Cuban artist Víctor Cordero Salas (b. 1961, Holguín) graduated from the Academia de Artes Plásticas in San Alejandro with studies in drawing and sculpture. He is a member of Cuba’s Union of Artists and Writers. An artist of varied talents, he has explored various styles and media, but paint is his medium of choice, and strong female characters his favorite theme. Cordero’s technique employs vigorous strokes of a palette knife, which lends a bouyant, active quality to the paintings. HIs use of both color and composition is masterful; balancing riotous hues against quieter tints and tones keeps the eye satisfied and moving. The women of his paintings, (all based upon his wife) are self-possessed, gazing at the viewer with an unflappable, slightly-dismissive gaze. These women hold space confidently, indifferent to the opinions of others. It is this very strength and indifference that renders his subjects so completely magnetic - it is difficult to break away from their gaze.