Ruben Torres Llorca

b. 1957
Havana, Cuba

Rubén Torres Llorca is among the most significant voices in contemporary Cuban art. Blending wit, symbolism, and incisive social observation, his paintings, sculptures, and installations explore the complexities of power, belief, memory, and human behavior. For more than four decades, his work has challenged conventions while remaining deeply rooted in the stories we tell ourselves and one another.

Featured Works

An image of an acrylic on canvas painting of a robot in a tropical jungle, titled Vereda Tropical by Cuban conceptual artist Rubén Torres Llorca, at Conde Contemporary..

Vereda Tropical
acrylic on canvas
24 × 24 in
Rubén Torres Llorca
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An image of an acrylic on canvas painting of two small children standing on a rock in a river in the forest, titled Hansel and Gretel are Lost, by the conceptual Cuban artist Rubén Torres Llorca, at Conde Contemporary.

Hansel and Gretel Are Lost
acrylic on canvas
48 × 48 in
Rubén Torres Llorca
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A mixed media artwork, titled The Sound of Distant Thunder, featuring five women from the 1950's each on the phone, the main piece is a collage of maps and newsprint, by Cuban conceptual artist Rubén Torres Llorca, at Conde Contemporary.

The Sound of Distant Thunder
mixed media
acrylic on wood disks, collage on canvas
55 × 48 in
Rubén Torres Llorca
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An mixed media artwork titled Emotional Weather Report, in mixed media - acrylic and collage featuring women on the phone and newsprint by Cuban conceptual master Rubén Torres Llorca at Conde Contemporary.

Emotional Weather Report
mixed media
acrylic and newsprint on wood and canvas
46 × 46 in
Rubén Torres Llorca
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A painting titled I've Got You Under My Skin, featuring a beautiful woman with a floral background and a human heart, skull, and brain floating in the image beside her, by Cuban conceptual artist Rubén Torres Llorca at Conde Contemporary.

I’ve Got You Under My Skin
acrylic on canvas
40 × 40 in
Rubén Torres Llorca
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A mixed media artwork by Cuban conceptual artist Rubén Torres Llorca featuring 35 wooden rounds of different sizes painted in grayscale, subjects include women, snow white, a human heart, and the center piece with the title The Order of Chaos.

The Order of Chaos
mixed media
acrylic on wood with chalkboards
62 × 36 in, dimensions variable
Rubén Torres Llorca
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Bring Me The Head of Frida Kahlo
mixed media
newsprint on clay and wood
18 × 38 × 18 in
Rubén Torres Llorca
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A mixed media artwork in painting and collage titled Another Door is Open featuring Betty White as a young woman by Cuban conceptual artist Rubén Torres Llorca at Conde Contemporary.

Another Door is Open
mixed media
acrylic and collage on canvas, Japanese tattoo ink on paper
63 × 63 in
Rubén Torres Llorca
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Rubén Torres Llorca

Rubén Torres Llorca is a Cuban artist specializing in painting, drawing, sculpture, collages, and photography. He studied from 1972 to 1976 at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes “San Alejandro” in Havana and from 1976 to 1981, studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA), also in Havana. Torres lived briefly in Mexico City, Mexico from 1990 to 1993 resided in Mexico City.

Llorca has received many awards, including the 1990 Curatorship Prize from the International association of Arts Critics (AICA) for "Una Mirada Retrospectiva" exhibited, in Havana. In 1997 he was awarded the Visual and Media Fellowship, from the South Florida Cultural Consortium, Florida.

Rubén Torres Llorca's work can be found in the permanent collections of : Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, La Habana, Cuba, Fototeca de Cuba, La Habana, Ludwig Forum Fur Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany, Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, Flint Institute of Arts, Michigan, Miami Art Museum (MAM), Miami, FL, The Frost Museum, Miami, FL, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Miami, FL, The Lowe Museum, Coral Gables, FL. Bass Museum, Miami Beach, FL. Miami Dade College, FL. The Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL. The Nassau County Museum, Roslyn Harbor, NY, MUAC Contemporary Art Museum, UNAM, Mexico DF, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico DF, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Michoacan, Mexico, and The Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, FL.

Additionally, Llorca's work is found in virtually every important Cuban art collection around the world, including the Jorge Perez, and Howard Farber Collections.

Torres Llorca has lived and worked in Miami, FL since 1993.

“His {Jorge Perez of the Perez Art Museum in Miami} Latin American favorites include...Cubans José Bedia and Rubén Torres Llorca, both of whom he believes are severely undervalued today.”

— The Miami Herald