LAKELAND, FL  – The Polk Museum of Art is displaying the work of Cuban artist Carlos Luna. His paintings present love, hate, freedom, repression, growth and decay in swirling, boldly colorful, and, often, very large compositions. Luna’s work is highly symbolic, but at the same time, grounded in the real world and his experiences in Cuba. His subjects range from roosters with human bodies, to men with guns, and images of struggle. On exhibition through November 25.

“Luna’s work was brought to our attention by a local collector,” said Daniel E. Stetson, Executive Director of Polk Museum of Art. “We were amazed by how beautiful and powerful his work is, and we knew we wanted to exhibit it here.”

“His paintings and works on paper exhibit the beauty, anger, sorrow, passion and hope shared by many people in Cuba,” said Todd Behrens, Curator of Art. “But he is able to tell these beautiful, tragic stories in a way that anyone can understand the emotion behind them.”

Carlos Luna was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba in 1969. He left Cuba in 1991 to live in Puebla, Mexico, where he resided until 2002. Since 2002 he has lived in the United States, currently living in Miami. His work has been exhibited in museums on five continents and is in important collections in Europe, Latin America, and the United States, including El Museo del Barrio in New York, Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach and the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale. In 2001 he received an award from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the same year he received an EB-1-1 (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) Immigrant Visa from the US Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Polk Museum of Art worked with the Susquehanna Art Museum and The Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery at Lebanon Valley College, as well as the Cisneros Capital Group, to organize this exhibition and produce a major, hardcover catalogue on Luna’s work. The catalogue will be available for purchase in the Museum Store.

The exhibition will run through November 25. During the same period, the Museum will complement Luna’s work with Artists of Cuban Ancestry from the Permanent Collection, an exhibition of pieces from the Museum’s collection that were created by artists from Cuba or with Cuban roots.

Polk Museum of Art is located in Lakeland, Florida. The Museum is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts in Central Florida. The Museum is one of the top ten art museums in the state of Florida and the only art museum accredited by the American Association of Museums serving the 530,000 residents of Polk County. Museum hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10a.m. – 5p.m.; and Sunday, 1 – 5p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors. Visit : WWW.POLKMUSEUMOFART.ORG