Biography

About

Osley Gil in the studio
Osley Gil in the studio

Osley Gil López (Güines, Mayabeque, Cuba, 1986) is a Cuban painter based in Florida whose work is rooted in contemporary realism. A graduate of the Provincial Academy of Fine Arts "Eduardo Abela" (2002–2006), where he specialized in Illustration, Gil builds images of meticulous detail and controlled light — portraits and bodies suspended in a silence of their own, charged with psychological and symbolic tension.

In 2023, Gil relocated from Cuba to the United States with his family. After a quiet period devoted to building a new life, he returned to the studio with renewed force — in 2026 alone exhibiting at the Palm Beach Show, the Hamptons Fine Art Fair, and the Atlanta Art Fair.

He has mounted solo exhibitions including Anima Nudus (2021) and Prototypes (Tampa, 2020), and has shown in group exhibitions and art fairs across Cuba, the United States, Mexico, and Spain — among them the 14th Havana Biennial (2021), PINTA Miami (2022), CONTEXT Art Miami, the Palm Beach Show (2026), and the Atlanta Art Fair (2026). His work has earned distinctions including the A4 Madrid Competition Award (2021) and the "Concha Márquez" Academy of Art Award (2018), and has been featured in International Face Magazine, CdeCuba Art Magazine, and Latin American Art Magazine.

Artist statement

Osley Gil paints the human condition from the inside out. Rooted in contemporary realism, his work turns portraiture and the body into spaces of introspection — images charged with psychological and symbolic tension, suspended in a silence of their own.

Meticulous detail, controlled light, and an atmosphere of held breath define his practice: vulnerability and emotional ambiguity rendered with absolute precision, never a gesture wasted. His figures dwell on the threshold between the real and the mental, offering open-ended narratives that draw the viewer in rather than explain themselves.

Painting, for Gil, is a slow and deliberate act — a dialogue with the realist tradition that doubles as a critical inquiry into identity, the body, and subjective experience in the present.

Solo exhibitions

  • 2021Anima Nudus (virtual). Casona Azul Gallery, Mayabeque, Cuba.
  • 2020Prototypes. Ybor Art Factory, Tampa, FL, USA.
  • 2006Naive Dreams. Municipal Directorate of Public Health, Güines, Cuba.

Selected group exhibitions

  • 2025Trialogue. Oñate Contemporary Art, Miami, FL, USA.
  • 2021ISLANDS. Experimental Center for Visual Arts / 14th Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba.
  • 2021Regino E. Boti National Hall, XLIII Conference on Literature and Plastic Arts, Guantánamo, Cuba.
  • 2021LA 4ETRA International Small Format Exhibition (virtual).
  • 2020PRISMA: The Colors of Crisis. ArteMorfosis, Cuban Art Platform (showroom Zurich).
  • 2020From Within. Oleomasters Gallery, USA.
  • 2020Alchemy. Provincial Art Center "Arístides Fernández", Mayabeque, Cuba.
  • 2019In the Sea of Stories (benefit for AMANC). Art Gallery 1010, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.
  • 2019Let Fly. Mérida Visual Arts Center, Yucatán, Mexico.
  • 2018Cuban Art in Chamartín. Cultural Center "Nicolás Salmerón", Madrid, Spain.
  • 2018From Color to Speech. House of Culture, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain.
  • 2018Under the Ceiba del Mayab. Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.
  • 2017Oñate Fine Art Gallery, Miami, FL, USA.

Art fairs

  • 2026Atlanta Art Fair. Atlanta, GA, USA. (October)
  • 2026Hamptons Fine Art Fair. USA.
  • 2026The Palm Beach Show. Palm Beach, FL, USA. (February)
  • 2023PINTA Miami. Coconut Grove, Miami, FL, USA.
  • 2022PINTA Miami. Coconut Grove, Miami, FL, USA.
  • 2020CONTEXT Art Miami (Art Basel Miami week), Miami, FL, USA.
  • 2019ARTMID Contemporary Art Fair. Casa Faller, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.

Awards

  • 2021A4 Madrid Competition Award, Spain.
  • 2018"Concha Márquez" Academy of Art Award, 2nd LA 4ETRA Small Format Meeting, Spain. Work: World #1.
  • 2017Art UPSTAIRS Award, LA 4ETRA Small Format Exhibition. Work: La Suno.
  • 2016XXVII "Arístides Fernández" Provincial Hall of Plastic Arts Award, Mayabeque, Cuba. Work: Melissa.

Benefit auctions

  • 2021BAMX Puebla (Food Bank of Mexico) benefit auction. Art Gallery 1010, Mérida, Mexico.
  • 2020Mexican Red Cross (Cozumel) benefit auction. Art Gallery 1010, Mérida, Mexico.
  • 2020AMANC benefit virtual auction. Art Gallery 1010, Mérida, Mexico.

Selected press

  • 2022International Face Magazine, 5th edition.
  • 2021Es-Kupe Magazine (Italy), December.
  • 2021CdeCuba Art Magazine No. 29 (The Flight of the Iris, Resilience).
  • 2021International Face Magazine, 4th edition (feature).
  • 2021El Gato Negro (Spain): interview + Anima Nudus cover.
  • 2020CdeCuba Art Magazine No. 28 ("Provocation to the Retina", by Eva del Llano).
  • 2018–2019Latin American Art Magazine, Nos. 33 & 35, Miami, FL, USA.