Abel Herrero:
Purple Symphony
Text by Eugenio Viola
November 29, 2026 - February 27, 2027
We are pleased to present Purple Symphony, an exhibition by Cuban-born artist Abel Herrero, featuring four monumental paintings conceived as movements of a single visual symphony. Through a gradual progression from a turbulent sea to a garden, a flower, and ultimately a galaxy, Herrero explores the relationship between nature, perception, and scale, revealing connections between the immense and the infinitesimal.
Working through a distinctive subtractive painting technique, Herrero removes layers of saturated oil paint through scraping, rubbing, and wiping, allowing images to emerge between figuration and abstraction. The works examine the tensions between fragility and power, chaos and order, while small Murano glass spiders incorporated into the final painting extend the compositions beyond the picture plane. Together, the four movements invite reflection on transformation, interdependence, and the complexity of the natural world.
Abel Herrero
About the Artist:
Abel Herrero (b. 1971, Havana, Cuba) is an artist who has lived and worked in Italy since 1994. His painting explores the relationship between humanity and the natural world through a distinctive use of saturated color, often employing vivid tones such as magenta, cyan, green, and yellow. Working between figuration and abstraction, Herrero examines themes of individuality, nature, and history, allowing color to become both the subject and the central conceptual element of his work. His practice has been presented in numerous international exhibitions, including Viaggio di luce. Claudio Parmiggiani – Abel Herrero at Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, Removed at the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí in Havana, and presentations at the 54th and 59th Venice Biennale, MAXXI in Rome, and the 12th Havana Biennial.