Alexis Leyva Machado

Zapata Gallery

1333 Coral Way,  Miami, FL 33145

Tel: (305) 744-5143

 Alexis Leyva Machado

Alexis Leyva Machado, "Kcho," is a contemporary Cuban craftsman working in form and blended media. He was born in 1970 on Isla de la Juventud, Cuba. He graduated from the National School of Arts in Havana in 1990 and the Elementary Art School of Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, in 1986. Kcho has participated in a number of renowned international biennials, including Venice, Istanbul, Gwangju, Havana, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, and Istanbul. His works are important for the assortments of the Public Gallery of Expressive arts in Havana, Cuba; the New York City Museum of Modern Art (MoMA); the Tempe, Arizona, Art Museum of Arizona State University; the Reina Sofia Museum of Art in Madrid, Spain; the Mallorca, Spain-based Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation; the Aachen, Germany-based Ludwig Forum for Internationale Kunst; the Netherlands' Van Reekum Museum in Apeldoorn; Montreal, Canada's Les Cent Jours d'Art Contemporain; the Turin, Italy-based Galleria Civica di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea; the Jerusalem, Israel-based Israel Museum; the South Korean Gwangju Biennale Foundation; the California-based Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Paris, France-based Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume; the Japan-based Gan Gallery in Tokyo; and Minneapolis, Minnesota's Walker Art Center. In 2001, he was awarded the Superior Institute of Art in Havana's Artistic Merit Diploma; the 2001 Biennial of the Caribbean Prize for the Cuban Exhibition at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; the 1995 Gwangju Biennale, South Korea, Grand Prize; and the UNESCO Prize for the Advancement of the Arts