Circular Reflections

Piki Mendizabal delivers a visual narrative focused on private retreats and externalized mental states, bridging historical Latin American abstraction with contemporary geometric painting. Tight, crowded flat-plane compartments and bold graphic linework piece vibrant layers of color into dense histories of identity.

His clean yet visually packed compositions move between hyper-active abstract panels and recognizable silhouettes, offering an accessible entryway into psychological themes and human resilience across changing landscapes.

Academic Foundations: Born in Old Havana, Cuba, in 1982. Trained at regional youth workshops and studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts San Alejandro in Havana from 2006 to 2008; he left the country before completing the program.

Institutional Service & Parallel Disciplines: Directed his structural knowledge toward independent community fine-arts development. His practice in public installation and graphic layout informs the bold lineation and crowded spatial partitions of his canvases.

Exile, Translocation & Relocations: Departed Cuba in 2008 for Miami, then made a definitive move to New Orleans in 2010, establishing his home and workshop in the American South.

Current Status: Operates an active home studio in New Orleans and remains connected to Gulf Coast gallery circuits and transatlantic research platforms.

2026–Present: Teacher of Magic Realism, New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, New Orleans, LA.

2016–2020: International Baccalaureate Higher Level Art Teacher, International High School of New Orleans.

2014–2016: Art Teacher, International School of Louisiana.

Territorio Interior: Paintings and drawing multiples analyzing abstract spatial divisions and private mental states, mapping geographic dislocation and internal adaptation.

The Diasporic Epic: A series exploring the historical weight of exile through high-velocity geometric segments and complex layouts tracing cross-border narratives.

Habana Mía: Vibrant geometric panels and urban silhouettes capturing childhood memories, architecture, and the enduring pull of Old Havana.

Monochromatic Foundations: Large-scale compositions with restricted tonal palettes and raw linework confronting universal themes of time, structure, and resilience.

2024: Territorio Interior, Sullivan Gallery, New Orleans.

2022: Habana Mía, El Gran Solar – Miami Hispanic Cultural Center.

2020: The Parade Ends, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans.

2018: Reflection and the Diasporic Epic, Mexican Cultural Institute, New Orleans.

2009: Sueños de Libertad, Zu Gallery, Miami.

2026: Circular Reflections, Westchester Regional Library, Miami.

2025: On Display: A Twenty-First Century Salon of Refuses, Newcomb Art Museum, Tulane University; Refreshing America, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans.

2024–2012: Selected presentations at the Jazz Museum, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Miami Hispanic Cultural Arts Center, Mexican Cultural Institute, and New Orleans Museum of Art.

2012: 2nd Place Overall, Miracle Miles Art Festival, Miami.

2026: Miguel Rodez, “Catálogo: Reflexiones Circulares,” InCUBAdora (article).

2025: Miguel Rodez, Circular Reflections: Cuban Art Documentation Project, St. Thomas University Press.

2023–2017: Guest appearance on Artistas con MAYÚSCULAS; featured profile in ARTEPOLI XXXI; studio feature in The Iron Lattice Magazine; and presentations at the Mexican Cultural Institute and Isidore Newman School.

Denver Art Museum; American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora, Miami; Isidore Newman School Permanent Collection, New Orleans; Ricardo Pau-Llosa Private Collection, Miami; Arturo F. Mosquera Fine Art Registry; Mario Madero Contemporary Art Archive, New Orleans.