About the artist:
Gustavo Souto was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on December 8, 1963. The son of Cuban parents, he was the first born in exile and grew without the images his family longed for and talked about frequently. From an early age he showed interest and talent for the arts. His parents provided him with private tutors, in the disciplines of drawing and painting, until the age of 17. Gustavo graduated from Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola in 1981. In 1985 he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Arts. After graduation Gustavo started designing jewelry for private clients as well as jewelry firms; in the process Gustavo became a goldsmith and model maker. In 1990 he relocated to New York to work for firms including Frederick Goldman and Arxpo International, designing jewelry. In 1995 Gustavo abandoned his jewelry career to dedicate his time fully to painting.

Self Portrait I
In 1997 Souto is offered a solo show for the first time in San Juan, PR. In 1998 he exhibited for the first time in the Agora Gallery, SOHO, NY. That same year the Cuban government invited Souto to a cultural exchange which he used to explore the Cuban landscape as the theme for his next collection of paintings, after visiting photographing every province of the Island. In 1999 Souto exhibited paintings from this collection in Cuba, as part of the Festival del Caribe.

Souto currently lives in NY where he is preparing his next solo show, to be held in San Juan, PR in February 2000. Souto belongs to several artists associations which include, The East End Arts Council, The Artists Alliance of East Hampton, The Southampton Artists association, and The Pastel Association of America.

Souto's current collection of paintings deal with the relationship between the object and its space. He likes to call them "private moments of my memory". With his own symbolism he creates the interior of boxes where determinate objects "live" around a situation of their own. The inanimate objects come to life in situations that our memories allow us to believe and remember. This way Souto deals and evokes feelings of loneliness, passion, inspiration, lust, awe, fear, and love.

About his new collection he says "I combine the scenery of the landscape, the personality of the portrait, and the timelessness of the still life to create a moment in memory. In some of them I have eliminated the object, to let the space become the object, and the main character of the painting."

Souto says about his landscapes "I want to capture the essence of the observation of that scene, the movement of the air through the trees, the diffusion of light, the trick of the eye as to what you "see" in focus". With his skills in technique Gustavo teaches us to see again, to believe and enjoy what the observer sees. His collection of Cuban landscapes are framed completely with antique frames, distraught and scratched "to show the passage of time, the forty years that were interrupted from me, way before I was born, to show the validity and significance of the landscape by its timelessness".

Souto explores other themes and techniques constantly, not as a lack of direction, but as an endless search. On this he explains "I believe that the worst that can happen to an artist is to start copying himself, the day I do that, the artist in me will be dead"

We provide a copy of Souto's Curriculum Vitae and invite everyone to visit the galleries and welcome them to email us with questions, comments, and requests.

We hope you enjoy your visit.
MAIN | About the Artist | Guest Book | Purchase | Contact Us

Gallery 1 | Gallery 2 | Gallery 3 | Gallery 4 | Gallery 5 | Gallery 6