The Cankama Sutta: Glexis Novoa in Conversation with Gean Moreno

The Cankama Sutta: Glexis Novoa in Conversation with Gean Moreno

For nomadic artist Glexis Novoa, the condition of the immigrant relates to the Cankama Sutta, a Buddhist rule or discourse about walking meditation. The study and practice of Buddhist teachings, originally learned as a child from his mother in Cuba, is a thread that runs throughout Novoa’s life and art. Novoa joins curator Gean Moreno to discuss the artist’s spiritual journey and meditation practice, reflecting on how this study has influenced his artistic development.

Born in Holguín, Cuba, Glexis Novoa received a B.A. from The National School of Art in Havana. He has worked in painting, performance, and installation, and has become internationally recognized for his site-specific graphite wall drawings. Since the late 1980s, his work has been widely exhibited in the United States and around the world, with solo exhibitions held at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (2016); Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami (2015, 2006); Cheekwood Museum, Nashville (2008); Worcester Art Museum (2003); Locust Projects, Miami (2003); Miami Art Museum (2001); The Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame (2000); and Castillo de la Real Fuerza, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (1989). Novoa lives and works in Miami and Havana.

Gean Moreno is the Director of the Art + Research Center at ICA Miami. He is also part of the institution’s curatorial team and has worked on exhibitions dedicated to Hélio Oiticica, Terry Adkins, Larry Bell, Ettore Sottsass, and Paulo Nazareth. He was on the Advisory Board of the 2017 Whitney Biennial and serves as co-director of [NAME] Publications. He has contributed texts to various catalogues and publications, including e-flux journal, Kaleidoscope, and Art in America. In 2019, Verso published In the Mind but Not from There: Real Abstraction and Contemporary Art, an anthology that Moreno edited.