Voices: Christian Gundin, El Apartamento, Havana
Christian Gundin
Christian Gundin is the owner of El Apartamento, located in Havana, Cuba.
Reynier Leyva Nono, Revolution is an abstraction. Courtesy of El Apartamento.
What are some common themes in your program?
Minimal gestures of everyday life, Cuban reality, politics, art world references.
Who is the artist in your program that you have worked with the longest?
Reynier Leyva Novo
What is your favourite thing about your gallery space?
The light of the city coming through the balcony is the one of my favorite things.
Installation shot from Adrián Melis’s 2018 Solo Show, La Tierra de la Abundancia (The Land of Plenty). Courtesy of El Apartamento.
What is it about artists that you respect and honor the most?
Their commitment to the work.
What qualities do you look for in an artist?
The ability to be consistent with the work, which means changing everything when necessary, or when the work has stopped surprising people.
Orestes Hernández (2019) Untitled, Polychromed wood carving. Variable dimensions. Courtesy of El Apartamento.
Tell us about why you decided to open a gallery.
That was my dream for a long time, and I finally could make it true in 2015.
What is your personal or professional motto?
Contemporary Cuban art.
How have you grown as a curator over the years?
The gallery has been a school for me, a school where you learn at the same time as you fail, and make wonderful things.
What do you think is the greatest challenge galleries face today? How are you addressing this?
The main challenge of the gallery is to survive in the complex Cuban reality
Installation shot of El circuito del arte cubano Havana Biennial, 2019. Courtesy of El Apartamento.