Last fall, Enrique Martinez Celaya had four large canvases hanging in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine – a haunting and strange cathedral, a monumental structure never quite finished on a hill in Manhattan, considered the largest Gothic church in the world. But it’s a nice fitting for Martinez Celaya’s work,

which is so often mournful or melancholy, filled with complicated emotions evoking a lost place or time, most especially his paintings.

If you missed that, however, there are ample examples these days around town to view this well-received Cuban exile’s paintings. First off, he has permanently set up home here in Miami (having left Los Angeles), in a huge studio and educational center, called Whale & Star, down the street from Snitzer’s gallery in Wynwood. While not a cathedral, viewing the work in this large and quiet space is a similarly contemplative experience. One of his sad and lovely paintings hangs in the lobby of the Sagamore Hotel. And now, a retrospective of his work, which includes his sculpture and drawing, has been extended for several weeks at Gary Nadar Fine Art, called Enrique Martínez Celaya:  Selected Work 1992-2010.

Martinez Celaya brings an eclectic background to his creative process, having once pursued a Ph.D. in quantum electronics before getting his MFA. He is known for showing work in nontraditional venues, such as the building of the Berlin Philharmonic. He’s also a published author and poet. That intensity of study and of thought is infused in his work, without it being ponderous. His subjects, in painting and sculpture, are mostly alone, often boys – a premonition of loss of innocence, of home?

The artist’s works are part of the collections of the Met and Whitney, and he had two solo shows locally, at MAM and the Boca Raton museum. But this might be the best way to take in the entirety of what he has done so far.

Enrique Martinez Celaya Selected Work 1992-2002 through Feb. 15 (and open for the next Second Saturday), at Gary Nadar Fine Art, 62 N.E. 27th St., Miami; www.garynadar.com.