Cuban Art http://socratesarchitects.com

1. Nicholas Socrates 2009
Urban Design: Art City Society
Public Art in Relation to the Cuban Law
Compared to the old European civilizations, Cuban art developed in
a short space of time. This time constriction created specific
characteristics which were strongly influenced by successive and
sometimes superimposed trends emanating from the great cultural
metropolises. In that desolate cultural panorama, it was inevitable
that self-taught artists as well as those who received academic
training would build on European artistic traditions, fundamentally
those of Spain, France and Italy; and later those of the United
States. When Spanish control of the island ended in 1899, the
artistic environment offered an encouraging panorama, and several
academically trained painters, whether romanticists, realists or late
impressionists, left an excellent legacy for subsequent generations.
As Cuban artists – part of the intellectual movement that played a
major part in Cuban and Latin American culture – moved into the
20th century, experiencing a maturation of their own sense of
identity and gaining from the heritage of the fin-de-siècle masters,
the island's art attained its first true authenticity. The 1920s,
considered by the most perceptive intellectuals of the period as
"critical," signified a new stage in the history of Cuban culture. At
that time, its sources of inspiration were fundamentally the Paris
school and the renewal movement that gave birth to the Mexican
Revolution of 1910. We can say that from that moment on until this
day, Cuban painting has been an integral part of the most modern
universal art trends.
Within Cuban art as a whole, rural and urban landscapes have been
a recurrent theme in the country's eastern region. Indeed, this
theme is a valid expression of self-recognition, of which the artists
were not always aware. This has been a sustained although varied
and changing theme, marked by light that is filtered or explosive;
vegetation that is steamy and exuberant, voluptuous and extremely
sensual, or chaste and serene. These landscapes may reflect lovely
rural scenes, corners of the city, or a brilliant urban synthesis
marked by colonial tiled roofs or poetic combinations of geometric

2. pieces. Any viewpoint assumed by the artist speaks to us, above all,
of a manifest desire to portray physical surroundings as a way to
reevaluate oneself, to validate an existential experience through
images, thereby perpetuating it and preserving it from the ravages
of time and of humankind itself.
The tradition of landscape painting dates back to the 19th century
with the work of José Joaquín Tejada Revilla (1867-1943), born in
Santiago de Cuba, where he lived throughout his life except for
sporadic trips abroad. Tejada constitutes a milestone in the city's
art history, more because of his skills than because of the paintings
he produced.
Juan Emilio and Rodolfo Hernández Giro, brothers born 20 years
after Tejada, painted the natural setting surrounding them with
great precision. "It's impossible to be a painter here and not paint
landscapes," Rodolfo stated. "Oriente's landscape is our pride. The
mountains look closer than they really are, and one needs to have
been born here or to have lived here for many years to know how
to place them in their proper perspective."
In the mid-20th century, Santiago's prodigious art scene was
graced with numerous artists who followed the path forged by the
masters, who simultaneously brought their own originality to bear.
The art of cityscapes and landscapes achieved a level of
extraordinary virtuosity on the canvases of Antonio Ferrer Cabello,
José Julián Aguilera Vicente and Miguel Angel Botalín, among
others. They were succeeded by a group of landscape painters,
including Danis Montero Ortega and Eddy Ochoa Guzmán, who in
1995 founded the ECOART ecological project.
The most recent generation of painters from Santiago de Cuba,
whose focus has not been landscape painting, has sparked
controversy in the local art community. Almost all of these young
people have had years of formal training, at the National Art School
(ENA), the Higher Institute of Art (ISA), provincial schools, art
instructors' schools and other institutions. They have acquired
knowledge about the most varied and the latest artistic trends, and
they have developed extremely personal styles linked to Cuban and
Caribbean life. This essay offers an evaluation and characterization
of their works.
Their art, created in the '80s and '90s, constitutes a response to
some principles of the most conservative artists and an attempt to
break with an attitude that some of them have called contemplative

3. and mimetic, an attempt to recreate reality rather than to question
it. These young artists have searched for a language that, without
facile accommodation, clearly defines their intention to make that
questioning the focus without which their work would be
incomprehensible. That is why their themes reach far beyond art
itself; they transcend or explore problems of humans and their
behavior; their internal dialogue and self-awareness, and their
relationship with their habitat, both social and natural. Their art
often challenges facets of society and sarcastically criticizes
selfishness, deceit, hypocrisy and many other "sins." On occasions
they irritate or hurt the onlooker, so that the latter will react and
actively take sides. They call everything or almost everything into
question, even though they don't always achieve their objectives.
Their codes have diverse levels of complexity.
There is true philosophical reflection in this trend. Every artistic
action or form is well studied and backed up by a "why," inviting the
public's response. Due to this artistic involvement with the most
difficult, contradictory and profound facets of reality, the semantic
force becomes metaphorical and shapes take on a symbolic value
which often increases, depending on the context in which the viewer
places them.
Sometimes they venture into social commentary, although this is
neither the most general nor the only expressive form utilized.
There is a somewhat generalized tendency toward the grotesque, in
which artistic elements and their treatment lend an aggressive note
to the work. Each painter confronts the artistic condition in his or
her own way. Some are very concerned about form and, despite
some variation, the finishing touches of their work are an important
requisite. Others, however, are not very interested in this aspect of
the work, concentrating on the theme under discussion or a
humanistic analysis of existential problems.
The youngest artists are attracted to social satire, often employing
clear and precise iconographic language, while others prefer a
unsettling discourse aimed at eliciting a reaction on the part of the
public. They utilize elements of kitsch, choosing certain images that
function as expressions of mass culture and often make very strong
statements.
The artwork of these young people fits harmoniously into the
national art scene, and – due to its contemporary nature – on the
local level it is the expression of artistic renovation.

4. The 1980s was the decade when several generations of artists
converged, resulting in a process of rupture and simultaneous
continuity: the young graduates of the ISA – and more recently,
those who come out of the provincial art schools – infused
innovative features into a well-established artistic production, while
the older artists (who in their time played a revolutionary and
transforming role) maintained their traditional forms of expression.
In many cases a natural process of creative maturity produced
gradual modifications.
This younger generation, struggling throughout the country for its
place in the Cuban art world and seeking its own expressive codes,
sprung up in the island's eastern region in late 1988; throughout
the '90s and to the present day it has developed its own discourse.
Within this panorama, in recent years a generation that emerged in
difficult times is coming into its full maturity and its production is
more visible than ever, striving for public recognition. In the '90s
they began to question society openly, not only in two-dimensional
art, but also in highly conceptual installations. They also express
concern for our world's problems and the environment, with clearly
stated ecological themes. At a time when all reasonable people
recognize the need to heal the Earth's wounds before it's too late,
these artists have set their gaze on the threat to all life on our
planet.