Yudel Francisco Cruz
Yudel Francisco Cruz (b. 1991 Mayabeque, Cuba) is an internationally recognized painter who lives and works in La Havana, Cuba. Cruz studied fine arts in Academia de Arte Plásticas Eduardo Abela. His work is included in various prestigious collections worldwide.
Epifanía, the February 2025 exhibition at Gambit, was an incredible cross section of Cruz’s large-scale works. Pictures such as Tu Cielo También es Mío (59 in x 94 in, oil on linen), translated to English as “Your Sky is Also Mine”, feature a menagerie of figures including a noble donkey accompanied by Victorian styled youths, a petite dog, wisps of angelic babies and anonymous ghost-like figures all looking towards a precipice in the distance or facing the viewer. The background, similar to many of his paintings, is a gradual smokey gradation of color, or sfumato, gently grounding the Dionysian scene in a renaissance-style landscape. The scale of the piece allows the viewer to feel as if they are a part of the scene, or in direct discourse with the characters. The exhibition invites viewers to participate in Cruz’s mythical ensemble.