Tomas Esson : THE GOAT

Tomás Esson: The GOAT is the first monograph of Afro-Cuban artist Tomás Esson. It features paintings created over a span of thirty-five years and showcases a distinct style that overflows with energy, biting humor, and suggestive narratives that often involve highly sexualized, monstrous creatures alongside the heroes of the Cuban Revolution. Coming of age in turbulent Havana, Tomás Esson (b. 1963) was a fierce critic of the social reality he saw around him. His work was showcased in a number of controversial exhibitions in the late 1980s, as the artist became a central figure in the decade’s renaissance in Cuban art and he began to exhibit internationally. He left Cuba in 1990 and moved to the USA. Alongside his works this publication provides newly commissioned scholarship and reprints of critical texts that are no longer in circulation, proof that Esson is one of Cuba’s most important post-Revolutionary artists, whose work remains timely today.

The first monograph on Afro-Cuban artist Tomás Esson.

Tomás Esson: The GOAT features paintings created over thirty-five years that showcase the artist’s distinct style, energy, and biting humor. Esson is one of Cuba’s most important post-Revolutionary artists and his work remains timely today. In Esson’s work, suggestive narratives often involve highly sexualized, monstrous creatures alongside the heroes of the Cuban Revolution.

Coming of age in a culturally dynamic Havana, Esson was a fierce critic of the social reality he saw around him. His work was showcased in a number of controversial exhibitions in the late 1980s and the artist became a central figure in the decade’s renaissance in Cuban art. Esson began to exhibit internationally very early on, and in 1990 he left Cuba and moved to the United States.

Alongside images of Esson’s works, this publication provides newly commissioned scholarship and reprints of critical texts that are no longer in circulation. This volume includes essays by Erica James and Antonio Eligio Fernandez (Tonel), as well as a new interview with the artist.