Ordo Amoris Cabinet (1994 – 2003). Living and working in Havana, Cuba, Francis Acea and Diango Hernandez formed Ordo Amoris Cabinet in 1994. Acea was born in Havana, Cuba in 1967 and Hernández was born in Sancti-Spiritus, Cuba in 1970. Attending the Havana Superior Institute of Design, Acea and Hernández received their degrees in graphic and industrial design respectively and formed an artistic collaboration under the appellation of Ordo Amoris Cabinet, the Latin terms for “order” and “love.” Ordo Amoris Cabinet has exhibited widely in Cuba, Europe, Costa Rica, and Canada, and make their United States debut exhibition at ArtPace. Solo shows include various installations at the Center for the Development of the Visual Arts and the Center of Art and Design in Havana, Cuba; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo y Diseño, San Jose, Costa Rica; Banff Center for the Arts, Alberta, Canada; Kunsthaus Berlin, Germany; Seventh Havana Biennale, Living la Vida, Sinpalabras Studio, Havana, Cuba; and, the AFW Gallerie, Köln, Germany. Group shows include Champ Libre, Montreal, Canada; Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, Cornerhouse, Manchester, Royal College of Art, London, and Camden Art Center, London, England; Fabbrica del Vappore Art Center, Milan, Italy; Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen, Germany; and the Tirana Biennial, Albania.
Their sculptural installations evoke a reconsideration of necessity through references to sociology, ethnography, and museology, and pose a thought-provoking statement on the realities of politics and material culture in Cuba.
Solo exhibitions
2002
Sweet home, Espacio Aglutinador, Havana, Cuba
2001
Mousepads and screensavers, (curated by Cuauhtemoc Medina) ArtPace, San Antonio, US
Network transmission, – Summer days, Galerie Adamski Frehrking Wiesehöfer, Cologne, Germany
1999
Esta cerca es provisional: Evite ser requerido, Centro de Desarrollo de Las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba
1997
Hiking Raffle, Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, Canada
Hormigón armado, Centro de Desarrollo de Las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba
1996
Agua con azúcar y La muestra provisional, (curated by Helmo Hernández) Centro de Desarrollo de Las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba / Museo de Arte Contemporáneo y Diseño (MACD), San José, Costa Rica
Para saber quien soy, Centro de Desarrollo de Las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba
1995
Bésame Habana, Centro de Arte y Diseño, Havana, Cuba
Group exhibitions
2002
Prophets of boom. The Schürmann Collection, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden, Germany | With eyes of stone and water, (curated by Malin Barth) Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland | Atravesados. Deslizamientos de identidades y géneros, Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, Spain | FITAC. VIII Foro Sobre Teoría del Arte Contemporáneo, (curated by Cuauhtémoc Medina) Monterrey, México | La Huella Múltiple, Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba
2001
Short stories, (curated by Roberto Pinto, Eugenio Valdés) La Fabbrica del Vapore, Milano, Italy | Un día como otro cualquiera | A day like any other day, 7ma Bienal de la Habana, Havana, Cuba | I am Cuba-Double play, (curated by Eugenio Valdes) 1st Tirana Biennale, Tirana, Albania
2000
La conjunción de la nada, Centro de Desarrollo de Las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba
1999
CUBA, present!, Barbican Centre, London, UK | Thinking Aloud, (curated by Richard Wentworth) Camden Art Centre, London, UK
1998
Provisional Utopias, (curated by Wolfgang Becker, Annette Lagler and Helmo Hernández) Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany / Kunsthaus, Berlin, Germany | 1er Salon de Arte Cubano Contemporáno, Centro de Desarrollo de Las Artes Visuales / Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wilfredo Lam / CENCREM / Fototeca de Cuba, Havana, Cuba | Thinking Aloud, (curated by Richard Wentworth) Hayward Gallery, London / Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge / Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK | Entropy at home, Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen, Germany | The Campaign Against Living Miserably, Royal College of Art, London, UK
1997
The Russian mountain, III Manifestation Internationale Vidéo et Art Électronique, Montreal, Canada | Rompiendo los moldes, (curated by Omar Pascual Castillo) Taller de Serígrafia Rene Portocarrero, 6ta Bienal de La Habana, Havana, Cuba
1996
Ultimas noticias, (curated by Juan A. Molina) Galería de Arte de Matanzas, Matanzas, Cuba
1995
Una de cada clase. The next generation show, (curated by José Menéndez and Helmo Hernández) Centro de Arte y Diseño, Havana, Cuba