Visual Arts Review: Viva Cuba! at Galeria Cubana

For many Americans, Cuba has an air of mystery, but the art on view here is accessible, not enigmatic, even at times somewhat didactic.

Over 100/Under $1,000, at Galeria Cubana, 460 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA, through March 1.

Sandra Dooley, "Angelina (Little Angel)," 2014

Sandra Dooley, “Angelina (Little Angel),” 2014. Photo: courtesy of Galeria Cubana.

By Kathleen C. Stone

Cuba has a complicated history, one that includes waves of indigenous peoples, Spanish colonization, African slave trade, a fledgling independence, outsized American influence, and a communist revolution. The country’s tumultuous progression is far from complete, given that it is reestablishing diplomatic relations with the United States. For enthusiasts who want to see an illuminating selection of Cuba’s art today, before the next spin of the evolutionary wheel, Galeria Cubana’s show Over 100/Under $1,000 is a good start. The gallery is offering a large selection of recent works, all reasonably priced.

The paintings and drawings are generally figurative – people, architecture, and street scenes predominate. But figurative does not mean realistic, and every artist manipulates subject matter to produce a distinct artistic expression.

Often, the use of materials is ingenious. Desiderio Sarmiento, for instance, incorporates coconut husks from his yard along with banana leaves into painted canvases to portray human figures. Sandra Dooley creates a series of female faces, reminiscent of Modigliani, with oil paint and fabric stitched onto the canvas. In one of the few overtly political pieces, Guillermo Estrada Viera prints a woodcut of a man, fist raised, on a Cuban ration card. On close inspection, the card indicates the holder was able to receive only a few of the rationed foods; most of the items were not available.

Other artists use innovative techniques to produce pieces that have a tactile quality. With collography, a print making method popular in Cuba, Isolina Limonta presses objects into a paste that, once hardened, becomes a three dimensional plate for inking; her prints are complexly textured and deeply colored. Another artist, Edel Bordon, uses a needle inserted into a pencil to score poster board before he rubs oil paint into the fine lines left by the needle. Other times he uses conventional materials – oil or acrylic on canvas – to make paintings that, with bold backgrounds flattening the picture plane, escape being conventional.

Isolina Limonta, “El rey del dinero (King of money)," 2013 Collograph on paper. Photo: courtesy of

Isolina Limonta, “El rey del dinero (King of money),” 2013 Collograph on paper. Photo: courtesy of Galeria Cubana.

Bordón and his wife Yamile Pardo, both professors of art, are well represented in the show. Bordón’s work tends to precise technique and pattern, hers to bold color and design. And their son Pablo Bordón, some of whose art is also on display, uses his own technique to produce paintings based on photographs that have the feel of the street.

For many Americans, Cuba has an air of mystery, but the art now on view is accessible, not enigmatic, and even at times somewhat didactic. Take, for instance, Limonta’s El rey del Dinero (King of Money): we see a crown floating above the richly decorated head of a man. Or the alleyways painted by Reinaldo Campillo that capture the back streets of Havana where buildings, victims of long delayed maintenance, still glow with architectural integrity. Or Yunayka Martin Martinez’s seascapes with stylized starfish.

The Cuban government is supportive of the country’s culture and grants artists the privilege of traveling outside the country. (When I was in Cuba five years ago, our tour guide confessed she longed to visit Italy, but the government would not allow her to leave, even for vacation; her disappointment deepened when her former husband, remarried to an artist, went to Europe.) Many of the artists whose work is now on display have traveled and exhibited their work in other countries but few, if any, have studied for any length of time outside of Cuba. The result is that their art is relatively free of international influences. Their work, while the product of individual talents, is also reflective of a particular moment in Cuba’s history, when artists prize traditions honed in their own country. For now, you can see a selection of art that reflects those traditions in Boston — before change inevitably comes.


Kathleen C. Stone is a writer pursuing her MFA degree, a lawyer who earned her JD many years ago, and, even before that, was a student of art history. Her blog can be found here.

1 Comment

  1. Richard Wiebe on February 19, 2015 at 4:08 pm

    Great article Kathleen..I will also bookmark this site for more info on the ARTS!

    Thank you

    richard wiebe

    cubanartbeat

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