HSC&A / SPRING/BREAK Art Show
Dino Urpí, Set of 8 Amulets, 2025, acrylic on MDF, 24 x 20 inches each
HSC&A /
SPRING/BREAK Art Show
May 6-12, 2025
New York, NY
Dino Urpí, Tropiqult Emblem 1, 2025, acrylic on MDF, 47 x 49 inches
DINO URPÍ: TROPIQULT
A vivacious installation of tropical exuberance, ancient symbols, and queer liberation, featuring the lush and cosmic multi-disciplinary work of Costa Rican artist Dino Urpí.
Hannah Sloan Curatorial & Advisory (HSC&A) is pleased to announce Tropiqult, a solo presentation by Costa Rican artist Dino Urpí at SPRING/BREAK Art Show NY 2025. Created in response to the curatorial theme Paradise Lost + Found, the installation reimagines paradise as a radiant realm of color, queerness, nature, and ancestral wisdom.
Tropiqult presents a divine, ancient realm where the wilderness of a primeval Eden meets a celestial sanctuary for queer expression. The reference to “cult” refers to Urpí’s use of ancient symbolism and esoteric practices. The use of the “q” in “qult” is the queer essence.
“Tropiqult is a fusion of nature, creative expression, and spirituality—echoing the tropical exuberance of where I live and the joy of being alive.”
/ Dino Urpí
Urpí’s work merges the sacred and the sensual, bringing together references to flora, divinity, mythology, and queer resilience in a maximalist display of colorful sculptural emblems, amulets, and large-scale paintings. With a practice rooted in spirituality, nature, and cultural memory, Tropiqult invites viewers into a playful yet deeply symbolic space where ancient ritual meets contemporary liberation.
“Dino is one of the most original artists I’ve had the honor of working with. His emblems, amulets and talismanic shapes blend the sensibility of ancient hieroglyphics with a spirited and lush contemporary palette inspired by his Costa Rican roots. Importantly, his work willfully embraces the exuberance of the tropics without resorting to customary platitudes about “tropical art.”
/ Hannah Sloan
Dino Urpí, Skygarden, 2024; acrylic on canvas; 70 x 40 inches
Born and raised in Costa Rica, Urpí has lived in Barcelona and New Orleans, drawing from each city’s cultural energy to shape a hybrid artistic language that is exuberant, defiant, and devotional. This exhibition marks a significant moment in his ongoing contribution to queer art and diasporic storytelling in Central America.
Curated by HSC&A founder Hannah Sloan, Tropiqult is part of an ongoing effort to bring the contemporary voices of Costa Rican artists to Los Angeles and beyond. Sloan’s personal connection to the region—following her father’s relocation there in 1998—has led her to develop long-term relationships with artists across the country. Supporting queer artists is central to this work.
/ About The Artist
Dino Urpí (b. Costa Rica) received his BFA and graduated summa cum laude from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2012, and obtained a postgraduate degree in Art for Social Inclusion from the University of Barcelona in 2017. He has lived at various times in Baltimore, Vancouver, New Orleans and Barcelona and his time abroad has had a significant influence on his practice.
His work has been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibitions at esteemed institutions including Museos del Banco Central de Costa Rica, and Princess of Wales Conservatory, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, London, UK. He has been the recipient of awards including the FIA Honorarios, San José, Costa Rica (2014); MICA Achievement Award, Baltimore, MD (2011); Printmaking Departmental Recognition Award, MICA, Baltimore, MD (2010); Starr Foundation Scholarship, The Starr Foundation, New York, NY (2008).
/ About The Fair
SPRING/BREAK Art Show is an internationally recognized exhibition platform using underused, atypical, and historic exhibition spaces to activate and challenge the traditional cultural landscape of the art market.
All artworks in the show are displayed and available for purchase online, giving artists unknown, emerging, mid-career, and beyond a virtual compliment to their tactile exhibitions.
