Markenzy Cesar is a painter who was born in Haiti. He has lived in the United States since 1987. In 1993, he moved from Long Island, New York, to Buffalo to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. Cesar came to feel  a connection to the region and has built a life in western New York. Cesar is married with two daughters; one of his daughters, Mia, was also a participant in the Artists Among Us II.

Artist statement: As an artist, my goal is to capture that singularity, like stopping to smell a flower’s fragrance.  For example, I remember in the house I grew up in Haiti, there was a room with spaced skylight windows - motley colored glass. When the sunlight hit them, it was like being inside a church. I found it strange that I seemed to be the only one enamored by them. I would climb onto the roof regularly to remove the dirt from them. In a way, that’s what I want to communicate with others when it comes to my art… the intrinsic beauty our world contains. 

Bio: In 1987 there was a coup d’etat in Haiti and my mother and I came to live on Long Island, NY. My father was here several years earlier laying down the groundwork for our arrival. In a way without my dad being there during those formative years, I live a lonely existence. Ironically, I believe those solitude moments drive my imagination and in part made me the artist I am today. After college I decided to make Buffalo my home with a lovely wife and two daughters.