About the artist:
Salvador Gonzáles Escalona, born October 21, 1948, in Camagüey, Cuba, and died 16 of april 2021 in Havana, Cuba, was a Cuban painter, muralist and sculptor. His artist name is Salvador.
His work is known as an "afro-cuban" style. He describes his work as a mix of surrealism, cubism and abstract art.
Salvador has no formal art education, but as early as in 1968 he had his first art exhibition "Arte Popular Cubano" in "Museo de Artes Decorativas", Havana.
In the 1980s he had a series of art exhibitions at Cuba. In 1986 he had an exhibition at Seychelles and in 1987 an exhibition in Rome, Italy.
April 21, 1990 Escalona started with murals and sculptures in the alleyway Callejón de Hamel, near University of Havana. For sculptures he used scrap objects like bathtubs, hand pumps, pin wheels etc., and for the murals he used different kind of available paint, including car enamel.
Even though the first four years became difficult, he was inspired by local inhabitants and visitors to continue his work, and little by little, the street was transformed from a slum area to an enthusiastic Afro-Cuban centre.
Today there are workshops for young Cuban children to learn painting. Every Sunday there are rumba performances, and every Friday Cuban music in the street.
This is still Salvador's artistic headquarter.
