Juan A. Navarrete (b. in Havana, Cuba, in 1952). A versatile artist, he is an accomplished painter, draftsman, and ceramist. From an early age, Navarrete displayed a great talent for painting and sketching. In 1977, he graduated from the prestigious San Alejandro School of Fine Arts, in Havana, with a masters degree in Fine Arts. That same year, he held his first solo exhibition at Galiano art gallery. Navarrete has spent the last 24 years building in this Community a reputation as a genuinely Cuban artist. In the work of Juan Navarrete there are many elements to underscore, but perhaps the most significant is his commitment to continue utilizing the expressive language that places him in direct connection with what we know as La Escuela de la Habana (the School of Havana). To this end, Navarrete not only uses a language of symbolism, but also of color and themes that are fundamental to the construction of works that inconspicuously and mysteriously appeal to our nostalgia. His works are metaphors for the Caribbean landscape; life in nature combined with the sensuality that is subtly inherent in island life.