUTAINER", which he founded in 2006, are legendary. With the opening of "LA COLONIA" - the first private studio gallery in Holguín - Salvia fulfilled a long-standing dream in 2015: the realization of an artist's colony as a vessel for cross-border exchange.
