Ernest - En el Abismo Azul

Ernest M. is a young Cuban artist trained in the city of Manzanillo, Granma, in eastern Cuba. He currently lives and works in Havana, where he continues developing a steady pictorial production and an artistic trajectory largely focused on the investigation of the human figure and its relationship with the aquatic environment.

In recent years, the artist has developed a series dedicated to immersion, water, and the human figure, turning these elements into one of the most recognizable features of his pictorial language. Women suspended beneath the surface, faces pierced by reflections, fish, hair movements, optical distortions, bubbles and changes of light appear repeatedly in his compositions, not as simple decorative resources, but as part of a visual universe that is increasingly well defined.

One of the most interesting aspects of his painting is precisely the treatment of water as a pictorial and psychological element. Ernest manages to represent the water surface, reflections and light-induced distortions with brushstrokes that oscillate between figuration, expressive realism and moments close to hyperrealism. However, his intention does not seem to be limited to faithfully reproducing a scene: he uses those distortions to transform the face and the human body, creating images that lie between the real, the dreamlike, and the introspective.

His palette is clearly dominated by deep blues, turquoises, greens and marine tones, which frequently contrast with reds, ochres, oranges and warm hues applied to skin, fish, flowers or reflections. This chromatic opposition gives the works a strong visual presence and makes the figure emerge from the underwater background even when it seems fully integrated into it.

Also characteristic is the way the artist composes. In many of his paintings, the line of buoyancy crosses directly through the face or body of the character, dividing the image into two realities. In others, the viewer observes the scene completely submerged. That choice generates a sense of silence, suspension and isolation that appears repeatedly in his work. Water thus becomes a boundary, a refuge and a space of transformation.

Within the series there are compositions of a more intimate and contemplative character, while others present a freer, gestural and expressive painting. This variety allows us to observe the evolution of an artist who continually experiments within a recognizable theme without being limited to a single formula.

Another notable aspect is the materiality of the works. The photographs allow appreciating the overall structure of the compositions and their chromatic richness, but the painting gains a considerably greater dimension when viewed in person, where the variations in brushwork, color superpositions, texture, and the small changes in light with which depth is built can be perceived more clearly.

The repetition of certain elements—the female figure, the fish, the partially submerged face, the floating hair, the surface reflections and the intense blue of the water—is helping to shape a recognizable artistic identity. In a young creator, this coherence is especially meaningful, as it demonstrates the will to build a sustained body of work and not just isolated pieces.

Ernest currently maintains an active artistic production and continues developing his career through exhibitions and projects both in Cuba and in Spain and other international contexts. His works have progressively found buyers and collectors outside Cuba and currently form part of private collections and galleries in different countries in Europe and Latin America.

His paintings are also regularly offered at Catawiki auctions, where his work has received a good reception from the public and collectors.

Acquiring a work by Ernest means approaching the work of a young Cuban artist who is still growing, but who already possesses especially valuable elements within an emerging career: a clearly identifiable theme, continuity in his pictorial research, growing mastery of color and of water representation and, above all, the search for his own visual identity.

His aquatic series currently represents one of the most personal facets of his production and constitutes a good example of how a seemingly everyday motif can be transformed, through painting, into a reflection on the body, identity, silence, beauty and perception.

Water does not function solely as a backdrop in Ernest’s work: it acts as a second language that fragments, transforms and reconstructs the human figure.

Artwork by the artist Ernest created in oil on high-quality canvas.
60 x 80 cm painting dimensions.
Original edition.
Shipping will be carried out via United Parcel Service (UPS) to Spain and Europe, and via FedEx to the rest of the world. The work will be rolled and protected with multiple layers of packaging, bubble wrap, and placed in a sturdy tube.
Three days are required after payment for the packing process and delivery to the shipping company.
The piece will reach you after ten days, depending on the destination country.
This lot contains AI-generated visualizations. Please check the original photographs to verify the actual condition of the work.

This oil on canvas work stands out within contemporary hyperrealist figurativism, capturing with notable dynamism the weightlessness of a swimmer submerged in a deep underwater environment. The composition is articulated through a marked diagonal line where the figure’s body, wearing a vibrant red bikini that acts as an immediate focal point, unfolds in a free and graceful movement accentuated by the use of dive fins. The painting treatment of the oil reflects exceptional mastery in filtering sunlight through the surface, generating beams of light that pass through the water column and project organic reflections on the skin. Likewise, the color palette based on a wide range of turquoise blues, ultramarine and cobalt contrasts masterfully with the warm orange glints of the surface and the tiny suspended bubbles, creating an immersive, serene and visually striking atmosphere.