Tonel

This multi-venue exhibition includes the work of artists who have been recognized as bringing renewed vitality to the Cuban art scene in the 1990s. These artists draw upon both vernacular and officially sanctioned iconography to comment on the complexity and contradiction inherent in contemporary Cuban culture at a time of political and economic uncertainty. They negotiate ways to express their role as artists, individuals and members of society within a communist nation courting small scale free enterprise and foreign investment in an effort to regain its stability.

The Contemporary Art Gallery component of this exhibition contains drawings and sketches that present the art object at its genesis, as a work in process, and in many cases as projects that will never be realized because of scale or limited access to materials. These works represent the idea-making stage of the artist's creative process, where the imagination has free reign and developing projects is unrestricted by concerns of feasibility.

This exhibition is organized by the Contemporary Art Gallery and the Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery in association with the Fundación Ludwig de Cuba. Other venues for New Art from Cuba: Utopian Territories include the Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery, ACCESS Gallery, Artspeak Gallery, Charles H. Scott Gallery, OR Gallery.

Curated by Eugenio Valdés Figueroa and Juan Antonio Molina

Detail of an illustration. The image shows a bottom part of wooden bridge. A bucket and a tray, filled with water, are placed under the columns.

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A corner of the gallery resembles the studio space of an architect. Large wooden table with a desk lamp is installed in front of the drawings of buildings and bridges on the walls. 

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Various artworks are installed in the galley. Five drawings of human figures are mounted on the walls. A large wooden desk with a stool is installed in the middle of  the floor. 

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Seven black and white drawings are installed on the gallery wall. Many of them include small shadows of humans and boats. Three of them line up horizontally and the rest line up vertically. 

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Four paintings of black-skinned people are installed on the gallery wall. The one on the far left shows a person with a gender-neutral body wearing small colorful flags. Some texts are written on each piece. 

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Three colored drawings are installed on the gallery wall. The left one shows a human body bridging over the river, and the middle one depicts a brick wall. The one on the right depicts a wooden boat.

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A sculpture on the floor consists of a metal gazebo, a car tire, and a large painting brush. A large black and white drawing in its back shows the design process of this architectural sculpture. 

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A set of three drawings are vertically aligned on the gallery wall. The top image shows a large scarecrow standing in the middle of the village. The middle piece shows clothes being hung to be dried. 

Tonel

Exhibitions