“Having seen thousands of artists’ works since the commencement of my art gallery career in 1972, when a particular artist catches my eye there is obviously some special “spark” that sets their work apart. His background is unique in style, subject matter, and medium, among the hundreds of artists the Harmon Gallery has represented since 1964 and since 1983, the Harmon-Meek Gallery. He is very concerned with museum acceptance which also interests us that he desires, as many important artists do, to be immortalized via their collective recognition.”

William Meek III
Director Emeritus
Harmon-Meek Gallery

“Reynier’s mystical expressions are enhanced by his skill in using an adaptation of techniques in oil, watercolors, drawings and his singular use of coffee on paper. He approaches the canvas using an underpainting with lighter and then darker colors. He then carefully and subtly brings dimension into his paintings through brighter colors that enhance the atmosphere with mood, character, depth and mystery.”

Richard Weedman
Art Critic and Collector

“What makes Reynier Llanes artwork is that he has years beyond his age. His honed technical skills of a serious artist blend in a fantasy style that makes his style unique. Llanes works unrelentingly. Every Day. Though the night his mind is going. he is on the job and learning from everyone around him. Asks questions. Always a student, though he is a master.”

Lois Selfon
Art Collector, Artist

“His penetrating portraits of Caribbean-Americans capture the essence of memory, longing, exile, and hope. His skillful drawings and watercolors look like finished works of oil on canvas, and controversly his oils have a sketchiness that seemingly defies the medium.”

Victor Deupi, Ph.D.
President of the CINTAS Foundation
Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Miami

“To borrow from Cuban writer and musicologist Alejo Carpentier, Reynier’s paintings are representative of the “marvelously real” reflecting transcultural, transnational elements of migration experiences, be they domestic or international.
The percolating sepia tones of his coffee bean creations, combined with the brilliance of his oils and watercolors, evoke a palette of history, culture, nostalgia, and universality that draws the voyeur into the intricate strokes of his masterful brush.”

Antonio D. Tillis, Ph.D.
M. D. Anderson Professor in Hispanic Studies
Dean College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

When There Are No Words
“I find myself at a loss of words to properly express how taken I am with this important body of work by Reynier Llanes. I’ve followed Llanes for some time, and during the last five or six years, I’ve noticed a distinct shift in the direction and style of his work. It seems to me that during this period of growth and transition, the artist has hit the mark and made his mark. Stylistically, his mark-making process has evolved into a carefully composed, jazz-like symphony of juicy and perfectly placed swashes of pigment. And his seemingly effortless ability to convey his clever points of view in oil, watercolor and coffee, while maintaining a visual language that is mindful of others’ perspectives and allows a safe space for viewers’ minds to roam free, is profound.”

Liz Miller Curator
Franklin G Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum

“These human figures reveal as they question, often with humor. A man inside a luminous cylinder walking toward us. Are the velocities we live in a prison or an illumination? Eleggua and Yemaya dance road, sea, sky, and field into one music. Were we gods, we would too. Where did we grow up? In a stolen garden.”

Ricardo Pau-Llosa
Poet, Art Critic

“Llanes’ history with our Art Museum spans more than a decade and began when he was artist in residence at Jonathan Green Studios in Charleston. Green suggested an exhibition of Llanes’ coffee paintings at our location, and the 2011 event was such a success that we arranged a second exhibit in 2015 with Llanes and other Cuban artists from his private collection. Throughout our relationship, Llanes has been a generous supporter of our Art Museum. He has donated a coffee painting to our permanent collection as well as donating works of art to all 10 of our Collectors’ Events. The Art Museum is proud to be one of those places and to provide an outlet for this gifted artist’s voice.”

Patricia Goodwin
Executive Director
Franklin G Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum