Daldo Marte
(b. 1982)
BornHavana, Cuba
BiographyThrough sculpted figures and costumes made from recycled materials, Daldo Marte creates a fantastic world of heroes and villains. His figures are articulated and highly detailed, made of rubber cut from tires that gives them a weathered texture. The superhero costumes are worn by Marte in his performances, often on the streets of his hometown, Havana. Both his wearable works and figures borrow from American comic-book characters, such as the Hulk and Captain America, and Japanese pop culture, including the robots in the Grendizer animated series. All of what he produces plays into his interest in heroism and what it means to become a hero.Born in Havana in 1982, Marte started making art when he was a child, coinciding with the economic crisis of the 1990s “Special Period” in Cuba. Although he grew up in the well-off Miramar neighborhood, his single mother, who worked as a teacher, could not afford to buy him toys based on his favorite animated series. So he made his own, first using paper and cardboard and then rubber inner tubes from tires to craft animals, soldiers, superheroes, robots, and imaginary creatures. It wasn’t until he was nineteen that he transformed himself into a superhero with masks, armor, weapons, shields, and helmets made from cast-off cardboard, plastic, leather, and other found materials, sometimes embellished with bottle caps and CDs. Many of these works, resourcefully constructed from humble materials, refer directly to iconic characters—the winged helmet of Captain America, for example. As he has been extremely shy from a young age, these assemblages have allowed him to engage creatively with the urban landscape and its people and to express himself through a range of personas.
Marte’s move from creating his art privately at home to embodying it in public spaces brought him to wider attention. One of his earliest exhibitions was in the 2015 Havana Biennial at the Museo Orgánico de Romerillo. Since, he has exhibited and performed in Europe and the United States, making a world of heroes out of what society has discarded.
Allison C. Meier, 2025
Text written as part of “Rethinking Biography,” an initiative supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).