Background
Felipe Jesus Consalvos was born near Havana, Cuba in 1891 and grew up on the farm of his mother"s family.
Felipe Jesus Consalvos was born near Havana, Cuba in 1891 and grew up on the farm of his mother"s family.
Consalvos worked for much of his life as a factory cigar roller. (Greaves 2008).
A large body of Consalvos" art work was discovered in 1983 at a Philadelphia garage sale. The body of work consists of over 800 collages on paper, found photographs, musical instruments, furniture, and other objects.
Following extensive conservation work, Consalvos" work was first exhibited in a solo show in 2004 at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery in Philadelphia.
Subsequently, his work has appeared in a number of public exhibitions and collections, including the Philadelphia Museum of, the American Folk Museum, and the Institute of Chicago. (Greaves 2008). Consalvos has been described by art critic Roberta Smith as a "self-starting modernist" who is "nearly on a par with folk-art greats like Henry Darger, Martin Ramirez and James Castle." According to Smith, Consalvos" work "belongs to the collage continuum from Hannah Höch to Barbara Kruger." (Smith 2006).