Biography 

Pedro Alderete (born 1961, Havana, Cuba- died 2005, Toronto) 

Pedro Alderete was a Cuban visual artist based in Toronto. He studied at the San Alejandro Academy of the Arts, where his ideological learnings clashed with that of Castro’s socialist state. In 1989 Pedro immigrated to Canada, where he worked as a barber before being accepted with advanced standing at the Ontario College of Art and Design. He was part of the A Space Gallery board of directors until his sudden passing in 2005. 

Pedro Alderete's studio work was with mixed media using found objects, painting, collages, photo-transfers, and installation. The works that Pedro developed over the years drew on a variety of sources such as Yoruba iconography, Cuban tourism, snapshots, military photos, and architecture, to reflect on his life and crossed borders. Pedro’s work has been showcased in solo exhibitions Soul Bridges (2006) at A Space Windows in Toronto and Call-777 Nganga (1996) at Oliver Bolton Studio in Toronto. His work has also been part of the collective exhibitions Where Do We Go? Amongst Flower and Song (2022), curated by dia de los Muertos Collective, at Peter MacKendrick Community Gallery in Toronto and Hello Shadow (2017) at Beaver Hall Gallery in Toronto.