Black Pony Gallery Welcomes Osmeivy Ortega

October 7, 2022

Black Pony Gallery announced that award-winning Cuban master engraver Osmeivy Ortega has joined the gallery’s talent list.

A spokesperson said, “The artist presents a series of intricate woodblock and linocut prints in his first solo online exhibition entitled Osmeivy Ortega: Other Minds. The exhibition runs October 7-24, 2022.

“Other Minds echoes the title of one specific artwork in which an octopus, suspended in space with active tentacles, is rendered with a human brain. Realistically presented with its impossible, brilliant brain on display, the work captures the spirit of the exhibition. We can expect beautifully rendered animals with surrealistic qualities, each developing its own story or social commentary.”

Osmeivy Ortega, Other Minds, 2018. Woodcut technique handprinted on acid free Japanese paper

Lisa Howie, Founding Director, Black Pony Gallery: “Osmeivy Ortega’s work baﬄes me: The complexity of the woodblock or linocut and the precision in his hand printing method. I’m a fan of Hitchcock and surrealism, so these wild pairings of animals, botany, and objects—birds, roses, and barbed wire— stimulates my imagination. Each work is rich in metaphor with layers of meaning and dreaming.”

Academic Gabriela Azcuy says of Ortega’s portfolio: “Animals and plants function as interlocutors to question issues related to society, the individual and his development in today’s world. There is an environmental interest but above all his creations are an existentialist song towards humanity.”

The spokesperson said, “Each work is handprinted on acid free Japanese paper following the tradition of engraving that Osmeivy Ortega has mastered.

Osmeivy Ortega, Jump to Innocence, 2019. Woodcut technique handprinted on acid free Japanese paper