MIAMI, FLA.- In the heart of Miami's Little Havana, just as the summer sun filters through the royal palms of Calle Ocho, Latin Art Core opens its doors to a world where light, myth, and nature breathe in unison.

Stepping into Manuel Mendive: With the New Day the Sun Shines and Leads Us feels less like entering a gallery, rather like crossing a threshold into a realm where the spiritual and earthly coexist in luminous harmony.


Mi ave, 2024. Acrylic on canvas, 22 x 28 in.

On view through August 31, this major exhibition brings together 46 works by the internationally celebrated Cuban artist--his most recent pieces created between 2023 and 2025, alongside a carefully curated selection of earlier, iconic works. Together, they chart the evolution of a visionary who has spent decades weaving together the visible and invisible realms--where man and nature are not separate, but symphonic.

Now 80, Mendive shows no signs of slowing down. His latest paintings radiate with luminous energy--blues, ochres, and chlorophyll greens that seem to vibrate off the canvas. Figures dance, trees become bodies, rivers take on human form. Birds are not simply part of nature--they are nature. The lines between skin and bark, water and soul, dissolve in these works, giving shape to a renewed artistic voice deeply grounded in ancestral knowledge and the rhythms of the natural world.


Mirando a lo lejos, 2024. Acrylic on canvas, 22 x 28 in.

"To enter the most recent pictorial offerings of Manuel Mendive," writes curator Janet Batet in the exhibition catalog, "is to delve into a world of nature and spirituality where flesh and foliage pulse with the same breath... Color seems to emanate as if the canvas were a living membrane, exhaling blues, ochres, and chlorophyll greens that gracefully interweave in a vibrato echoing life itself."

Nature has always been central to Mendive's creative path. When asked if it continues to inspire his work, he responds:

"Nature is not simply a reflection; it gives us strength, it gives us life. It is also a manifestation of the human being itself. I'm captivated by the profound relationship between the individual, spiritual energies, and the natural world, where each element intertwines in an unbreakable harmony."


El angel alimenta, 2024. Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40 in.

This deep harmony is palpable across both his painted and sculptural work. In his bronze figures--rooted in Yoruba symbolism and fluid in form--Mendive brings ancestral energy into contemporary space.

"There is a strong connection between the spiritual, nature, and the mystical," he says. “In my sculptures, I have worked with bronze to create figures that evoke the energy of the orishas and ancestral spirits, while maintaining an organic and symbolic style.”

Born in Havana in 1944, Mendive traces the roots of his lifelong artistic vision to his childhood. "My path toward the mystical and the search for happiness in art began at a very young age," he reflects. "I was influenced by family traditions, my mother, my connection to Afro-Cuban religion, my travels to Africa, and my love of nature." These influences converge in his work as vivid symbols, lyrical colors, and an ever- present sense of ritual.


Flores, 2024. Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 16 in.

Despite the depth and density of these themes, there is nothing heavy about Mendive's work. In fact, it is infused with joy--a quiet but powerful celebration of life.

"Mendive's latest body of work is a renewed expression of hope and gratitude for life," says the gallery owner Israel Moleiro, who curated the show. "We are honored to present this grand exhibition, which includes both Mendive's newest works and iconic earlier pieces that have defined his career."

The exhibition offers more than just visual delight--it also offers wisdom. When asked what advice he would give to young artists, Mendive answers with characteristic grace:

"Every mind is its world, and every world has its mind. I would tell young artists to be authentic, true to their ideas, and to explore as many languages and media as possible. I would also advise them not to lose sight of their cultural identity.”


Mi casa nunca esta sola, 2025. Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40 in.

Throughout the gallery, that sense of cultural identity--rooted in West African heritage, reshaped through the Cuban experience, and expanded by Mendive's global vision-- remains constant. His art doesn't simply depict a world; it opens one. It invites the viewer to step inside, breathe deeply, and listen to the beat of life beneath the surface.

MENDIVE: With the New Day, the Sun Shines and Leads Us is on view through August 31 at the Latin Art Core Gallery, 1646 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL.

www.latinartcore.com @lac.contemporary