Gregory de la Haba 

Gregory de la Haba is a New York–based painter whose work brings the visual energy of the city into dialogue with the enduring traditions of composition, architecture, symbolism, and myth.

Classically trained in fine art and a graduate cum laude of Harvard University, de la Haba has developed a practice that moves between figuration, abstraction, collage, and the incorporation of printed urban imagery. Across these varied approaches, his paintings are united by a sustained inquiry into light, order, equilibrium, and the forces—both visible and unseen—that hold a composition, a structure, and a life together.

His most recent body of work, Il Capochiave, takes its name from the architectural anchor plates found throughout Venice, where they secure and stabilize aging façades. In de la Haba’s paintings, these forms become both compositional instruments and symbolic anchors: rhythmic elements that hold tension, establish order, and transform the surface into a field of contemplation. Painted over large-scale images of New York doors and urban façades, the works unite the physical language of architecture with the psychological and spiritual possibilities of painting.

In 2026, de la Haba’s monumental painting Where the Blood Meridian and the Locus of Sanctuary Converge was presented at Palazzo Donà dalle Rose in Venice during the 61st Venice Biennale. The work brings together many of the concerns that have shaped his practice: violence and sanctuary, history and myth, earthly experience and the possibility of transcendence.

De la Haba has exhibited internationally in museums, galleries, biennials, and institutional venues throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He was awarded First Prize at the Durrës International Biennale in Albania, and his work has been presented at the Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul, the Geuer & Geuer Art Foundation in Düsseldorf, and in exhibitions in Venice, Rome, Berlin, Monaco, Finland, Dakar, and New York.

Alongside his studio practice, de la Haba is an accomplished writer and curator whose essays have examined the work of contemporary artists including Julian Schnabel, Mel Bochner, Cristina BanBan, Judy Rifka, and Miya Ando. His memoir, Curriculum Vitae: A Journey from Montauk, Elsewhere and Back, was published by C&R Press in 2022.

Whether working through the human figure, the accumulated surfaces of the city, or the architectural geometry of the capochiave, de la Haba approaches painting as an act of placement and discovery. His work seeks the moment when disparate forces enter into equilibrium—when structure becomes luminous, the visible opens onto the mythic, and the painting begins to hold.