“My work revolves around memory, absence, and the passage of time… I use objects and images as fragments that reconstruct personal and collective histories.” - José Manuel Fors
José Manuel Fors (born 1956), a Cuban photographer, painter, and installation artist based in Havana, emerged as a pioneer in the island's contemporary art renaissance through the 1981 Volumen Uno collective, employing natural materials like dried leaves, found objects, and family photographs in accumulations, collages, and minimalist constructions that evoke the passage of time, memory's selectivity, decay, and fragmented identities amid socio-political silences. Initially trained as a painter, he integrated photography into his practice for its evocative power, creating metaphorical reconstructions of personal and collective histories through repurposed fragments that challenge traditional media boundaries. His international exhibitions span the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia, with awards including the Gold Medal at the International Photographic Salon of Japan and Cuba's National Culture Distinction, and works in collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana.