October Gallery presents Caliban, the second solo exhibition by Puerto Rican artist Rafael Trelles. This powerful new series reimagines one of Shakespeare's most debated characters as a symbol of Indigenous resistance to colonial rule. Trelles' dreamlike, magico-mythical paintings create richly layered worlds where light, shadow, flora and fauna converge to explore themes of identity, belonging and agency.
At the heart of the exhibition lies Caliban, the original inhabitant of the island in The Tempest, whose land and freedom are seized by the exiled Duke Prospero. Rather than presenting him as Shakespeare's 'savage' subject, Trelles portrays Caliban with dignity and resilience. Drawing on Cuban intellectual Roberto Fernández Retamar's writings, the artist traces connections between 'Caliban', 'cannibal' and 'Caribe', linking the character to Caribbean Indigenous peoples—a connection deeply personal for Trelles himself, who states: "In this precise sense, I am Caliban."
Throughout these ethereal paintings, Caliban exists in profound harmony with nature, while Prospero represents an external, objectifying force seeking control. The exhibition weaves Caribbean colonial history with contemporary questions of identity, migration, racism and cultural displacement, offering poetic meditation on land, memory and the right to define one's own narrative.
