Elmer Castillo, Cuba, 1970

Education

- Elementary Arts School Guantanamo, Cuba

- Information Technology, University of Alcala de Henares

- Art History from baroque to postmodernism, University of Palermo

- Modern and Contemporary Art and Design, MoMA New York 

Elmer Castillo (Guantánamo, Cuba, 1970) is a Cuban-American contemporary artist and author based in Miami, Florida, where he runs EC Art Studio & Books. Working across painting, installation, sculpture and artist books, his practice explores the intersections of memory, identity, migration and environment through material-rich works that combine soil, fibers, wood, resin, metal and glass.

In 2025, Castillo was commissioned by the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board of Miami-Dade County to create a work for the Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations, including an exhibition honoring the centennial of Celia Cruz at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center. 

In May 2026, he presented The Spiral Cannot Expand at Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello during a collateral exhibition of the 61 Venice Biennale. Both the publication and artist book associated with the project were subsequently incorporated into the collection of the ASAC Library of La Biennale di Venezia.

His work has been exhibited internationally in Cuba, the United States, Spain, Italy and Germany and is represented in public and private collections in North America, Europe and the Caribbean. 

He held his first solo exhibition “Sketches from My Village” at La Celosía Gallery in Guantánamo, Cuba in 1998. 

He was founder and designer of Viña Joven magazine for the Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba between 1999 and 2003, where he also contributed articles on art. During the early 2000's, he served as a curatorial member of the Religious Art Salon in Santiago de Cuba.

In 2002, he settled in Madrid, expanding his artistic practice into design and photography. He has taken part in group exhibitions in Havana, Miami, Bergamo, Madrid, Dortmund, Warsaw among others. 

In 2013, he presented his first solo exhibition in the United States with the series Cathedrals of Cuba at the Hartford Public Library in Connecticut.

Since 2016, Elmer Castillo has been based in Miami, where he continues to pursue his passion for innovation in contemporary art. He collaborates with Miami-Dade County in cultural events and serves as Events Advisor and Curator of audiovisual exhibitions at La Mansión Castillo in Havana. 

He has been working in his series “Palimpsests” since 2024 when he presented his solo exhibition at the 15 Havana Biennale.

He has written the books "The Spiral Cannot Expand@“Art & Habanos. Smoke and Brushstrokes” and “Homenaje a Celia Cruz en Cuba”.

He has received several awards and recognitions including First Prize at The ExpoCaribe Fair, Nomination to Premio Guamo and a Certificate of Appreciation from the Mayor of Miami-Dade County for his active participation at the Hispanic Heritage Month Art Exhibition in 2025. 

His artworks are present in private and public collections such as The Cuba OCHO Museum in Miami, The Residence of the United Kingdom Ambassador in Havana, The Emilio Cueto Collection in Washington DC, The Celia Cruz Foundation, The Spanish Embassy in Havana and other collections in United States, Spain, Italy, Hong Kong, among others.