grethellrasu@gmail.com

b. Havana, Cuba
Lives and works in New York City

Grethell Rasua is an interdisciplinary visual artist, educator, and curator based in New York whose practice and understanding of cultural theory were developed in Cuba. Her function as an artist is to be a starting point for questioning reality through the concept of beauty. She focuses on working with what is conventionally considered beautiful or ugly and transforms the repulsive into something beautiful, functional, and valuable.

She holds an MFA from Columbia University, a BFA from the University of the Arts—ISA, and a Diploma from the San Alejandro National Academy of Fine Art. She deepened her exploration of performance art at Tania Bruguera’s Behavior Art School and studied the humanities at the Piarist Schools of Cuba through the University of Veracruz. She is currently working as a Teaching Artist at the Education Department of the Queens Museum.

Rasua’s work has been featured in international exhibitions, including the 56th Venice Biennale, the Havana Biennial, and the Mercosur Biennial. Her exhibitions include institutions such as the São Paulo Art Museum, the Art Museum of the Americas, the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, the Ludwig Forum for International Art, the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, among others.

She has participated in numerous artist residencies, including the Cuban Artists Fund in New York City, KulturKontakt in Vienna, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida. Rasua’s work is held in prominent collections such as the Ludwig Forum for International Art, the CIFO Art Foundation, the Cuban National Museum of Fine Arts, Daros-Latinamerica AG, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, and the Caixa Forum.

EDUCATION

2025 MFA, Visual Arts, Columbia University School of the Arts, New York.
2023 Center for Continuing & Professional Studies, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.
2004-2009 BFA, Visual Arts, University of the Arts (ISA), Havana, Cuba.
2007-2009 Diploma in Humanities, Piarist Schools of Cuba, University of Veracruz, Mexico.
2005-2007 Diploma in Performance, Tania Bruguera’s Behavior Arts School, Havana, Cuba.
2000-2004 BFA, Visual Arts, San Alejandro National Academy of Fine Arts / Major: Printmaking, Havana, Cuba.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

23-2026 (Currently) Teaching Artist, Education Department, Queens Museum, New York.
2023-2025 Print Coordinator, LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies, Columbia University, New York.
2024 Teaching Assistant, Columbia University School of the Arts, New York, NY.
2013-2017 Professor, San Alejandro National Academy of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba.
2009-2012 Visual Arts Specialist_ curator, Center for the Development of the Visual Arts (CDAV), Havana, Cuba.

SOLO EXHIBITION

2022 Open Studio-Cuban Artists Fund’s artist-in-residence 2022, Manhattan, New York, US.
2018 Beyond Beauty. Villa Manuela Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
2014 My Business. Esto no es un café Gallery, Callejón del Chorro, Havana, Cuba.
2007 Inventario. V edition, Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, Havana, Cuba.

TWO-AND THREE-PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2019 On the Altars of Vanity. Dotfiftyone Gallery, Miami, US.
2016 Living with the Past. haaaauch-quer Gallery, Klagenfurt, Austria.
2010 Natural History. Center for the Development of the Visual Arts (CDAV), Havana, Cuba.
2010 Audiovisual Screening Ephemerides: 2008 / Wifredo Lam Center of Contemporary Art (LAM), Havana, Cuba.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026
Umarell will be screening. Emily Harvey Foundation, NYC, US.

2025
After the Last Sky, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, NYC, US.
Fault Lines, The Blanc Gallery, NYC
Signal Whispers, Tramps, NYC.
Visual Arts + Sound Art Class of 2025 MFA Thesis Exhibition, Wallach Art Gallery, NYC
Petits: Women Artists Redefining the Scale, Pan American Art Projects, Miami.
WITNESS: Alternative Portraits, Speciwoman, LaForce Projects, NY.
Celestial Navigation in collaboration with the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Butler Library, Columbia University, NYC.

2024
Currents, SKGallery, NYC, US. 
2025 First Year MFA Exhibition, Wallach Gallery, Columbia University, NYC, US.

2023
Film screening of New York Citizen Cinema, Hemispheric Institute, NYC, US.

2022
Cuba Introspettiva-Pratiche Intermediali e Videoarte. Flashback Habitat, Ecosystem for Contemporary Cultures, Turin, Italy.

2021
Viva la Devolución / Utopía Habana Festival as part of the Mercé Festival / Barcelona, Spain.
De donde crece la palma / Digital space @laperaprojects y @havanaartweekend.

2019
The Last Supper / Faena Festival, Miami Beach, US.
CUBA Introspettiva / La Nuova Pessa Gallery, Rome, Italy.
The Golden Age of Video Art in Cuba. Montréal Habana: Contemporary Art Encounters / Quebec Cinematheque, Galerie B-312, Montreal.
Open Studio / Studio Rosell Meseguer, Madrid, Spain.

2018
Divertissement / Collage Havana, Havana, Cuba.
CINTAS Foundation Fellowship Awards Finalists 2018 / Lowe Art Museum, Florida, US.
XXY Humo y espejos / CNAP Art Collection, Alejo Carpentier Hall, Gran Teatro de la Habana, Cuba.
Cubans: Post Truth, Pleasure and Pain / Southeast Center for Contemporary Art SECCA, North Carolina, US.

2017
Historias de sexualidad / Sao Paulo Art Museum, Brasil.
Un ensayo de Colaboración / 7th Contemporary Art Salon / CDAV, Havana, Cuba.
Havana Art Weekend / Fausto Theater / Havana, Cuba.
CINTAS Foundation Fellowship Awards Finalists 2017 / Coral Gables Museum, Florida, US.
Art x Cuba – Contemporary Perspectives since 1989 / Ludwig Forum for International Art, Aachen, Germany.
Mala Yerba, Fotografía Cubana Contemporánea / Gallery ISOLO17, Verona, Italy.
Pollutions, Collective Display of Video Art / Charles Chaplin, ICAIC, Havana, Cuba.

2016
Artists Presentation at the KulturKontakt / Vienna, Austria.
Falling Apart Together / FLUC, Vienna, Austria.
Touch the Reality. Rethinking Keywords of Political Performance / Niederoesterreich Gallery, Vienna, Austria.
CUBA: Tatuare la storia / Zisa Arti Contemporanee, Palermo, Italy
Surprise / Netwerk – International Center for Contemporary Art / Belgic.
CUBA: Tatuare la Storia / Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea – PAC, Milano, Italy.
ART-XIOMAS, CUBAAHORA: The Next Generation / AMA – Art Museum of the Americas, Washington DC, US.
The Flesh of the Gods / Gallery Evolution of the Monumental Callao of Lima, Peru.
The Mother of all Arts / Wifredo Lam Center of Contemporary Art, Havana, Cuba.

2015
Welcome-Goodbye / Torrione Passari Center for Contemporary Art, Molfetta, Italy.
Devenir animal, devenir intense, devenir imperceptible / FAC, Havana, Cuba.
Feminine Voices and Poetics / The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, US.
Cuba –Fiction and Fantasy / Casa Daros, Río de Janeiro, Brazil.
Strictly Personal / Embassy of Spain, Havana, Cuba.
2009 DERIVA 2013 / Seminario de San Carlos, Havana, Cuba.
Videoarde. Critical Video in Latin America and the Caribbean / Casa de las Américas de la Habana, Cuba.
The Artist Between Individuality and Context / Pavilion of the Republic of Cuba- 56. International Exhibition. The Venice Biennale, Italy.

2014
Maretti Awards – 2nd Edition / Cuban Art Factory, Havana, Cuba.
Silent Contemplated Variations / National Museum of Fine Arts, Cuban Art Building, Havana, Cuba.
Frontiers in Question I /Artepari –Gallery for Contemporary Art, Graz. haaaauch-quer Gallery, Klagenfurt, Austria.
Video Presentation / MMKK – Museum of Modern Art Carinthia, Klagenfurt, Austria.
Witches, But Also Witches /Project, Aglutinador-Brücke, and MAM, Havana, Cuba. xl’2. 6º Contemporary Cuban Art Salon / CDAV, Havana,Cuba.
Manifiesta. Encuentro 2014 / Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics / Centro Phi, Montreal, Canada.
Macha, Varona, Masculina / Studio XX, Montreal, Canada.
The Spaces Between / Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

2013
Waste in Small Charms / Provincial Center of Visual Art and Design, Luz y Oficio, Havana, Cuba.
9th Bienal do Mercosul / Porto Alegre, Brasil.
Ellas Crean Festival / Embassy of Spain in Cuba, Havana, Cuba.
Female Contemporary art from Cuba. Femenine Voices / Cara y Cabezas Contemporary Art Gallery, San Francisco, CL. US.
Think, Poetic and Discursive Perspectives in Cuban Contemporary Video Art (1990-2010) / Museum of Contemporary Art-GraphicstudioTampa (USF), US.
Waste in Tiny Pieces / Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas y Diseño Luz y Oficios, Havana, Cuba.
El ardid de los inocentes / Factory Havana, Cuba.
V International Festival of Video Art in Camagüey / FIVAC, Camagüey, Cuba.
The Force of Delicacy / Goldsmith’s Museum, Havana, Cuba.

2012
Eva Warns About Apples / Cinema 23 y 13, Vedado, Cuba.
Divertimentos / Offices Gallery, Nelson Dominguez, Havana, Cuba.
Puzzle: A Glimpse at recent Cuban audiovisual creation / David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University, Boston.
Videoarde. Critic Video in Latin America and the Caribbean / Brazil Instituto Cervantes.
Convergencias / Goldware Museum, Old Havana.
X Video Art Festival SCREEN Festival / Barcelona, Spain.
A Smell that Comes Through My Window. Havana Cultura / XI Biennial of Havana, Central Exhibition, Museum of Rum, Havana, Cuba.
11th Havana Biennial / Pabellón Cuba, Havana, Cuba.

2011
IV International Festival of Video Art of Camagüey / Camagüey, Cuba.
Videoarde. Critical Video in Latin America and the Caribbean / Cervantes Institute in Casablanca, Morocco / Cervantes Institute in Istanbul, Turkey. Cervantes Institute in Athens. Athens Video / Art Festival, Greece.
I Know How to Read, Text, and Image in Latin American Art / Wifredo Lam Center of Contemporary Art, Havana.

2010
32 International Festival of New Latin American Cinema / Sala Fresa y Chocolate, Havana.
Light Your Own Chemistry III / Project “Inventory”, Edition 89, Ludwig Foundation of Cuba.
5×5 Castelló 2010 International Contemporary Art Prize Castelló Provincial Council / Contemporary Art Space of Castelló (EACC). Valencia, Spain.
Videoarde. Critical video in Latin America and the Caribbean / Spanish Cultural Center in Miami, FL / Juan Salazar de Asunción Cultural Center of Spain, Paraguay / Spanish Cultural Center in Managua. Luciérnaga Foundation of Nicaragua / Coricancha Cultural Center of Cuzco. Festival VAE, Peru.
Los Fundadores de Manizales Theater Cultural Center. International Festival of the Image, Colombia.
Atmospheric (Private session) / Development Center for the Visual Arts, Havana, Cuba.
Audiovisual Tournament / Espacio-Aglutinador, Sede Deportiva 20 de mayo, Havana, Cuba.
Natural Light. A Screening of Contemporary Cuban Film and Video Art / Franklin Patterson, West Lecture Hall, Hampshire College, Massachusetts, US.
Residences Batiscafo / Faculty of Arts and Letters, University of Havana, Cuba.

2009
XX Years Are Nothing / Development Center for the Visual Arts-CDAV, Havana, Cuba.
II Festival Internacional de Video Arte de Camagüey – FIVAC / Camagüey, Cuba.
Fuerte es el morro. Who I am? / Aglutinador Space, Havana, Cuba.
Providence. Latin American Film Festival / RISD Auditorium, Brown University, Cable Car Cinema, US.
Experiment Colombia. Latin American Festival of Media Arts. Version 4.0. Community Communism / Bogota, Colombia.
Experimental video and video art: artists from Cuba / Meeting House, Museum of Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia.
¡Siempre en la lucha! / Festival Loop, Caixa Forum Mediatheque, BCN, Spain.
State of Emergency / X Havana Biennial, Havana Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
La perra subasta / X Havana Biennial Aglutinador Space, Havana, Cuba.
Audiovisual Screening Ephemerides, Private residence, Havana, Cuba.

2008
Videoarde. Critical video in Latin America and the Caribbean / Itinerant exhibition: Cultural Center of Spain in Mexico. DF, CulturalCenter of Spain in Montevideo, Uruguay, Cine Ocho y medio, Quito, Ecuador, MOCA Cultural Center, Buenos Aires and CulturalCenter of Spain in Córdoba, Argentina. XVIII Exhibition of New Filmmakers / ICAIC, Havana.
Erotica. Sexuality and eroticism / Universal Museum of Art, Havana, Cuba.
Tanda corrida / Exhibition of Cuban audiovisual, V Contemporary Cuban Art Salon / CDAV, Havana, Cuba.
Collective Exhibition of Contemporary Cuban Art, V Edition of the Contemporary Cuban Art Salon / Center for the Development of theVisual Arts – CDAV, Cuba.
Curadores, go home! / Gallery Aglutinador-Lab Space, Havana, Cuba.
Irreversible simulations / Salle Zero, French Alliance, Havana, Cuba.
We are porno, sí / First Annual International Art Porno. Gallery Aglutinador-Lab Space, Havana, Cuba.
Lança Cuba / A gentil Carioca Gallery, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Stalker / High Institute of Art – ISA, Havana, Cuba.
Belimbo / Batiscafo residence, Bar Belimbo, Belascuaín # 157, Havana, Cuba.
VII Exhibition of New Filmmakers / ICAIC, Havana, Cuba.

2007
Ni a favor ni en contra, todo lo contrario (Look 80) / Faculty of Arts and Letters, University of Havana, Cuba.
Impasse. Video projection / School for Arts and Letters, University of Havana, Cuba.

2006
Bueno, Bonito y Barato (Good, Pretty, and Cheap) / Private residence, Havana.
Parallel to IX Bienal de La Habana / Catedra Arte de Conducta, Tania Bruguera Residence, Havana, Cuba.

2004
Makarov / Gaia House Gallery, Havana, Cuba.

AWARDS / RESIDENCES

2022 Cuban Artists Fund’s artist-in-residence (2022) / Manhattan, US.
2018 CINTAS Foundation Fellowship Awards (Finalist) / Florida, US.
2017 CINTAS Foundation Fellowship Awards (Finalist) /Florida, US.
2017 Award El Reino de este Mundo, Hermanos Saiz Association – AHS, Havana, Cuba.
2016 Artist in Residence, KulturKontakt / Vienna, Austria.
2014 Maretti Awards / Cuban Art Factory, Havana, Cuba.
2013 Master Artists in- Residence. Atlantic Center for the Arts / New Smyrna Beach, Florida, US.
2013 Residence Hermanos Saiz Association – AHS in collaboration with the European Union in Cuba implemented by ARCI, Havana, Cuba.
2010 Habana Cultura Residency / Supported by Havana Club, Havana, Cuba.
2010 Residence Batiscafo / Triangle Art Trust, HIVOS Foundation, Britain, Havana, Cuba.
2008 Residence PERRO / Aglutinador-Lab Space, Havana, Cuba.
2007 Intermediae-Minbak. IFEMA ARCO Collateral / Matadero Madrid, Spain.
2005 Curatorial Award Bueno, Bonito y Barato / AECI. Embassy of Spain in Cuba, Havana, Cuba.

COLLECTIONS

Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, Digital Video Library, NYU. NY, United States.
Ludwig Forum for International Art / Museum in Aachen, Germany.
CIFO Art Foundation / The Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, Miami, United States.
Cuban National Museum of Fine Arts / Havana, Cuba.
National Council of Plastic Arts – CNAP / Havana, Cuba.
Daros-Latinamerica AG / Zurich, Switzerland.
Havana Cultura, Havana Club International S.A / Havana, Cuba.
Caixaforum / Barcelona, Spain.

EXPERIENCE AS A CURATOR

2021 Welcome to the Everglades / Thomas Nickles Project, NYC, US.
2019 On the altars of vanity / Dotfiftyone Gallery, Miami, US.
2018 Más allá de la belleza / Villa Manuela Gallery, Havana, Cuba.
2016 Living with the past / haaaauch-quer Gallery, Klagenfurt, Austria.
2015 Frontiers in Question II / CDAV, Havana.
2014 Frontiers in Question I / Artepari –Gallery for Contemporary Art, Graz, Austria. Gallery Kunstraum haaaauch-quer, Klagenfurt, Austria.
2010 Historia Natural / CDAV, Havana, Cuba.
2010 Audiovisual Screening Ephemerides: 2008 / Wifredo Lam Center of Contemporary Art, Havana, Cuba.
2009 XX Years are Nothing / CDAV, Havana, Cuba.
2008 Body Art / First Annual International Art Porno We are porno, sí. Gallery Aglutinador-Lab Space, Havana, Cuba.
2007 Inventario / V edition, Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, Havana, Cuba.

LECTURES

2021 Welcome to The Everglades, an Investigative Project on Art and Environment / Documentation Division Lecture Series at the United Nations / US.
2018 The Sense of the Beautiful in Four Curatorial Packages / Converging about Contemporary Art, Organized by Dr. Magaly Espinosa, Cuba Pavilion, Havana.
2016 Beyond the Metaphor. The Meaning of Usefulness in Six Artworks/ Academy of Fine Arts of Vienna, Austria.
2015 The Expanded Performance as a Model of Cultural Understanding/ Faculty of Arts and Letters, Havana, Cuba.
2014 The Expanded Performance as a Model of Cultural Understanding/ Studio XX, Montreal, Canada.
2011 Creative Strategies Classified. Video as a Means of Cultural Understanding / IV International Festival of Video Art in Camagüey, Cuba.
2009 From the Great Theory to the Abuse of Beauty / High Institute of Art (ISA), Havana, Cuba.

PUBLICATION

“An Aesthetic of Disgust: Expanded Performance as a Model of Cultural Understanding. Provocation.” TDR: The Drama Review 55:3 (T211) Fall 2011.