Founder and Director

David Guerra

I am an independent curator, lecturer, and art dealer/advisor from Havana, Cuba. I founded and direct Á R E A (2016) and MARCA RIBE (2024), two interdisciplinary platforms dedicated to exhibitions and cultural projects.

Driven by a passion for innovation and representation in the arts, I have collaborated on various art initiatives in Boston, Havana, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Previously a lecturer at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston, I have since taught seminars on Art Curating, Contemporary Caribbean Art, and Art, Law, and Business at the University of Puerto Rico and the University of the Sacred Heart in San Juan, PR.

Making the arts accesible

In 2014, I launched Darkroom in Boston, which was a project to display photography using unconventional forms at alternative spaces and combining photography with other artistic expressions.

Quitting law; founding an art gallery

Since November 2016, Á R E A has showcased the work of local and international artists and designers. Over the years, the gallery has found homes in various locations, including a loft, a tiny apartment, and a space in the South End’s Art and Design District.

Unfortunately, the gallery's space in Boston was destroyed by a flood during the pandemic in 2020. From its inception, Á R E A has welcomed creatives from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, and has supported collaborations with other galleries and cultural organizations.

Art collaborations

I had the honor of curating the 2019 edition of the Illuminus Festival, which presented the work of 17 artists using new media technologies to address social, political, and environmental issues.

When the pandemic hit, severely affecting creatives, I invited a group of 13 curators and cultural agents in Boston to launch AREA CODE, an art fair and festival that featured artists living and working in New England through in-person and virtual events.

One of the main sections of the fair, The Storefront Projects, mobilized vacant storefronts to host art students whose graduation exhibitions were canceled due to Covid. Safe bike tours were offered to art enthusiasts. The fair also organized a three-hour exhibition using a drive-in format to showcase new media works in a parking lot 15 minutes north of Boston.

Last images document two collaborations I am proud of: a summer exhibition at the Boston Center for the Arts; and Frame of Mind, a project highlighting the contribution of creative women in Boston.

Art and Design Consulting

I collaborate with interior design firms, real estate developers, and art consultants to integrate art into corporate and private spaces promoting authenticity, representation, sustainability and innovation. Notable projects include consulting for the Boston offices of Facebook and Google, as well as The Yard, a dynamic coworking community with multiple locations across New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

More recently, I have been partnering with interior design and architecture firms on hotel projects in the Caribbean, including developments in Cuba, the Bahamas, and Puerto Rico.

In addition to corporate projects, I have advised private collectors in Boston, San Juan, and Madrid, helping them build and reshape their art collections.

Work by Cuban artist Loló Soldevilla

Sharing and learning

I have taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston and most recently I have taught Art Curating, Contemporary Art in the Caribbean, and Art, Law, and Business at the University of Puerto Rico and the University of Sacred Heart in San Juan, PR.

During 2021 and 2022, I had the pleasure of moderating a series of virtual meetings (Hablemos Caribe/Let’s Speak Caribbean!) organized by Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, between artists from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean to examine Caribbean visual culture and connect artistic practices in the region and its diasporas.

Each of those monthly meetings sought to amplify the voices of two artists or cultural agents who shape and imagine trajectories for art in the Caribbean. As part of this project, artists such as Yolanda Velázquez (Puerto Rico), Sandra Ramos (Cuba), Alexis Díaz (Puerto Rico), Danae Brisso (Guadeloupe), Javier Orfón (Puerto Rico), Julianny Ariza (Dominican Republic), and Reginald Senatus (Haiti), among others, were interviewed.

In addition, I have conducted workshops on art pricing and lectured on Latin American and Cuban Art in various academic settings.

Most recently, I spoke at a BOND event in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, where I presented research on the integration of art in hotel design in the Caribbean, aimed at architects and designers building hotels in the region.

Before aligning my life with the arts

I studied law at the University of Havana, Oxford and Harvard. I also hold a degree in International Relations from the Higher Institute of International Relations in Havana, Cuba, where I worked as a diplomat for four years.

Being with art

Since launching my career in the arts, I have had the privilege of partnering with numerous talented artists. Some of the artists I have worked with include: