Felipe Jesus Consalvos
1891- c 1960 (CUBA/USA)
Born in Havana in 1891, Felipe Jesus Consalvos emigrated to Miami in 1920 and made a living rolling cigars until his death in the 1960s. His life would have been forgotten, were it not for a garage sale in which his oeuvre was discovered.
The art of cigar band découpage was known at the time Consalvos commenced his hobby, yet the many hundreds of collaged elements - from photographs, books, musical instruments, even household furniture - pointed to a committed creative activist, as astonishing as he was eccentric.
As an immigrant, Consalvos relished the tropes of American jargon, taking pot-shots at the great and the good. Yet this autodidactic opus also reflected the dadaist spirit of the times, and sits easily alongside works by Kurt Schwitters, Joseph Cornell and Hannah Höch.
Consalvos’ inclusion in museum collections like the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia) and Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago), positions him at the vanguard of 20th-century image-making.
The gallery has a unique selection of works by Felipe Jesus Consalvos, his first solo exhibition in the UK. To view the collection, please click here.
Other works are available in an online digital exhibition. Please click on any of the links below:
For 2D works, please click here.
For 2D series, please click here.
For large 2D works, please click here.
For 3D works, please click here.
