Kcho

Kcho or KCHO may refer to: * Kcho, Cuban artist * Kʼchò language, a language of Myanmar * KCHO (FM), a radio station (91.7 FM) licensed to Chico, California, United States * Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport, Virginia, United States (by ICAO code)

Alexis Leiva Machado (1970), known as KCHO (sometimes spelled K'cho) is a Cuban artist. He was the winner of the grand prize at South Korea's Gwangju Biennale in 1995.

Early life and education

Alexis Leiva Machado (KCHO) was born in Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Pines), on February 12, 1970. His father, Ignacio de Loyola Leiva Abreu, was a carpenter and telecommunication technician, and his mother, Martina Primitiva Machado Cuní (better known as Martha Camacho) was a famous artist. He grew up alongside his four sisters. KCHO attended Josué País primary school and Manuel Alcolea primary school. He then attended Elementary Art School Leonardo Liberta in Isla de la Juventud. In 1986, KCHO enrolled in the National School of Plastic Arts (ENA) in Havana and graduated in 1990, specializing in painting and sculpture. In 1986, he had a solo exhibition "Kcho Expone Favelas" at the Centre of Plastic Arts in Nueva Gerona. One of KCHO's works from his graduation thesis Paisaje Popular Cubano (Cuban Popular Landscape) (1990) was selected for the permanent collection displayed at the Fine Arts Museum of Cuba (MNBA).

1990s

Beyond his studies, KCHO began displaying works in individual and group exhibitions from 1990 onwards. In 1991, KCHO had his first solo exhibition at the MNBA, as part of their "Artist of the Month" series. In 1994, KCHO won a scholarship to the Ludwig Foundation for art studies in Aachen, Germany. He was also invited to participate in the 22nd Biennial in São Paulo, Brazil by curator Nelson Aguilar. In 1995, KCHO participated in the 1st Kwang-Ju Biennial, Korea, where his work won the Grand Prix. By the end of the year, KCHO had met Barbara Gladstone, owner of the Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York, in Havana. Together, they organised two exhibitions of KCHO's work. In 1997, KCHO held his show Todo cambia (Everything Changes), organised by Chief Curator Paul Schimmel and Assistant Curator, Alma Ruiz, for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, California. KCHO could not go to the opening himself because the government of the United States refused his entry visa. In 1999, KCHO was admitted into the Atelier Calder Residence in Saché, France, after receiving the prize granted by the Calder Foundation and the Ministry of Culture of France. The award allowed him to live and work at the Calder studio with a grant to support the production and promotion of his artwork. The residency ended with an exhibition of his work titled Klder. C.C.C.

2000s

, São Paulo.]] In 2001, KCHO was part of the travelling exhibition Suite Europa 2001, carried out by the Dirección General de la Secretaría de Estado para la Cooperación Internacional y para Iberoamérica (General Management of the State Department for International Cooperation and Latin America) organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid, Spain. In 2003, KCHO collaborated with Cuban singer-songwriter Santiago Feliú using the work Para olvidar as scenery for his concert at the National Theatre of Cuba. In the early 2000s, KCHO was working more in Cuba, not only in Havana but also in Isla de la Juventud and Matanzas. In July 2003, KCHO was elected deputy of the Popular Power National Assemblyto represent the people of the Isla de la Juventud and he was reelected in January 2008. In 2006, KCHO moved to Barcelona for several months to work in a group of choreographies at the workshops of Poligrafa, Spain. There, he prepared his exhibition Paso de Los Vientos (Windward Passage), shown later at the Joan Prats Gallery in Barcelona. He returned to Cuba to create his installation-performance Vive y Deja Vivir (Live and Let Live) for the 9th Biennial of Havana. Also in 2006, he was invited by the Marlborough Gallery to go to Madrid for the opening of the Chilean artist Claudio Bravo's exhibition. There, he was invited to be part of a group of artists to exhibit at the gallery and its venues in Monte Carlo, Santiago de Chile, Barcelona, Madrid, New York and London. In 2007, he held his first solo exhibition with the Marlborough Gallery called Retrasando lo inevitable (Delaying the Inevitable) at its venue in Madrid, and also participated in other group exhibitions with the gallery. In February 2008, KCHO held the exhibition Cadena de reunificación familiar (Family Reunification Chain) at the Marlborough Gallery in New York, showing work on the theme of migration. On 3 June 2006, KCHO donated his private collection of Cuban art to the Museo Municipal de la Isla de la Juventud, where his Studio built a Cuban Art Exhibition Hall to contribute to the study and knowledge of national painting. The collection amounts to a total of 52 works by fifteen of the most important Cuban artists, including: Vicente Escobar, Leopoldo Romañanch, Antonio Rodríguez Morey, Eduardo Abela Villareal, Domingo Ramos, Fidelio Ponce de León, Amelia Peláez, Wifredo Lam, Marcelo Pogolotti, Luis Martínez Pedro, René Portocarrero, Mariano Rodríguez, Servando Cabrera, Raúl Martínez, and Antonia Eiriz. In 2009, KCHO's work focused on the issues of life, man, customs and culture. In 2009, KCHO received an invitation from Leonor Amarantes to participate in the V Latin American Biennial of Visual Arts in Curitiba, Brazil. For this, he created a large installation, making the classroom of a school and all its property into a great "Archipelago in motion". This work was part of KCHO's Nuclei of Time series. In March 2009, KCHO participated in the Tenth Havana Biennial. He installed Core Time in the contemporary Cuban art exhibit in the exhibition room Pabexpo B, which also presented works by Luis Gomez, Rene Francisco, Sandra Ramos and The Carpenters among others. KCHO also organised the exhibition Meeting Point in the Convent of St. Francis of Assisi in Havana, where he included several of his works as a carousel that appeared from darkness. Whilst there, he met people including Cai Guo-Qiang (China), Peter Nadin (USA), Patrick Tuttofuoco (Italy), Jane Alexander (South Africa), Tatsuo Miyajima (Japan), AES + F (Russia), Mariana Bunimov (Venezuela), and Patricia Gerber Jallageas Flaminio (Brazil), Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari (Iran-US), Tomas Sanchez, Edgar Hechavarría, Luis Gomez and Yoan Capote (Cuba).

2010s

In early 2011, KCHO moved to Europe to participate in two solo exhibitions he organised with the Marlborough Gallery.

Commentary

Alfred Weidinger: KCHO - Casa 5 - Las Playas Infinitas. Edition Anteros, Vienna 2005,

References

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1092156004 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.