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Cuba reconsidered Artists examine Cuban American connection By Maya Rajamani mrajamani@riverdalepress.com
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uban American artist Tania Bruguera set up a stage and podium with an orange cloth backdrop for her 2009 performance art video “Tatlin’s Whisper #6.” In the video, two people dressed in military outfits escort volunteers to the stage one by one. Each volunteer has one minute free of censorship to voice his or her opinions on politics, social issues and freedom of speech in Cuba. The fake military personnel place a white dove on the volunteers’ shoulders, meant to evoke the image of Fidel Castro’s first televised speech in 1959, when a white dove landed on Mr. Castro’s shoulder, prompting messianic comparisons. Ms. Bruguera has distributed disposable cameras with flashes to spectators, to augment the feel of the event as a political spectacle. In the video, there are moments of silence, as even those participating in the artist’s video are reluctant to come forward and speak freely. “One day, freedom of expression in Cuba will not be a performance,” says a woman during her one-minute speech. After 60 seconds, the military personnel drag speakers off the stage. Ms. Bruguera’s video features prominently in Lehman College Art Gallery’s new exhibit, Cuban America: An Empire State of Mind. For co-curators Susan Hoeltzel and Yuneikys Villalonga, the exhibit is a conflation of Cuban and Cuban American viewpoints toward America. Ms. Villalonga, who moved to the U.S. from Cuba three years ago, said the works in the exhibit speak about America as a land of immigrants instead of dwelling on typical themes like Cuban prejudices toward American capitalism and politics. “We wanted to give it a turn and consider Cuban American artists – to say these artists can also be called Cuban,” said Ms. Villalonga. The exhibit features 35 artists of Cuban descent, but instead of the typical divide between artists raised in Cuba and artists raised in the States, Ms. Villalonga and Ms. Hoeltzel have chosen to display them together. Visualizing the immigrant experience is something that resonates with those who visit the gallery, Ms. Villalonga said. In a series of three self-portraits displayed in the gallery, artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons covers herself in brown and white makeup. In the first photo, “Patria Una Trama” (“Homeland [is] an entrapment”) is emblazoned on her chest; in the third, “Identity Could Be A Tragedy.” Ms. Villalonga speculated Ms. Cam-
ANTHONY GOICOLEA’S, ‘Aunt (Positive Negative Diptych).’
pos-Pons’ work, along with dealing with themes of feminism and politics, could symbolize the disparity between a person’s physical location and the place where his or her thoughts dwell. “It’s about being in one place while your head is in another,” Ms. Villalonga said. Ms. Campos-Pons’ works also deals with the issue of being a female black im-
ANDRES SÉRRANO’S, ‘Wunmi Fadipe, Sales Assistant at Investment Bank.’
migrant in another country. Other pieces hone in specifically on the experience of those living in America. New York-born artist Andres Serrano, who is half Honduran and half Afro-Cuban, documented over 100 people in his series called “America.” Mr. Serrano’s work has garnered controversy – protestors in Avignon, France in 2011 destroyed his 1987 work “Piss Christ,” in which he photographed a plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of his own urine. But his portrait at Lehman’s gallery, “Wunmi Fadipe, Sales Assistant at Investment Bank,” is more striking than contentious. The woman in the portrait is glowing in a bright blue and white headscarf and a brocade dress, a noticeable scar on her cheek. Another portrait called “Aunt (Positive Negative Diptych)” by Atlanta-born Cuban American Anthony Goicolea juxtaposes drawings of a photograph’s negative and positive images to create portraits of his family members back in Cuba.His piece in the gallery is an ethereal depiction of his aunt as a young girl. Born in the States, artists like Mr. Serrano and Mr. Golcolea would not typically be featured in a Cuban-centric art exhibit, Ms. Villalonga said. “It’s presenting a different image of Cuban art,” Ms. Villalonga said. “Before, you never had [Cuban and Cuban American art] dialogue, because they excluded one another,” she said. Other artists featured in the exhibit focus on New York City. In Alexandre Arrechea’s “Chrysler” and “Empire State,” he has created aluminum sculptures of the two landmarks. In a departure from reality, Mr. Arrechea has curled the Empire State Building into a pentagonal shape; the Chrysler Building curves like a snake until it winds around a wheel at the base. Perhaps the exhibit’s strangest piece is a 2006 sculpture made of recycled wood and metals that conflates Che Guevara and Carlos Santana. The singer incited both outrage and support when he wore a Che Guevara shirt to the 2005 Oscar ceremony. An image of the last picture of Guevara taken as he died is framed within the chest of the statue of Carlos Santana. On
Photo by Marisol Díaz
ALEJANDRO AGUILERA’S, ‘El Che y Carlos Santana.’
the back of the sculpture, multiple shelves frame images of skulls, portraits of Cuban heroes, and a portrait of Santana. “When people look at it, they think it’s Jesus Christ,” said Ms. Villalonga. Past exhibits at Lehman’s gallery have included a show focusing on candy, a comic show, a contemporary cartography exhibit, and an exhibit focusing on design and architecture as an influence on sculpture. “What works well for us as an educational institution is looking at how different artists look at that same topic,” said Ms. Hoeltzel. The exhibit will run until May 14. A reception on March 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. will include a special performance by artist Carmelita Tropicana.