{"id":5529,"date":"2018-01-17T17:37:40","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T15:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artificialis.eu\/?p=5529"},"modified":"2019-05-04T18:22:35","modified_gmt":"2019-05-04T16:22:35","slug":"exhibition-art-x-cuba-contemporary-perspectives-since-1989","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artificialis.eu\/?p=5529","title":{"rendered":"Exhibition: Art x Cuba. Contemporary Perspectives since 1989"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>(Kunst x Kuba. Zeitgen\u00f6ssische Positionen seit 1989)<\/p>\n

8 September 2017 – 18 February 2018
\nLudwig Forum f\u00fcr Internationale Kunst
\nJ\u00fclicher Str. 97-109, Aachen, Germany
\nhttp:\/\/ludwigforum.de<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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From Cuba to Germany<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1984, the first \u201cHavana Biennale\u201d took place and attracted the attention of the western art world to Caribbean and Latin American art. Six years later, in 1990, Cuban oeuvres reached Germany. The Kunsthalle D\u00fcsseldorf presented works by 18 artists from the country in the exhibition \u201cKuba o.k. – Contemporary art from Cuba\u201d. For the collectors Irene and Peter Ludwig this was the point of departure to expand their collection in this direction. They purchased a majority of the in D\u00fcsseldorf presented artwork and focussed a part of their activities towards the Caribbean island. Four years later, in 1994 they initiated the Fundaci\u00f3n Ludwig de Cuba. The cooperation between the art patrons and their foundation (Peter und Irene Ludwig Stiftung<\/a><\/span>) is still continuing.<\/p>\n

Due to this engagement, the former director of the Ludwig Forum and board member of the Ludwig Foundation since 2015, Brigitte Franzen, envisaged the idea of a new exhibition of contemporary Cuban art. Her successor, Andreas Beitin accomplished the by her prepared show. It is not accidental, that Antonio Eligio (Tonel) was his co-curator. He acted in the same role for the D\u00fcsseldorf exhibition in 1990.<\/p>\n

\u201cArt x Cuba\u201d reunites a grand part of the ancient works. In addition, there are later oeuvres purchased by the Ludwigs, other institutions or loaned by former supported artists. The show is completed by several recent creations, often directly contributed by the creators. It counts around 150 artworks by 70 artists from the late 1980s to our days. Nevertheless, the exhibition makers – rather to follow a chronological path – freely juxtapose the works. In consequence, older creations get a new fresh connotation, more recent works communicate with the near past.<\/p>\n

Notable is, that the largest part of the artists is born after the revolution in 1959 and still live in Cuba, at least part time. Many of the presented artworks reflect the specific situation in the country. Therefore, here a brief overview of the development of the country.<\/p>\n

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From 1989 until today: a time of drastic changes for Cuba<\/strong><\/p>\n

The chosen time range of three decades is a – still continuing – period of changes on the Caribbean island. After a time of relative upturn in the 1980s, an economic decline started with the transformations in the Eastern bloc countries and the tightening of the American embargo. This led to the so-called \u201cPer\u00edodo especial en tiempo de paz\u201d (Special Period in Time of Peace) and was characterised by a grave shortage of energy, food and all other vital goods. Due to new alliances the situation improved with the beginning 21st century. The withdraw of Fidel Castro as president and his succession by Ra\u00fal Castro in 2008 permitted economic reforms oriented to more private engagement and liberty. Even the relation to the United States ameliorated in the last years. At present, the situation is once more uncertain: Fidel Castro died in 2016 and Ra\u00fal Castro announced his resignation for 2018.<\/p>\n

The exhibition\u2019s title-image reflects the current ambiguous situation. \u201cCosmonaut\u201d by Adri\u00e1n Fern\u00e1ndez Milan\u00e9s from 2015 stands with its affix \u201cIn Search of Orientation\u201d for the difficulty of a new placement in world without the Soviet Union and the uncertain future regarding the transition at the top of the country. It is a highly enlarged image of a postal stamp, published to honour the Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez, after his participation in the Soviet Union\u2019s Interkosmos space program and his flight into space in 1980.<\/p>\n

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Revolutionary heroes and slogans<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the earlier artworks seem to confirm the clich\u00e9 of revolutionary art with motifs of the activists\u2019 heroes and slogans. Jos\u00e9 Toirac<\/a><\/span> for example portrayed Fidel Castro in monochrome photo realistic style. Though his \u201cSelf-portrait (Homage to D\u00fcrer)\u201d from 1995 superelevates not only himself as Maximo Leader, but also refers to the renaissance artist, who painted himself as Christ. Thereby Toirac and Castro could be interpreted as saviours. In \u201cEternity\u201d from 1996, he ironizes the immortal fancied Comandante with cologne advertisement.<\/p>\n

Carlos Rodr\u00edguez C\u00e1rdenas<\/a><\/span> even didn\u2019t stop dealing with the Cuban Revolution\u2019s battle cry \u201cPatria o Muerte\u201d (Fatherland or Death). In 1989, he painted the diptych with the same name. The right canvas shows a pink wall with the slogan in unemotional digital display style, observed by a smiley from above. On the left panel is a faceless avatar. For his sarcasm, the artist was often censured and left the country in the early nineties.<\/p>\n

In 1991, Ren\u00e9 Francisco<\/a><\/span> and Eduardo Ponju\u00e1n<\/a><\/span> dealt with soviet propaganda posters from the Second World War. \u201cUtopia\u201d refers to the former influence of the collapsing Soviet Republic, it deconstructs the visual language and questions propaganda in art. The heroism of the soldiers and slogans appear cynical with regard to the events in time of the creation of the oeuvre.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n

Picturesque views<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though it was important for the curators not to show platitudes of the Caribbean sunshine island with its morbid charm, some photos seem \u2013 at first glance \u2013 to illustrate the common image. Nevertheless, the intention of the authors differs. For example, Ernesto Oroza<\/a><\/span> shows in his series \u201cArchitecture of Necessity\u201d – shot from 1999 until today – house fronts sometimes colourfully painted. They could also decorate travel brochures. However, Oroza doesn\u2019t want to display the picturesque buildings, but what people are doing with them. He emphasizes the human need for creativity even during scarcity.<\/p>\n

Also, Kattia Garc\u00eda Fayat<\/a><\/span> shows living spaces in \u201cWomen Hold Half of the Sky\u201d from 2001. Her attention points to the restricted housing conditions of Havana\u2019s working-class-districts where women are fighting for survival. Here homes are not only used for living but as well for their work and religious rituals, expanding their spaces on the street.<\/p>\n

Ra\u00fal Ca\u00f1ibano photographs Cuban country life in a poetic manner with high aesthetic ambitions in his series \u201cLand of Guajira\u201d (1998 \u2013 2013). Besides the unusual intimacy, he as well shows the simplicity and arduousness of the living conditions. Whereas Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a><\/span>\u2019 young people seem to be light-hearted. Nevertheless, they are sometimes outsiders like in \u201cImproper Behaviour\u201d from 2008 because for the society, they act unsuitable concerning their sexual orientation. In the series \u201cAM-PM\u201d from 2005, the artist<\/a><\/span> displays figures of the night in one of Havana\u2019s main streets. From 2010 to 2012, he portrayed contemporary adolescents of Cuba. They could live everywhere in the world, because their stage of life is universally one of search, discovery, confrontation and conceptual orientation. Nevertheless, they are carrying the countries and the authors past and future in them. These depicted youngsters were all born during the \u201cPer\u00edodo especial\u201d (Special Period), in a time of economical deficiency and social transformation. Therefore, they never had the outlook to promising prospects like the so-called Generation 2000; still they are an important element of the Cuban future.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_1_placeholder\n

Phenomena of societies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Other oeuvres are dealing with social and cultural phenomena. Frequently they are enrooted in the Cuban society. Nevertheless, they are also easily accessible for spectators without special awareness about Cuba, because they are treating supra-regional relevant issues.<\/p>\n

Exemplary is the video \u201cInvestment II\u201d by Glenda Le\u00f3n<\/a><\/span> from 2011. During almost four minutes, the viewer takes part in a repurposing of a 100-US-Dollar-bill. First, the artist carefully scrapes the green colour off the bill. Then she sniffs the generated powder through a rolled tobacco leaf. The procedure obviously reminds the inhalation of cocaine, though the bill is in this case is not tool but substance, the drug itself. By the improper use, the currency becomes worthless. Even if the tobacco leaf refers to Cuba, the addiction to money is widespread in many societies.<\/p>\n

Another global subject rises Kcho<\/a><\/span> (Alexis Leyva Machado) in his \u201cUntitled\u201d installation from 1994. 260 leaden boats are arranged in a circle and pointing inwards. Several of these boats are more like nutshells and little seaworthy. Besides, the material \u2013 lead \u2013 is not at all promising. In the Cuban context, the regard to the repeated flight from the island to Florida via sea is evident and the exodus is a leaden burden for the country. Nevertheless, all over the world there are escape routes through the sea, which affect the left behind societies as well as the targeted regions, not to forget the individuals risking their lives in search for a better one.<\/p>\n

Mabel Poblet questions established concepts of kitsch, folklore and art. In her work from 2012, she shows what is \u201cSimply Beautiful\u201d. Red plastic flowers are rotating on transparent discs over a female portrait and deform it constantly. The human and particularly the female body is often exposed to painful interventions, with the objective to attain a more attractive result, according to current beauty ideals. Depending on the society, these intrusions are regarded as folklore (depicted scarification); body art<\/a><\/span> or \u2013 when out of fashion or taste-related \u2013 kitsch. Poblet plays with these modifications, by transferring it to the portrait. Moreover, she uses plastic flowers for her artwork, by herself attributed as kitsch. Besides a general statement about beauty and its circumstances, the blossoms are, once again a hint to the Cuban system. They are produced by female prisoners in Holguin, mostly beautiful women, detained under the pretext of prostitution.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_2_placeholder\n

There are many more interesting oeuvres in the exhibition \u201cArt x Cuba\u201d; to mention all would exceed the limits. Hence in the following some photos without special explanation.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_3_placeholder\n

Artists:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Juan Carlos Alom, Rub\u00e9n Alp\u00edzar, Tanya Angulo, Belkis Ay\u00f3n, Juan Pablo Ballester, Jos\u00e9 Bedia, Alejandro Campins, Mar\u00eda Magdalena Campos-Pons, Ra\u00fal Ca\u00f1ibano, Iv\u00e1n Capote, Yoan Capote, Carlos Martiel, Carlos Rodr\u00edguez C\u00e1rdenas, Los Carpinteros (Alexandre Arrechea, Marco Castillo, Dagoberto Rodr\u00edguez), Yaima Carrazana, Javier Castro, Celia \u2013 Yunior, Jeanette Chavez, Ariamna Contino, Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo, DIP (Departamento de Intervenciones P\u00fablicas), Felipe Dulzaides, Ricardo G. El\u00edas, Enema Collective, Alexis Esquivel, Tom\u00e1s Esson Reid, Carlos Est\u00e9vez, Leandro Feal, Adri\u00e1n Fern\u00e1ndez Milan\u00e9s, Adonis Flores, Diana Fonseca Qui\u00f1ones, Ren\u00e9 Francisco Rodr\u00edguez, Fidel Garc\u00eda, L\u00e1zaro Garc\u00eda, Roc\u00edo Garc\u00eda, Carlos Garc\u00eda de la Nuez, Kattia Garc\u00eda Fayat, Flavio Garciand\u00eda, Luis G\u00e1rciga Romay, Luis G\u00f3mez Armenteros, Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez, Jes\u00fas Hdez-Gu\u0308ero, Alex Hern\u00e1ndez, Diango Hern\u00e1ndez, Orestes Hern\u00e1ndez, Kcho (Alexis Leyva Machado), Tony Labat, Ernesto Leal, Glenda Le\u00f3n, Miguel Moya, Glexis Novoa, Antonio Nu\u00f1ez Hern\u00e1ndez, Ernesto Oroza, Marianela Orozco, Ram\u00f3n Pacheco, Ren\u00e9 Pe\u00f1a, Marta Mar\u00eda P\u00e9rez Bravo, Michel P\u00e9rez Pollo, Manuel Pi\u00f1a-Baldoqu\u00edn, Mabel Poblet, Eduardo Ponju\u00e1n, Wilfredo Prieto, Renier Quer, Sandra Ramos, Grethell Ras\u00faa, Fernando Rodr\u00edguez, Ricardo Rodr\u00edguez Brey, Santiago Rodr\u00edguez Olaz\u00e1bal, L\u00e1zaro Saavedra, Jos\u00e9 A. Toirac, Rub\u00e9n Torres Llorca, Ileana Villaz\u00f3n, Jorge Wellesley, Osvaldo Yero<\/p>\n

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Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kunst x Kuba – Contemporary Perspectives since 1989, Short Guide
\nLudwig Forum f\u00fcr Internationale Kunst Aachen, 2017<\/p>\n

Kunst x Kuba<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n