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Descendencia (Descendance) is a new solo exhibition by Cuban visual artist Osvaldo González, currently on view at Galleria Continua's Paris space in the heart of the Marais. The exhibition, on view from March 28 – May 28, 2025, offers a poetic meditation on time, memory and inheritance, mapping the contours of the artist's most personal universe.
"Osvaldo González elevates the use of adhesive tape to its highest artistic expression, transforming an ordinary material into a plastic medium that challenges the viewer's perception. Through meticulously layered tape compositions and the interplay of light, the artist creates spaces that evoke inner landscapes, where architecture is not merely a frame for the scene, but a subject in itself. His works capture fleeting moments, frozen images, transitory instants: a reminiscence suspended in light," Galleria Continua mentions in the show’s press release.
After years dedicated to painting—especially during his studies at Havana's Instituto Superior de Arte, from which he graduated in 2006—González discovered the expressive potential of tape. Its capacity to create chiaroscuro effects opened a new visual language, allowing him to explore the dynamics between light and shadow. In his hands, plexiglass replaces canvas, and tape takes the role of paint, without forsaking the fundamentals of pictorial composition. His practice probes the way we experience physical space and the objects that inhabit it, challenging traditional approaches to painting.
Descendencia is deeply anchored in personal history, reflecting the artist’s recent journey, his family life and especially his two daughters. Ámbar and Jade are more than series titles or colour choices—they are expressions of emotional resonance and new creative directions, or as the press release states, "They embody the very essence of his new artistic explorations."
The Ámbar series conjures warmth and intimacy, drawing from nostalgic memories of joy and connection. Jade, more recent, emerges from both personal and artistic shifts—introducing green tones that symbolise rebirth, clarity and transformation. The art exhibition features eleven works from Ámbar and five from Jade, each embedding symbolic codes that translate his daughters' ages into light and form. Two sculptural art pieces, reflecting their exact heights, further ground their presence in the space, turning the show into a visual homage to their growth.
Descendencia culminates in Flujo (Flow), a site-specific duct-tape installation that winds through the gallery, linking works and spaces. It represents the passage of time, the invisible ties between loved ones—especially his daughters—and the evolving bonds that define identity. As González puts it, "This flow represents not only the passing of time but also the time they experience, the space between them, the bond that unites them while defining them as unique entities within the same cycle."
"Ámbar and Jade - two colours, two glows, two heartbeats. They inherited my shadows and my lights, my fears and my dreams. But when I look at them, I see they are not only offspring; they are also the origin of what I am yet to become. My work is our reflection - what we were, what we are, and what we do not yet see but is there, waiting for the right light to reveal itself," the gallery shares.
With Descendencia, González invites us into a world where everyday materials become vessels of memory and meaning—transforming personal history into a shared sensory experience.
What do you think?