Carlos Betancourt (born San Juan, Puerto Rico 1966) is an American artist, generally described as a multi-disciplinary artist.  His artworks explore issues of memory,  and his own experiences, while also dwelling in issues of nature, the environment and matters of beauty, identity and communication. By means of re-examination, he recycles and reinterprets the past by delivering it in a fresh and new relevant context.  Influenced by personal memories, he believes that art can be informed by one’s own experiences, not necessarily the other way around. 
 
Mr. Betancourt’s artwork is part of public collections such as the Smithsonian’ National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas, New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana, Palm Springs Arts Museum, California, Bass Museum of Art, Florida, PAMM Perez Art Museum, Florida, Museo de Arte Ponce, Puerto Rico. His work is exhibited in various galleries as well as art fairs such as Art Basel and Arco. Mr. Betancourt’s artwork is part of public collections such as the Smithsonian’ National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas, New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana, Palm Springs Arts Museum, California, Bass Museum of Art, Florida, PAMM Perez Art Museum, Florida, Museo de Arte Ponde, Puerto Rico. His work is exhibited in various galleries as well as art fairs such as Art Basel and Arco.  He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including the Florida Department of State Millennium Cultural Recognition Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, Bas-Fisher Invitational Grant, the Florida Prize on Contemporary Art People Choice Award,  and the Miami Beach Arts Council Grant. He has worked as a curator, furniture designer and has collaborated in architectural and  site-specific private and public commissions with architect Alberto Latorre.
 
Betancourt artwork is in part inspired by his relationship with nature as well as by the diverse cultures and history of the Caribbean basin, Florida and the Americas. Also by artist Ana Mendieta ‘s interventions, Robert Rauschenberg’s assemblages, Andy Warhol’s perceptions, Neo Rauch compositions, and a Federico Fellini-esque cast of characters for his photo assemblages. Additionally, he relates to some of theorist Jean Baudrillard views about art and his philosophy on objects; French artist Gustave Courbet’s idea that “the only possible source for living art is the artist’s own experiences”, as well as the Martinican writer and theoretician, Edouard Glissant’s belief that …”the past resides in material objects that only release their hidden meanings when encountered imaginatively and sensuously. Betancourt admires the works of diverse artists such as Fernando Oller, Cisco Jimenez, Bill Viola, Marilyn Minter, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, Félix González-Torres, Jeff Koons and Arnaldo Roche
 
Betancourt’s oeuvre also explores the kaleidoscope (multi- racial, multi-lingual, trans-cultural) of Caribbean and American culture. His work is also known for his glitzy bravado, re-introducing glitter and other colored materials to contemporary art. His ways of bending the lines between art, photography and nature in his large format vinyls, photographs, installations and photo performances are considered highly innovative. Some of his artworks reflect influences of his contemporaries, although his work defies specific categorization.
 
Betancourt’s personal journey—physical, emotional, and intellectual—is the creative force behind his work. Born and raised in Puerto Rico to Cuban parents, he developed a love for nature and the rainforest and a passionate interest in the syncretic cultures and traditions of the Caribbean, including its Taíno culture heritage. Like Caribbean culture, some of Betancourt’s work is a syncretic layering of information against the intensity of the lush tropics.
 
After saving money for three years, he purchased by mail order catalog his first camera, a Canon AE-1.  He was twelve years old. He took pictures of landscapes and of his friends and used the photographs to create collages and as reference for oil and acrylic paintings.  During this time, he was also a young painting student of Puerto Rican cubist artist Jorge Rechany in his studio in San Juan.  He attended high school in Puerto Rico at Colegio La Piedad (also in San Juan).
 
As a young teen, Betancourt moved to Miami with his parents on December 31, 1980. The clashing of diverse cultures as well as the convergence of diverse architectural and design styles immediately influenced him. He studied at Miami Coral Park Senior High School and during this time he quickly became involved in art projects, volunteering in artists Christo and Jeanne Claude world-renowned Surrounded Islands monumental installation (1983) in Biscayne Bay and Miami Beach.  While in Miami, Christo and Jeanne Claude stayed in an Art Deco hotel in the now famous Ocean Drive, (Miami Beach). Hardly any tourist will visit Miami Beach in the 1980’s. Betancourt made his way to Ocean Drive to see where the artists were staying, as he had heard some interesting comments about the buildings in the area. While visiting Ocean Drive, Betancourt was instantly moved by the then unkempt Art Deco and Mid Century buildings of the area. He saw inspirations and potential in the history of the city and the elderly community, blending with the few surfers and interesting characters that lived amongst the many run down buildings.  It was a very dangerous and run down community, yet it had an edge that Betancourt considered inspiring and provocative and he saw the possibility of the shape of things to come. Once he finished art school, he made it his mission to return to Miami Beach.
 
In general, the brief experience of visiting Miami Beach back then, and volunteering for the Surrounded Islands project had a huge influence on Betancourt, and the artist will later go on to open his studio Imperfect Utopia in Miami Beach.  From this studio, he when on to absorb the feeling of the times and develop works reflecting it. Betancourt also began working on several large scale and ephemeral art installations inspired by the Surrounded Islands
 
After high school, Betancourt went on to study architecture at Miami Dade Community College and graduated from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in 1987 receiving Highest Achievement and Best Portfolio awards.  Following graduation, the artist moved to Miami Beach and became part of an important group of early preservationists working with MDPL (Miami Design Preservation League) that helped shape the renaissance of Miami Beach in the 1980s. Together with his friends and preservationists Barbara Capitman and Leonard Horowitz, he helped protect and preserve many Art Deco buildings in the now world famous and largest Art Deco district in the world. Sometimes the tactics included tying himself to some of the buildings, such as the Senator Hotel, a significant Art Deco hotel that was unfortunately demolished. 
His interest in history also developed into an early effort to create awareness for mid-century architecture, particularly the buildings of Morris Lapidus, who the artist admired and had developed a friendship with at this time. Betancourt’s assistant during this period, Terry D’ Amico, coined the term MiMo, for Miami Modernist architecture.  Working with the preservation league had a big impact on Betancourt’s early artwork.
He opened his studio, Imperfect Utopia, in Miami Beach right after art school and while volunteering for the preservation league. It was first located in Washington Avenue in the back room of a vintage store called Heydays and next door to The Strand, an edgy restaurant that attracted the likes of all creative types, including artist David Hockney, Ed Ruscha,  Keith Haring as well as Paloma Picasso during the Miami Beach underground years.   
 
Rent was cheap everywhere in the beach, so when his futuristic furniture won the monetary prize from the Florida Furniture Competition, he moved Imperfect Utopia to the old architecture offices of Murray Dixon off Lenox and Lincoln Road.  A friend had turned the space into a temporary underground club called Avenue A.  It was a very successful club with a particular scene. Betancourt attended regularly.  After a suspicious fire made it no longer attractive as a club, Betancourt offered to take on the remainder of the lease.  He was there for a couple of years before moving the studio to its last address right on Lincoln Road.
 
Imperfect Utopia became the Bohemian underground address of the artistic melting pot that was Miami Beach in the 80’s and 90’s, challenging the established art community and provoking new ideas. The studio was visited by some of the most important artists, writers, poets, architects, dancers and musicians of the period, including Julian Schnabel, Sandra Bernhard, Gianni Versace, Morris Lapidus, Liz Balmaseda, Octavio Paz, Celia Cruz, Rudolph Nureyev, Bruce Weber and the late Cab Calloway, who was hosted during a special event by the artist and the Miami Design Preservation League.
 
The juxtaposition of personalities and trans-culturalism that evolved during the Imperfect Utopia years and the Miami Beach renaissance provoked the artist to work in compositions loaded with collages and layering, blending and mixing, eventually creating his own syncretic world. Here he worked intensively to find his voice, experimenting with silk-screening techniques over and under acrylic paint. The artist and some of his peers used the display windows of the studio as a platform for constant experimental installations.  During this period, the artist worked on what he called Fracturism the idea that individuals or ideas may never feel complete but fractured, because of the disorganized aspect of information.  Fracturism was  “a longing to assemble all that we know, an archaic need to create memories and organized them”…We had yet to carry our photo albums in our pockets, neatly organized in our smart phones” the artist had said of Fracturism. In part, this was a reflection of the times, where information was still disorganized and Google had yet to make its appearance organizing thoughts and history more conventionally.  Betancourt’s series by the same name resulted in compositions loaded with contradictory information and the works are executed with multiple mediums, including silk screening, color pencil and painting.  These works already show the artist interest in collage as a way of layering information and resolving his visual ideas. 
 
Imperfect Utopia was in part instrumental in the Miami and Miami Beach renaissance and for creating a contemporary arts environment in Miami and Miami Beach.  During the Imperfect Utopia years, and on until the late 1990’s, the artist was part of the influential South Florida Art Center based in Miami Beach, Florida.  The studios and main offices were located within walking distance of the artist studio. Betancourt exchanged ideas, collaborated and/or exhibited with some of the artists of the center as well as the Española Art Center, including Craig Coleman, Carlos Alves and Kenny Sharf amongst others.
 
After the gentrification of Miami Beach, the artist moved his studio to downtown Miami. At the same time, he volunteered in the archeological site called the Miami Circle, an ancient Tequesta Indian site that was discovered in the mouth of the Miami River.  This experience further influenced the artist’s work and his passion for history. His studio in downtown became also an experimental ground for young artists like Martin Oppel, Bhakti Baxter and Daniel Arsham, who the artist had mentored a couple of years before.  Betancourt produced a series of acrylic and mixed media works on canvas during this time, titled Images of Heaven, where he explored probably for the last time directly, the concept of Fracturism.  These works eventually lead to the exhibit by the same name at St. Thomas University Gallery in Miami.
 
The artist went on to experiment with three dimensional wall assemblages rooted more in the neo-primitive as a way of finding art in the archaic. This is best expressed with The Sounds Symbols Project (2000), a monumental ephemeral installation in the sand in Miami Beach. With this work, the artist unconsciously uses the past and explores it in contemporary settings. The best way of appreciating the scale of this work was in a helicopter ride.  The installation made news internationally.
 
Between paintings and installations, he continued experimenting with photography, eventually producing the first large format vinyls with the series The Worshipping of Our Ancestors and Interventions in Nature. He concluded that these works were made from a profound need to start from the beginning, the primitive.  In that way, he could organize the information he has accumulated and absorbed through the years to be able to move beyond Fracturism and into the realm of memory, which was becoming clearly his main source of inspiration.
 
Betancourt’s work eventually captured the eye of art dealer Robert Miller of Robert Miller Gallery in NY, one of the top galleries in the world. Betancourt signed with the gallery in 2001.  That same year, the artist had his first gallery solo show in NYC, exhibiting the works from the large format vinyls. 
 
He was one of the first artists to move to Wynwood in Miami, where a new underground arts community was ready to form. Some of the artworks from this epoch include Interventions in Wynwood series ( 2003, I and II), produced in the studio backyard,  and the installation Intervention with Aracoel Object, (2001) consisting of dozens of elements covered in blue glitter sitting above a neatly packed pile of soil. The objects belonged to his late grandmother and the work explores the memory that is embedded in objects.
 
Looking into the past and into memories, Betancourt embraces Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, amongst many other places.  He traveled to Cuba during this time. And in one of his many trips to the rainforest in Puerto Rico with architect Alberto Latorre, they found a quaint and beautiful bed and breakfast where he could work from. Betancourt created many artworks from this enchanted place, such as Three Pointer in el Rio Blanco (2002), Petroglyphs and Surfer Shorts, (2003), Bejigante en Casa Flamboyant (2006) and the series Sunday Afternoon in El Yunque (2008), and The Enchanted Garden, (2008). Here he also worked on the Re-Collections series (2008 and on) a photo collage of hundreds of clip art elements composed in an almost kaleidoscope shape. The artist continues to produce works from the rainforest and eventually become co-owner with Alberto Latorre of the land next door to the bed and breakfast, a land that includes some majestic waterfalls that can be seen in some of his works.
 
Immediate memories became also immediate artworks, as can be seen reflected in the works from El Portal series, (2011) inspired by the experiences and the surrounding of the neighborhood (El Portal, Miami) and the house where the artist currently lives.   
 
From his studio in Little River, Miami (Little Haiti), he developed, in collaboration with architect Alberto Latorre, suspended artworks that include the commissioned work Appropriations from El Rio (2013) and Appropriations del Mar y Amor (2014). These works celebrate objects and memory as well as our personal association to them.  The explosive composition, with hundreds of elements, is suspended from the ceiling as if time stood still. Disposable Memories (2012), a wall assemblage series also from this period, is composed of hundreds of jewelry pieces held together by a mostly invisible resin that tricks the eye.  Times of Illuminations, (2017) is a large artwork wall assemblage consisting of hundreds of mostly star-shaped Christmas tree toppers that the artist has been collecting for more than ten years.  Exhibited at Primary Projects in Miami, the work has sort of become a destination artwork.  With Times of Illuminations, the artist continues to explore issues of memory by using the past and present it in a new context.  The recycled vintage objects in the artwork are removed from their original purpose and delivered t in a magical new setting.  The artist has been developing this particular work for many years, collecting these toppers not only because of the memory embedded on them, but also because of the intentional beauty inherited in their design. Betancourt has said of this artwork ” it is as if recalling all things enchanted to my experience, perhaps even a piece of night sky….” Times of Illuminations appear to have a particular attraction, becoming sort of a destination artwork.  A magic wand activates its illumination.
 
In October 2015, ”Carlos Betancourt: Imperfect Utopia” was published by Skira/Rizzoli.
Imperfect Utopia explores Betancourt’s body of work with more than 250 images and text by Robert Farris Thompson, dean of the history of Art Department at Yale University, Inaugural poet Richard Blanco and writer and art critic Paul Laster.  The artist has participated in several books signing in museums and institutions nationally and internationally, as well as dialogues with Richard Blanco, Warhol Museum chief curator Jose Diaz, and Bonnie Clearwater, director of NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, amongst others.  The book was received to great success and is currently in the second printing.  It was also selected as Art Book of the month by Interview magazine.
 
Re-Collections, a mid-career retrospective of the artist’s artworks, opened at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo (MAC) in San Juan, Puerto Rico in November 2015. Spread through six different galleries and the Museum’s main atrium, the exhibit included more than 50 works, including several installations, such as the recreation of En La Arena Sabrosa (2004), a floor piece consisting of hundreds of Dixie-cups sand castles made with sand and soil from the beaches and rivers of Puerto Rico.  Like the book, the exhibit received excellent reviews and was selected as Art Forum Magazine Critic’s Pick.
 
During Art Basel MB 2016, The Pelican Passage Tide by Side, a large artwork commissioned to the artist by Faena Arts District in celebration of the opening of Rem Koolhaas Faena Forum, was chosen as Condé Nast Vogue magazine top five Art Basel artworks.
 
In June, 2017, the artist was invited as a speaker for TEDxRVA TED Talks in Richmond, Virginia.  The presentation, titled The Art of Memory, focused on the artist’s artwork and revolved around the theme of memory and change.
 
Carlos Betancourt IMPRINTED, an exhibition that includes works by the artist from 2001-2017 opened at the Southeast Museum of Photography in Daytona State College, Florida in November 2017.  In June 2018, he won the People’s Choice Award for his artwork installation and exhibit in the Florida Prize in Contemporary Art exhibition at the Orlando Art Museum. 
 
In November 2021, the artist presented  a large-scale digital projection in downtown  Miami title Into the Everglades.  The video was part of an effort with various non-for-profit organizations to  promote the culture, flora and fauna of the Everglades and bring attention to the fragile and unique environment as well as the endangered Florida Panther.  In December 2021, Milagros!,  a temporary installation commissioned  by the City of Miami Beach, was unveiled during Art Basel week.  The installation is composed of hundreds of suspended metal elements inspired by ex-votos and tamata  charms of Mexico and Greece.  The sculptural elements were fabricated by local artisans in Oaxaca, Mexico. Also in December 2021, the artist presented What Lies Beneath: Tipping Point, which consisted of a huge inflatable shaped as an iceberg, placed on a swimming pool. The fundraising  project for The Reefline, ( a future underwater public sculpture park and artificial snorkel reef ),  was sponsored by Faena Arts and Algoram, curated by Ximena Caminos.  These projects, as well as the artist’s recent artwork series titled Landscapes Re-Imagined (2020-21), were prominently featured in an editorial in the New York Times on Nov, 24, 2021   written by  Bret Sokol.  
In the last year, and in collaboration with animator Milly Cohen, Betancourt has created several animated artworks, which have been auctioned as NFT’s very successfully, donating a percentage of proceeds to the Reefline. 
Betancourt was co-founder of 801 Projects, an arts studio center that provides studio space for visual artists based in Miami.  He has been actively involved in the preservation of the Miami Marine Stadium, a mid century architectural masterpiece in Key Biscayne, Florida. He continues to find inspiration mainly from personal experiences and nature, including the Florida Everglades, the rainforest (El Yunque) in Puerto Rico and  his travels particularly to Greece and Mexico.
Betancourt and  Latorre  established the Betancourt-Latorre foundation in 2017.  A 501(c) non-for profit organization,  its main goal is to  help support artists based in Miami and the Caribbean basin. In October of the same year, the organization raised and collected supplies that were quickly donated to those affected by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. In 2020, the Betancourt-Latorre foundation awarded more than $30,000.00 in grants to artists that have been  affected economically by the Covid-19 pandemic.  The foundation is currently raising funds for its next project,  South Beach: Art, Culture and the Last Underground,  a book and exhibit focusing on the influential art and culture of Miami in the 1980’s to the present. The artist’s new studio, designed in collaboration with architect Alberto Latorre, is located in Little River, Miami Beach. 

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS, SELECTIONS:

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, NY
• The National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
• New Orleans Museum of Art, Lousiana
• The Frost Museum at Florida International University, Miami, Florida
• Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida ( Perez Art Museum )
• McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
• Ponce Museum of Art, Ponce, Puerto Rico
• Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida
• University of Texas, Texas
• Art in Embassies Program, United States
• Essencies Collecio Olor Visual Ernesto Ventos, Barcelona, Spain
• Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida
• Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, California ( promised gift, private collector)
• Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Gran Canaria, Spain
• San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas
• Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Gulf Coast Museum, Largo, Florida; Museum of Latin American Art Long Beach, Ca
• MOLAA, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, California
• Miami-Dade Community Foundation, Miami, Florida
• Recent Acquisitions: Art Bank Collection, Miami, Florida
• Museo de Arte, Puerto Rico

ART FAIRS, SELECTIONS:

• Zona Maco, Mexico City, Mexico
• Art Basel – Miami, Florida
• Art Platform -Los Angeles, California
• Photo Paris, Paris, France
• Scope – The Hamptons, NY; Miami, Florida; NY, NY; Basel, Switzerland
• Arco – Madrid, Spain
• Art Dallas -Texas
• Art Houston – Texas
• Art Platform -Los Angeles, California
• Pulse – Miami, Florida; NY, NY
• Art Chicago – Illinois
• Circa – San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Art Bologna – Italy
• Art Dubai -United Arab Emirates
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY 
• Interventions In Nature, Series II
• Una Ceiba en el Rio, 2001
• pigmented inkjet on vinyl
• Gift of Mrs. Jennifer Johnson and Mr. Joseph Duke

GALLERY AFFILIATIONS:

• Primary Gallery, 7410 NW Miami Court, Miami, Florida. Christina Gonzales, info@thisisprimary 954-296-1675
• Walter Otero Contemporary Art, 402 Ave. Constitución San Juan, Puerto Rico 00906. Walter Otero, wo@walterotero.com  787.998.9622  
• Dio Horia, Mantzouraki 16, 11524 | Nea Filothei | Athens. Marina Vramapolous, info@diohoria.com  +30 210 6714827; also: Panahra Square, 84600 | Chora | Mykonos (Dio Horia Gallery in Mykonos will re-open on April 2021)
• Heather James Gallery,  45188 Portola Ave, Palm Desert, Ca. Chip Tom, Jim@heatherjames.com 760-346-8926
• Robert Miller Gallery, NY NY, 212.366.4774

OTHER AFFILIATIONS:

• The Betancourt Latorre Foundation , co-founder, El Portal, Florida
• Special Collections, adivsory board, University of Miami
• Miami Marine Stadium, advisory board, Key Biscayne, Florida
• 801 Projects, co-founder, Miami, Florida 
• Artlurker’s Miami Writer’s Prize, sponsored, Miami, Florida  
• Bas Fisher Invitational (grant recipient)
• Bridge Initiative (grant recipient)

AWARDS, DISTINCTIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

• Florida Prize in Contemporary Art Peoples Choice Award, 2018
• Miami Beach Public Art (grant recipient)
• Bas Fisher Invitational (grant recipient)
• Bridge Initiative (grant recipient)
• National Endowment for the Arts Grant, in collaboration with Florida International University Art Museum
• Locust Project Curators Visit selection
• Art Walks Grant, City of Delray, Florida
• Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, Honorable Recipient
• Florida Department of State Millennium Cultural Recognition Award
• Stars of Design Visual Arts
• Dade County Cultural Affairs New Forms Grant
• City of Miami Beach Arts Council Grant
• Chivas Regal Order of Distinction Visual Arts Award
• The Digital Age: New Media Art Competition Award, Art Center South Florida
• Miami Dade Community College Hall of Fame
• University Frost Museum, Florida, United States
• Miami Dade Community College Hall of Fame, Florida, United States

GROUP EXHIBITS, selections

2023

• Oolite Summer Show (to be titled), Oolite Arts, curated by Dennis Scholl, Miami Florida, Jun. 30^th-_
• SouthXeast: Contemporary Southeastern Art Exhibition, group exhibit, curated by Véronique Côté, Florida Atlantic University, Florida, Jan 26^th Mar. 11^th.
• (Miami based artists) Center for VIsual Communication, Wynwood, Florida Nov. 19th -Mar. 15th. \

2021-2022

• Holy Water, group exhibit, Eric Firestone gallery, NY

• Skin in the Game, group exhibit, Art Basel Miami Beach,  curated by Zoe Lukov
• Skin in the Game, group exhibit, Expo Chicago.

.

 2019

•  (Gallery artists exhibit), Dio Horia, Greece
• Transamerica/n: Gender, Identity, Appearance Today ( in tandem with Andy Warhol’s portraits)  Mc Nay Art Museum, San Antonio Texas

2017-2018

• Recent Acquisitions, Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida 
• Dancing Goddesses, Dio Horia Contemporary Art Platform, Mykonos, Greece
• The Florida Prize in Contemporary Art,  Orlando Museum of Art, Florida 
• The Motion of Movements, Primary Projects, Miami, Florida
• Golden Pond Wishes, Delano Hotel Pool, site-specific sponsored commission for 
• Douglas Elliman Art Basel Miami Beach official sponsors, Florida
• Brant Foundation Warhol Museum fundraising exhibit, NY NY

2015-16

• Baroque to Bling! The collection of Donna MacMillan,Palm Springs Art Museum, California
• Tide By Side,Faena Art, Claire Tacons-curator, Miami Beach, Florida
• (Exhibition title), San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas
• Versus, Pepe Mar Presents, in collaboration with Warhol Foundation grant, Miami, Florida
• Joan Quinn Captured, The Brand Art Center, Glendale, California
• Joan Quinn Captured, Fresno Art Museum, Nevada

2013-14

• Gold, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
• Gold, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida
• Thirty Years on the Road,Art Center South Florida, Miami Beach, Florida
• Aesthetics & Values, Frost Art Museum, Miami, Florida
• Image Search, PAMM,(Miami Art Museum) Miami, Florida
• La Florida,Cummer Museum, Jacksonville, Florida
• (Exhibition title), Mc Nay Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas
• Celestial Gardens, site-specific permanent installation, Reflections Celebrity Cruise Ship
• (Exhibition title), Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale
• (Exhibition title), Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida
• (Exhibition title)Ponce Museum of Art, Puerto Rico

2012-2011

• Shooting the Life Fantastic, Heather James Gallery, Palm Springs, California
• Interconexiones, Museo de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Pasiones:  Margarita Serapion & John Belk Collection,Ponce Museum of Art, Puerto Rico
• Identity,Heriard-Cimino Gallery, New Orleans, La
• All About Art, Frost Art Museum, Miami, Florida (auction)
• Portraits from the Permanent Collections, Smithsonian National Gallery, Washington DC
• MAM Ball, Cake Atomicos, Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida
• (Works from the Permanent Collection) San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas
• Smash and Grab, Locust Projects, Miami, Florida
• Signos Vitales, Nuevas Adquisiciones del Mac, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico, (San Juan) 
• Mysterious Object: Portraits of Joan Quinn, Santa Ana College Gallery, Santa Ana, California
• Historia Nacional de Fotografia, Instituto de Cultura de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Unframed, ACRIA, curated by Vic Muniz, NY, NY

2010

• (Works from the Permanent Collection), Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida
• Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
• Good and Plenty, Art Center South Florida, Miami Beach, Florida
• (Gallery artist), Ruiz Healy Art, San Antonio, Texas
• (Works from the Permanent Collection), San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas
• Recent Acquisitions, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

2009

• Photographic Encounter: Humanity and Nature, The City of San Antonio International Center, San Antonio, Texas, 
• Third Biennial Photography, Norton Museum, Palm Beach, Florida
• Photography in the 20^thCentury, Lowe Museum of Art, Coral Gables, Florida  
• Jack the Pelican Present, Brooklyn, NY 
• Smash and Grab, Locust Projects, Miami, Florida
• Walter Otero Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Heather James Gallery, Desert Palm, California
• Recent Acquisitions, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 2007 -08             

• Photoshopping:  MOOLA Collects, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, California
• Political Winter Redux , Molloy College Art Gallery, Long Island, New York  
• Contemporary ArtAuction, Sotheby’s, New York, New York
• Unbroken Ties, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• People and Places, Selection from the Allen Thomas photography Collection, SECCA,  Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Salem, North Carolina
• Gen X: Post-Baby-boomers and the New South, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama
• Miami Accent, Heriard-Chimino Gallery, New Orleans, La.
•  Jack the Pelican Present, Brooklyn, NY
•  Smash and Grab, Locust Projects, Miami, Florida
• Aesthetics and Value, Frost Museum, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
• The (last) Supper, Miami Art Basel, Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts, Miami, Florida
• New Digital Age, South Florida Art Center, Miami Beach, Florida  
• Miami Contemporary, Freedom Tower MDCC Gallery, Miami, Florida 
• City Limits: Re-Collections and The Hedge, Installation, DLFA, Miami, Florida
• Diana Grimberg Gallery, Ciudad de Panama, Panama 

2006-2005

• No Country is an Island, Raritan Valley Community College,Sumei Art Center, Newark, NJ
• Quadrennial of Dusseldorf, Dusselforf, Germany
• Au Courant, National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, B. W. I.
• Retratos: 2000 Years of Latin American Portraits, San Antonio Museum of Art. Organized by the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC;  and El Museo del Barrio; San Antonio, Texas
• Art and Culture Center, Hollywood, Florida
• Remy Toledo Gallery, NY, NY
• Miami Art Central, Miami, Florida
• Go Figure! Lowe Art Museum of Art, Coral Gables, Florida 
• What’s New, Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts, Coral Gables, Florida

2004-2002

• The Rubin Museum of Art, The Flag Project, NY, NY
• Robert Miller Gallery, New York
• Otros Lares, Galeria Senda, Barcelona, Spain
• American Dream, The Ignatian Center for the Arts, Miami, Florida
• Gallery Artists, Walter Otero Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Essesncies 8, Universitat da Valencia, Spain
• Nepotism, Fort Lauderdale Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Don’t Call it Performance, No Lo llames Performance, Museo del Barrio, NY, NY
• Photography, Robert Miller Gallery, NY, NY
• Assassins of the Mirror:  the Body and the Writing, Walter Otero Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Inside and Out: Contemporary Sculpture, Video and Installations Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida

• Miami: Visions of Now, J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville, Florida
• De Cuerpos y Almas, Galeria Carmen De la Guerra, Madrid, Spain
• Proyecto Menu, Trans-EAT Art Space, Miami, Florida
• Space, Museum of Science, Coconut Grove, Florida
• Museo Galeria Banco Santander, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• PR ’02 :  En Ruta, outdoor intervention, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Photography, Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida  
• Contexto, outdoor intervention, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 
• Art Basel, Miami Beach, Florida, Robert Miller Gallery, Miami Beach, Florida
• Neutral Zone, Art Basel Special Event – outdoor intervention, Miami, Florida
• IV Bienal del Caribe, Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• Mash IV , Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, Florida
• Miami Tierra Caliente, Centro Cultural Osvaldo Guayasamín, Zona Colonial, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

2001-1999

• Re-Connect, ArtCenter/South Florida, Miami Beach, Florida, 25 Powerful Artists in 25 Days New Gallery, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FloridaIV Bienal del Caribe, Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 
• Departing Perspectives , Espiritu Santo Bank, Miami, Florida Mash IV , Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, Florida
• Miami Tierra Caliente, Centro Cultural Osvaldo Guayasamín, Zona Colonial, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• 61st National Competition of American Painting, The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida
• Group Exhibit, Galeria Casa Colon, Merida, Mexico

1998-90

• Miami Artists Group Show, Conde-Goodman Gallery, Miami, FloridaLucky 13, South Florida Art Center , Miami Beach, FloridaArt Against Aids VII, Coral Gables, Florida
• Miami Right Now, Gallery on One, Sarasota, FloridaSheets, Helen Cevern Gallery, NY, NY
• Five Latin American Artists, HB Starr Gallery, Palm Beach, FloridaFracturism, Arte BA, Buenos Aires, Argentina Who’s Who, South Florida Art Center, Miami Beach, Florida
• In Color, Lohman and Busse Gallery, Dortmund, Germany, Summer Exhibit, Ambrosino Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida Sheets,World Gallery, Miami Beach, Florida
• Feria del Mueble, Milano, Italy
• Miami Artist Series, Coral Snake Gallery, Miami Beach, Florida

SOLO EXHIBITS, selections:

2022-2023

• NFTICKET,  (video art project, one day exhibit and auction)  curated by Ximena Caminos, Eiffel Tower, Paris, Mar.  2022
• Re-Collections, La Mesa (video art intervention and commissioned site specific artwork), private residence, Miami, Florida, May, 2022
• (Studio Project, site specifc video art projections), Video Art from the artist collection, Nov.28 2022
• Golden Pond Wishes (site specific intervention), private residence, Dec.2022.

2018-2021 

• Milagros!  Public art commission in collaboration with architect Alberto Latorre, grants from Cultural Affairs City of Miami Beach, Florida

• What Lies Beneath, commisioned  artwork by Reefline and Faena Art.
• Into the Everglades, commisioned artwork with grants from the Bas-Fisher Invitational and Bridge Initiative. 
• Intimate Spirit: collages and other recent artworks, The Gallery at the Betsy, Miami Beach, Florida

2019

• Process Ritual Future Eternal, Marfa Anónimo edtiion, Marfa, Texas
• On the Edge, The Hopeful Forest, site specific installation (East Hotel), curated by Ximena Caminos 

2018

• Process Ritual Future Eternal, Primary Projects, Miami, Florida

2017

• Imprinted, Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, Florida

2015-2016 

• Re-Collections Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Carlos Betancourt, J Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville, Florida

 2012-2013

• Cabinet of Wonders , Venice Projects, Venice, Italy
• El Portal, J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville Beach, Florida 

 2011

• Portrait of a Garden, Heriard-Cimino Gallery, New Orleans, La
• Archaic Substance, Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, Texas 
• Shooting the Life Fantastic, Heather James Gallery, Palm Springs, CA

2009

• Carlos Betancourt Re-Collections, Molloy College Art Gallery Long Island, NY
• Re-Collections II: Journey into Infinity, J Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville, Florida 
• Lapidus Infinitus, DLFA, Miami, Florida

2008-2006

• The Cut-Out Army, Diana Lowenstein Fine Art, Miami, Florida
• Carlos Betancourt: Recent Work , Galeria Castellon, Castellon, Spain, 
• The Hand of the Eye, Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts, Miami, Florida
• Untitled 1000, Installation, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida 

2005-2003     

• About the Archaic Substance, Heriard-Cimino Gallery, New Orleans, La
• En la Arena Sabrosa II, OMNI-Art, Miami, Florida
• (Gallery Artists) Robert Miller Gallery, NY, NY
• Realm of Secrets, Blue Star Contemporary Art Center, San Antonio, Texas

 2002                    

• Archaic Substance, Palacio de Espinola, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
• Carlos Betancourt, Robert Miller Gallery, New York
• Interventions in Nature, J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville, Florida
• Recent Photographic Works, Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida

 2001

• Carlos Betancourt: Outdoor Photography Project , Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, Florida, 
• Installation: The Sounds, Symbols Project , The American Foundation for the Arts, Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council Grant and Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs, Miami,   New Forms Grant Installation, Miami Beach, Florida

2000-1994

• New Works by Carlos Betancourt, GaleriaCasa Colon, Miami Beach, Florida
• Images of a Heaven: New Works by Carlos Betancourt, St. Thomas University Atrium Gallery, Miami, Florida
• Fracturism, Imperfect Utopia Gallery, Miami Beach, Florida
• Carlos Betancourt:  Assemblages, Coral Snake Gallery, Miami Beach, Florida

PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS:

• Milagros, 2022, City of Miami Beach, budget $80,000.00, project manager Brandi Reddick 
• Splendor in the Shelter,2016, Miami-Dade Art in Public Places Trust, budget $150,000.00, project manager Carolina Alfonso
• Forever-Glades, 2014, Miami-Dade Art in Public Places Trust; budget $50,000.00 project manager Patricia Romeu
• Atomic Cakes, 2011, PAMM Perez Art Museum Miami, project director Tom Collins
• Still Zoo, 2008, Miami-Dade Art in Public Places Trust, (Homestead, Florida), budget $75,000.00, project manager Patricia Romeu
• About the Temporal and Universal Substance, 2005-2009, Miami-Dade Art in Public Places Trust, (Miami International Airport), budget $650,000.00, project manager Sam Delgado and Patricia Romeu
• Sound Symbols Project, 2000, City of Miami Beach and Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs, budget $14,000.00, project manager David Whitman and Michael Springs, ms4@miamidade.gov

COMMISSIONS (private) selections:

• Weird Miami, Revelations from El Portal and Beyond, 2021Bas Fisher Invitational commission, Miami, Florida
• Miami Contemporary Visions from a Tropical Jungleland, 2022, (art book cover commission), Alessandro Sarno, Stephano Carniato, 

• Golden Pond Wishes, 2017, Douglas Elliman, site specific commission, Art Basel official sponsor, Delano Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida
• The Pelican Passage, Tide By Side, 2016, Faena Art, site specific commission, Faena Forum and Art Basel Miami Beach week opening, Miami Beach, Florida
• Verano Eterno, 2017, Bass Museum of Art, art object commission for museum shop, Miami Beach, Florida
• Re-Collections San Antonio, 2021 The Cellars at Pearl, San Antonio Texas, “”, large scale site specific artwork
• Appropriations del Mar y Amor, 2014, Larios on the Beach, large scale site-specific suspended sculpture
• Appropriations from el Rio, 2013, as Time Goes By, Seasalt and Pepper, large scale site-specific sculpture
• Cake Atomic Murano, 2012, GLASSTRESS, Venice Projects, Berengo Studio; Murano glass sculpture, Venice and Murano, Italy
• Let them Feel Pink! 2012, Absolut Vodka, “Site-specific sculpture, Miami, Florida

• City of a Hundred Fire, 2004, University of Pittsburg Press, artwork for book cover, USA and International
• Re-Collections, Neiman Marcus, limited edition scarf from original artworks, San Antonio, Texas
• Celestial Gardens, 2012, Celebrity Cruises Ship – Reflections of The Seas, site-specific wall and ceiling murals, sculptural elements and sound, installed in Pappemberg, Germany 
• Re-Collections and Lapidus Infinitus, 2009, Barneys NY; limited edition swimwear from original artworks, Miami, Florida and NY
• Vejigante, Vieques, 2010, Celebrity Cruises Ship – Equinox: site specific photographic artwork International
• The Cut-Out Army, 2006, La Comunidad for Art Basel, site-specific installation, Miami, Florida
• Trabajadores Magicos, Starwood, St Regis; limited edition print, Miami, Florida
• Daca Bagua Sagamore Hotel, 2001, site specific large-scale outdoor photographic artwork, Miami Beach, Florida
• Untitled 1000 with Souvenir, 2005, Bass Museum of Art; site-specific large-scale outdoor photographic artwork
• Untitled, after September, 2003, International Press, Tigertail Productions; A South Florida Poetry Annual, artwork for book cover, Miami, Florida
• Re-Collections, 2007, BBH of London; site specific installation, Doral, Florida
• Arte Publico de Puerto Rico; Public Art site specific outdoor sculpture, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• A Flock of Seagulls, 2009, Royal Caribbean – Oasis Ship; site-specific large-scale sculpture, installed in Turku, Finland
• Spiral Hand, National Museum Association; Bass Museum of Art, limited edition artwork reproduction  on t-shirts, Miami, Florida
• Magic Trees, 2009, Royal Caribbean – Oasis of the Seas; 1.5 ton bronze trees sculpture, installed in Turku, Finland
• Las Practicas de la Carne, 2004, Self Portrait with letter to Aracoel, artwork for book cover, International
• Magic Garden, 2008, Celebrity Cruise Ship – Solstice; site-specific large-scale sculpture, installed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida 
• Enchanted Trees,2010, Royal Caribbean – Allure of the Seas; 3 ton bronze trees sculpture,  installed in Turku, Finland. 

AWARDS, selections:

• Bas-Fisher Invitational grant 2021
• Florida Prize in Contemporary Art Choice Award, 2018
• Bridge Initiative and Waterproof grant 2020
• National Endowment for the Arts Grant, in collaboration with Florida International University Art Museum
• Miami Beach Cultural Affairs grant
• Locust Project Curators Visit selection
• Art Walks Grant, City of Delray, Florida
• Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, Honorable Recipient
• Florida Department of State Millennium Cultural Recognition Award
• Stars of Design 2010, Visual Arts
• Dade County Cultural Affairs New Forms Grant
• City of Miami Beach Arts Council Grant
• The American Foundation for the Arts Grant
• Chivas Regal Order of Distinction Visual Arts Award 
• The Digital Age: New Media Art Competition Award, Art Center South Florida
• Miami Dade Community College Hall of Fame 

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS, selections:

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, NY
• The National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
• New Orleans Museum of Art, Lousiana
• The Frost Museum at Florida International University, Miami, Florida
• Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida ( Perez Art Museum )
• McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
• Orlando Museum of Art, Florida
• Ponce Museum of Art, Ponce, Puerto Rico
• Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida
• University of Texas, Texas
• Art in Embassies Program, United States
• Essencies Collecio Olor Visual Ernesto Ventos, Barcelona, Spain
• Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida
• Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, California ( promised gift, private collector)
• Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Gran Canaria, Spain
• San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas
• Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Gulf Coast Museum, Largo, Florida; Museum of Latin American Art Long Beach, Ca
• MOLAA, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, California
• Miami-Dade Community Foundation, Miami, Florida
• Recent Acquisitions: Art Bank Collection, Miami, Florida
• Museo de Arte, Puerto Rico

ART FAIRS, selections:

• Zona MACO, Mexico City, Mexico
• Art Basel – Miami, Florida
• Art Platform -Los Angeles, California
• Photo Paris, Paris, France
• Scope – The Hamptons, NY; Miami, Florida; NY, NY; Basel, Switzerland 
• Arco – Madrid, Spain
• Art Dallas -Texas
• Art Houston – Texas
• Art Platform -Los Angeles, California
• Pulse – Miami, Florida; NY, NY
• Art Chicago – Illinois
• Circa – San Juan, Puerto Rico 
• Art Bologna – Italy
• Art Dubai -United Arab Emirates

LECTURES, TALKS, selections:

(to be incorporated)

EDUCATION

• 1983-85 Miami-Dade Community College
• 1985-87 Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Associate in Science, Design

AFFILIATIONS:

• Betancourt-Latorre Foundation, founder
• Miami Marine Stadium Advisory Board Member
• Faena Arts
• Co-founder of 801 Projects
• Sponsor of Artlurker’s Miami (Art) Writer’s Price
• Bas-Fisher Invitational grant recipient
• Bridge Initiative grant recipient
• Path of the Panther

For bibliography and additional information, please contact cbpelican@icloud.com