Yaima Carrazana (born in Santiago de Cuba, 1981) is an artist living and working in Amsterdam. Carrazana began her career by creating video works and freely moving between various media and formats. A common focus in her work is weaving a delicate web of political, cultural, and gender-based contexts. The artist stands out for the way she engages in a highly informed but often irreverent dialogue with the history and discourse of contemporary art. In recent years, her life as an immigrant has shaped her work, focusing mostly on appropriative painting, where color plays an important role. Carrazana studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts San Alejandro in Havana. She pursued studies at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana and at the Cátedra de Arte de Conducta, directed by the artist Tania Bruguera. In 2010, she completed a residency program at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam.
Her work has been exhibited at various prestigious venues, including the Kanal-Centre Pompidou, BE (2020), the 14th Bienal de Cuenca in Ecuador (2018), Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, US (2017), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, CU (2014), Wilhelm-Hack-Museum in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, DE (2012), Kunsthal KAdE in Amersfoort, NL (2012), 12th Istanbul Biennial, TR (2011), the Haifa Museum of Art, IL (2011), Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, LU (2009), the 2011 Liverpool Biennial, the 2008 Gwangju Biennial, the Museum of Contemporary Art - MOT in Tokyo, JP (2006), and the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, FR (2005).
e-mail: yaimacarrazana@gmail.com
EDUCATION AND RESIDENCIES
2019 Spanish Royal Academy in Rome, IT
2012 Felipa Manuela. Madrid. ES
2009 - 2010 Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, NL
2004 - 2005 Cátedra Arte Conducta (Behavior Art School) directed by Tania Bruguera. Instituto Superior .de Arte. Havana, CU
2003 - 2005 ISA Universidad de las Artes, Havana, CU
2000 - 2003 BA San Alejandro National Academy of Arts, Havana, CU
SOLO AND DUO EXHIBITIONS
2024 'Maison d’Artiste’, with Loidys Carnero, Galería Ángeles Baños, Badajoz, ES
2023 'Plano en Disolución', El Apartamento, Madrid, ES
2023 'Liveability', Galería Ángeles Baños, Badajoz, ES
2018 ‘Letters from Paradise' NEVERNEVERLAND Foundation, Amsterdam, NL
2017 'Maison d’Artiste’, with Loidys Carnero, Havana Art Weekend, Havana, CU
2016 'Cartas de Declaración' Galería Ángeles Baños, Badajoz, ES
'Maison d’Artiste’, with Loidys Carnero, Studio Sandra Recio Contemporary Art, Geneva, CH
2013 'Diva of Geneva', Studio Sandra Recio Contemporary Art, Geneva, CH
2012 'Dating a Royal', Galería Elba Benítez en Kvadrat, Madrid, ES
2011 'The Golden Antelope', Artpocalypse Collective, Amsterdam, NL
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selection)
2026 Fine Art Department Sandberg Institute: The Unreliable Narrator -ResearchLabs 2026, Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam NL
2025 ’10 AÑOS EN CUBA’ THE ABILITY TO DREAM, Galleria Continua, Zanja 62, Havana, CU
2024 'Kaléidoscopes - Cuba : Regards Contemporains', Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, FR
2023 The Island That Is No More: Cuban Diasporas, Groupe Intervention Vidéo (GIV), Montreal, CA
ARTE LATINOAMERICANO Colección MEIAC, Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo Badajoz, ES
2022 You Know Who You Are, Recent Acquisitions of Cuban Art from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection, El Espacio 23, Miami, US
2021 TOGETHER, Seven Seas Motel - Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, US
2020 None of the Above, Kanal–Centre Pompidou, Brussels, BE
'La courte échelle', Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, ZA
2019 Montréal ~ Habana: Rencontres en art actuel, Cinémathèque québécoise, Montreal, CA
'El Circuito del Arte Cubano', Galeria El Apartamento, Havana Biennial, CU
'Infiltraciones' (Proyecto Visible), Pinta Miami, US
2018 '14th Cuenca Biennial - Living Structures’, Cuenca - Ecuador, EC
2017 'Adiós Utopia: Dreams and Deceptions in Cuban Art Since 1950' Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, US
'Art x Cuba Contemporary Perspectives since 1989' Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen DE
'Adiós Utopia: Dreams and Deceptions in Cuban Art Since 1950' The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), US
2016 'Ritournelle' Art Contemporain - Fondation Salomon Annecy, FR
2015 'L'Heure Qu'Il Est' - Centre d'art contemporain d'Yverdon-les-Bains, Yverdon-les-Bains, CH
We All Have Good Taste - TUB Gallery, Miami, FL
'Ejercicios De Traslado: Colecciones 9915' Centro de Arte Alcobendas (CAA), Madrid, ES
2014 'Variaciones contempladas en silencio' Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, CU
'Permission To Be Global / Prácticas Globales: Latin American Art from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection' - MFA - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, US
'First Person: Contemporary Cuban Art', Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, US
2013 'Region 0. The Latino Video Art Festival of New York', US
'Media Art Biennale WRO' Wroclaw, PL
'Dissentire', Casa Masaccio Arte Contemporanea, San Giovanni Valdarno, IT
'From madonna to Madonna'. DA2 (Domus Artium 2002), Salamanca, ES
2012 'Who More Sci-fi Than Us? Contemporary Art from the Caribbean' Kunsthal Kade, Amersfoort, NL
Punkt. Systeme: vom Pointillismus zum Pixel, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, DE
2011 'Círculos', Galería Elba Benítez, Madrid, ES.
'Impakt Festival'. Utrecht, NL
'Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial)', Istanbul, TR
'Formally Speaking/And what shall we do with Painting in the 21st Century?', Haifa Museum of Art ' IL
'The Draughtsman's Contract', Studio Sandra Recio, Geneva, CH
'Todos tenemos buen gusto', Factoría de Arte y Desarrollo, Madrid, ES
'Dentro-fuera', OTR Espacio de Arte, Madrid, ES
2010 Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, 'RijksakademieOPEN', Amsterdam, NL
'The fear factor'. Officina Giovani. Prato. IT
'Liverpool Biennial'. International 10: Touched. Cátedra Arte de Conducta. UK.
'Unveiled Identity Unveiled', Artpocalypse Collective, Amsterdam, NL
'Out of Storage II - Rhythms'. Mudam-Luxembourg, Luxembourg, LU
2009 Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, 'RijksakademieOPEN', Amsterdam, NL.
'10th Havana Biennial', La Habana, 'Estado de Excepción', (exh. cat.) CU
2008 'Salud Deporte y Control', Umberto di Marino, Napoli, IT
'Lança Cuba', Gallery Gentil Carioca, Rio do Janeiro, BR
'Foro Sur', Cáceres, ES
Gwangju Biennale. 'Cátedra Arte de Conducta'. Gwangju, (exh. cat.) KR.
2007 F.E.M. VII, Madrid, ES
2006 9th Havana Biennial, 'Open season', (exh. cat.) CU.
MOT. Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 'Collection of the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain', (exh. cat.) Tokyo, JP
2005 Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris, 'J'en rêve', (exh. cat.) FR
Center for the Development of the Visual Arts, 'Centri-Fuga' La Habana, CU
2004 Encuentro de Performance, Cienfuegos, CU
Art Print encounter '04'. CU, Centro Wilfredo Lam, La Habana
RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE AND OTHER ACTIVITIES (selection)
2024 - current Sandberg Instituut - Coordinator Fine Arts Department, Amsterdam, NL
2022 - 2023 HCC - Creative and operational management - Heesterveld Creative Community - BNBZO, Amsterdam, NL
2022 Beeldende kunst workshop, Stichting IMC Weekendschool, Amsterdam, NL
2021 Live-video performance commission, Drawing 4 Justice - HCC TV (: https://www.youtube.com/), Amsterdam, NL
2013 Talks/visiting tutor, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Milwaukee, US
2011 Impakt Festival - PANORAMA EVENT NIGHT #1: Amazing Discoveries, Utrecht, NL
2011 Workshop, Matadero Madrid. Centro de Creación Contemporánea, Madrid, ES
2010 International 10: Tania Bruguera and Cátedra Arte de Conducta. Liverpool Biennial, UK
2008 Coordinator, Galería Elba Benitez, Madrid, ES
2008 Lecture series, Lança Cuba', Gentil Carioca - Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro (BR)
FELLOWSHIPS/STIPENDS/GRANTS
2018 Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst (AFK), NL
2010 Ministerio de Cultura, ES
2009 Van den Berch van Heemstede Stichting, NL
2006 Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI), ES
2005 Spanish Agency of International Cooperation (AECI) 'Visión del futuro', Havana,. CU
PUBLICATIONS/EXHIBITION CATALOGUES (selection)
2026 Vitamin P4: New Perspectives in Painting, Phaidon Press Ltd, UK
2020 None of the Above, Kanal–Centre Pompidou (exh. cat.), Brussels, BE
2018 '14th Cuenca Biennial - Living Structures’, Cuenca, Ecuador, EC
2017 'Adiós Utopia: Dreams and Deceptions in Cuban Art Since 1950', Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, US
2013 'Media Art Biennale - WRO', Wroclaw, PL
2012 'Who More Sci-fi Than Us? Contemporary Art from the Caribbean', Kunsthal Kade, Amersfoort, NL
2012 Punkt. Systeme: vom Pointillismus zum Pixel, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum (exh. cat.), Ludwigshafen am Rhein, DE
2010 Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, 'RijksakademieOPEN', NL
2010 Liverpool Biennial. International 10: Touched (Biennial catalogue), Liverpool, UK
2009 Out of Storage II. Rythmes, (exh. pub.), Mudam Luxemburg, LU
2009 RijksakademieOPEN, Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, NL
2006 Collection of the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, MOT-Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, JP
2005 J'en rêve (exh. cat.) Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris, FR
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Miami, US
CIFO - Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, US
Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, NL
MEIAC, Badajoz, ES
Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris, FR
MUDAM, Luxembourg, LU