User:Pantojaart

Jose Antonio Pantoja Hernandez was born in cuba in 1971 .as an artist who grew up in the mayabeque province of cuba,in the city of Bejucal,"Pantoja" received apprenticeship as a carpenter and woodworker using antiquated tools.as his interests turned to painting and sculpting, he sought visual inspiration from a small collection of art books that showcased mainly works from the masters.

By 2002, Pantoja began paintings that depicted every day life in cuba, as a member of a state-sponsored art collective,Pantoja was eventually able to exhibit his works on the streets of a Havana promenade EL PASEO DEL PRADO. there, he would often only display one or two painting a week,selling them to tourists. Over time, his work became more surreal and somber.Eventually, he began to paint what he calls "the errors of the Revolution." He received a gallery owner in mexico learned about Pantoja's work in 2011 and sent him invitation to display his work in Queretaro city. Pantoja was able to parlay that invitation into special pass to leave Cuba. He said goodbye to his friends and family and boarded a plane to mexico with 8 paintings. When he landed in mexico city in june of 2011,he decided not to exhibit his work and instead took a bus to the bordertown of Nuevo Laredo. there, he crossed into the US border and asked for political asylum.the story of his defection chronicled in an August 2011 issue of THIS LAND PRESS . today Pantoja lives and paints in tulsa, OKLAHOMA.

DETERIORATION OF NOSTALGIA exhibition Tulsa oklahoma 6-1- 2012

Pantoja started painting to protest the government. He painted a series to represent the dire situation of the people in Cuba. He chose to paint surrealistically because "speaking out loud would put you in jail in 1994," As he no longer lives in Cuba, his work moves from surrealism to expressionistic paintings of boats and landscapes. He is excited to share his work and studio space, but wants viewers to remember the reasons he started painting. "It's ironic that Fidel Castro made me create my art.