His art revealed a world he struggled with

By STEPHANIE HAYES, Times Staff Writer
Published November 7, 2007

Carlos Manuel Soto displayed his work at the Brad Cooper Gallery in Ybor City in 2003.
	[Times file photo]

YBOR CITY - Above all else, Carlos Manuel Soto was an artist. He didn't have a side job. If his art didn't sell, he didn't eat.

He spilled his emotions, troubles and thoughts onto a canvas. His paintings, though whimsical, were steeped in symbolism.

"A lot of his work was very political," said his friend Edgar Sanchez Cumbas. "It was his interpretation of what he saw here in America and here in Tampa."

Mr. Soto was a native of Cuba. As he became more frustrated with the government there, his art changed from landscapes and murals to more explosive statements.

He was barred from public exhibitions and expelled from a teachers college for challenging political authority through art. He joined Cuban groups that supported free expression. The government harassed him, he told the St. Petersburg Times in a 2003 interview.

"Living with double standards was becoming more difficult," he told the Times.

In 2001 Mr. Soto left Cuba and came to Tampa.

Friends here called him "el Vikingo," or "the Viking." He was heavyset with a white beard and ponytail, and was knowledgeable after teaching in Cuba for 20 years. He was jovial like Santa Claus, and always confused people's names.

"Everyone has been called a different name by him," said friend Manuel Lopez.

In Ybor, he settled into a circle of bohemian artists.

"It's a true art environment," said Lopez, part of the group. "You start talking about art, and that quickly moves into solving the world's problems."

The world lacked cooperation, Mr. Soto thought. He resented the theory that helping people could stop you from getting ahead.

Mr. Soto had a loft studio on Seventh Avenue in Ybor City, a gallery space that was a bohemian hot spot in the 1980s. Each year, he was becoming a greater force on the Tampa art scene.

"He was among a number of what I would call really talented artists that had emerged in the last four or five years," said Paul Wilborn, Tampa's former creative arts manager.

Mr. Soto spoke very little English, but had recently started classes to get better. He had trouble adapting to American life. Much of his work dealt with that turmoil. Memories of his past also haunted him, friends say.

Monday, friends found Mr. Soto in his Ybor studio - he hanged himself. He was 52 years old.

He was days shy of a public reception at Tampa's Gallery Flight 19. One of the paintings that will be displayed is Mr. Soto's interpretation of Tampa as a sports town, and its obsession with the Buccaneers.

For Mr. Soto, another culture shock.

Stephanie Hayes can be reached at shayes@sptimes.com or 727 893-8857.

If you go

Work on exhibit

The public can view Carlos Manuel Soto's art from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday as part of the Identity in Process exhibit at gallery Flight 19, 601 Nebraska Ave. in Tampa. Admission is free. It's part of Arte 2007, a collection of visual, film and performing arts from South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

[Last modified November 6, 2007, 22:49:47]