Institute of Contemporary Art Miami ICA Miami

“Dalton Gata: The Way We’ll Be” is the first solo museum presentation for Puerto Rico–based artist Dalton Gata (b. 1977, Santiago de Cuba), and features a surrealistic installation across various mediums. Gata draws on a personal archive of images in order to explore queer and popular culture as well as psychological and mythical symbols. The artist’s works create complex narratives that bring to life his own experience of immigration and the diasporic conditions of Cuba in the Caribbean.

This exhibition of newly commissioned work is focused on issues of “becoming,” and on the liberation found through pride, dignity, and joy. The artist often uses portraiture to reimagine conventions of identity, gender, and beauty and creates symbolic still lifes and landscapes rich with cross-cultural references. These latest works see the artist dramatically expanding his visual language, depicting figures rapt with the potential for transformation.

Gata is represented in ICA Miami’s permanent collection, and his work has been presented in galleries internationally. He received a BFA in fashion design from the Altos del Chavón Design School, Santo Domingo. The exhibition will be accompanied by the artist’s first catalogue, published by ICA Miami, featuring essays by Maria Elena Ortiz and Rita Indiana, and an interview by Alex Gartenfeld, among other contributions.

This exhibition is organized by ICA Miami and curated by Alex Gartenfeld, Artistic Director.