art exhibit cuba - grenada 2013

Cuba Grenada Exhibition Grenada National Museum April 2013


An Exhibit of Cuban and Grenadian Art

On the Occasion of the

34th Year of Bi-Lateral Relations between

The Republic of Cuba and Grenada

Presented By

Ángel Reigosa de la Cruz and

the Grenada National Museum

12

th April, 2013


The occasion of this exhibition of Cuban and Grenadian Art marks a significant milestone. The

anniversary of the 34th year of Bi-lateral Diplomatic Relations is important to celebrate, as Grenada

has benefited greatly from this relationship.

From assistance in building the Maurice Bishop International Airport, to the many University

Scholarships to Grenadian students, the eye surgery programme, the reconstruction help after

Hurricane Ivan, the Cuban doctors and nurses who serve in Grenada, and many unseen

kindnesses, Cuba and has shown itself to be a friend to Grenada.

Cuba has set an example in the Caribbean of developing the creative resources of its people so

that it can be a cultural and economic resource. The many art schools, the museums of historic

art, the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Centre, the Cuba Bienale, the craft markets spread

across Havana displaying the artists’ work all provide a place for different types of art to be

developed and displayed. Cuba has demonstrated that art is not a luxury for the rich, but a vital

part of everyday life for all of the people. Most importantly, Cuba values its own artists enough to

share their work with the world in the collections of Cuban Embassies around the world. This

collection of work from the Cuba Embassy in Grenada is that which we have the privilege of

viewing.


To celebrate this occasion with a combined exhibit of art is also important in to Grenada. The

work of the Grenadian artists on view is elevated by being displayed along side of Cuba’s artists.

It should be noted that none of the Grenada Artists represented were able to receive a

comprehensive art education in Grenada. Inspite of this, with little institution support, our artists

have exhibited in international museums, art fairs, and expositions. Imagine how much more of an

impact this will have when Grenada begins to seriously invest in the creative potential of its

people. A permanent structure for the development of the visual and performance arts would give

not only a place for Grenada’s visual history to be viewed and preserved, but a place for

Grenada’s imaginative people to be advanced. And, ever faithful, Cuba has promised technical

help in the form of teachers should such a facility be built.

From Cuba we learn that the spirit of a person greatly benefits from “Los frutos de la cultura”. (the

fruit of the culture). Let us feast our eyes and enjoy this bounty from the artists, Cuban and

Grenadian, in this exhibition.

With thanks to those who helped make this Exhibition possible: The Cuban Embassy, Gipsy

Rodriguez, Oliver Benoit, The Grenada National Museum, The Grenada Arts Council

Susan Mains, Curator


Victor Manuel García. 1897-1969, Havana.


Victor Manuel studied at the San Alejandro Academy of Art. Though seeming to be a prodigy, his first exhibition was not until 1924 at Las Galleries. Returning to Cuba in 1927 after two years abroad, he organized a solo exhibition at the Association of Painters and Sculptors were his work was critically acclaimed, and he became an exhibitor in the New Art Exposition of 1927. His style evolved over his career, starting with Euro-primitivism and culminating with La Gitana Tropical (The Tropical Gypsy) painted in Paris in 1929. He evolved a spare syntax; muted colours and a tense calm pervades his work at this time, his subject matter mainly women and landscapes. In the 40´s and 50´s his work became more stylized, with strong color, and in his last years his work was almost abstract.


Amelia Peláez del Casal 1896-1968, Yaguajay


Amelia Peláez entered the San Alejandro Academy of Art at the age 20 instead of the usual 12, and studied under Leopoldo Romanach, as did Victor Manuel. Her first show, with Maria Pepa Lamarque, was in 1924. Peláez spent six years in Paris, returning in 1933. Though belonging to the Vanguardia generation, her best known work dates from the 40´s and 50´s. A painter, muralist and potter, she made numerous murals in public buildings including the Plaza of the Revolution and the façade of the Havana Libre Hotel. In 1934, she won a prize at the National Salon and exhibited many of her works, made in Paris, at the Lyceum. In 1938 she began adding elements of traditional Cuban architecture to her still-life paintings, this formalism a result of her studies in Paris. She started making pottery in 1950. She participated in the 1944 MoMA exhibition, 1945 and 1951 Sao Paolo Art Biennales, and 1952 Venice Biennale. In 1968 she received the National Order 30 Years Dedicated to the Arts. Her last exhibition, the year before her death, Guaches y Cerámics at the Havana Lyceum 1967, was a collection of her paintings and ceramics spanning four decades from the 1920´s.


Juan Moreira 1938, Havana


Studied at the School of Art and Design and the San Alejandro Fine Art Academy, graduating in 1963. Influenced by Hispanic and African cultures, his images are human combined with mythical animals, totems and idols symbolizing man and woman as creators of life within nature.


René Portocarrero 1912-1985, Havana.


Portocarrero was self-taught, learning from his environment. At 22 he exhibited at the Havana Lyceum and his work appeared in magazines of the period. Around 1943, whilst teaching at the Havana jail, he created a religious mural. He began some of his most famous series, ¨Interiors¨ and ¨Figures for a Contemporary Mythology¨, followed by a series dedicated to the Cuban countryside. Part of the 1944 MOMA exhibition, he also exhibited at the Julian Levy Gallery in 1945 at the request of Chagall, Guggenheim, Dalí and Breton. He worked in cycles throughout his career, Venice Biennial. His themes included ¨Masks¨ 1955, ¨The Dream¨ 1960, ¨Carnival¨ 1970, ¨Seated Figures¨ 1975, and ¨Transfiguration and Escape¨1982. Portocarrero has said of his own painting, ¨Critics have pointed out that in my work there is continuity, there is no rupture. It can be summarized in one sole painting, and that´s because it responds to one same hand, although in my paintings you may find all the styles and none at all, or a style representing a turning point. It´s somehow like Havana, that does not have a definite architectural style, yet in it all styles find a space. ¨¨ Conceptually, his paintings allude to a barroquiano dialogue, intertwining elements of colonial figures and interiors that express the representation of Cuba. In his paintings of angels, in the Museum of Art in New York, he reflects a certain mystique end expresses this celestial theme with a picaresque satire. Portocarrero´s work was included in the ¨Lam and his Contemporaries (1938-1952)¨exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem.


Esteban Machado Díaz 1965-, El Gabriel, Havana


Painter, cartoonist and illustrator. Education : Degree in Construction, Master in Educational Sciences. Publications on his work include Revista Opus Havana, Journal pelican of Havana Bay, Magazine Bohemia. Critical articles published in the Granma International, The Cayman Bearded, Vollek Lëtzebuerger Zeitung vum (Luxembourg Press) and several Cuban and International cultural web portals. Cuban National TV: From the Big Picture, Blue Huron, Art Site, The Other View, as well as news programs.


Alicia de la Campa March 9, 1966. Havana. Cuba

.


Graduated in 1986 from the “San Alejandro” National School of Fine Arts. Graduated in 1990 from the specialty of Art Class at the “Enrique José Varona” Higher Pedagogical Institute. Texts, reviews and reproductions of her work appeared in catalogues and in several specialized reviews magazines in Cuba and abroad. Part of her work is in private and public collections in more than fourteen countries. So far, she has done eighteen personal exhibitions and more than one hundred collective exhibitions in Cuba and abroad. She teaches Painting and Drawing at the “San Alejandro” National School of Fine Arts.


Manuel López Oliva

1947- Manzanillo Cuba


López Oliva graduated from the National School of Art in Havana in 1969 and has participated in

over 80 shows in museums, galleries and other cultural institutions in Cuba. He is not only a

recognized painter and art critic, but he is also known for having experimented with diverse artistic

expressions.

Among many national honours, he holds the National Culture Award and an Honorary Degree for

Artistic Merit awarded by the Cuban Superior Institute of Arts. In 2000, he received the Guy Pérez

Cisneros National Prize for lifetime achievements in the field of art and cultural criticism. A

constant contributor to the Cuban press, he has also published essays and criticisms in the

diverse media of Spain, France, Colombia, Italy, Sweden, Poland and Chile. López Oliva offers

master's classes and lectures in cultural institutions and universities in both Cuba and abroad.

Manuel Lopez Oliva

http://lopezoliva.art-havana.com/lopezoliva/artist.asp

http://lopezoliva.art-havana.com/lopezoliva/artist.asp


Servando Cabrera Moreno 1923-1981, Havana, Cuba


1935-42 San Alejandro Academy, Havana; 1945 Art Students League, New York; 1953 Grande

Chaumiére, Paris. Solo exhibitions in France, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, USA, and Cuba.


John Benjamin 1934—2011, Grenada


John Benjamin was a prolific painter, a self-taught artist who began painting as a child. He was

also an educator who began his career as a primary school teacher in St. Andrews. Benjamin was

the recipient of several prizes during his long

career as an artist. In 1961, Benjamin was

awarded a Commonwealth art scholarship to

study art education at the Brighton College of Art

in Sussex, United Kingdom. He was the first

teacher from Grenada to undertake such training

and was expected to play a decisive role in the

development of the visual art in Grenada.

(Brighton and Hove Herald Sept 1961). On his

return to Grenada in 1962 Benjamin continued to

paint and had many exhibitions in Grenada. He

was collected internationally, and very few of his

works remain in Grenada.


Oliver Benoit 1957- Grenada


Benoit is an abstract artist who considers painting to be one of his professions which he has been

doing for most of his life. His paintings are in oil, acrylic,watercolour and encaustic. The

multilayered and thus multidimensional work seeks to provoke the viewer, urging them to question

their reality in relation to some of the watershed moments of our time. “Painting has frequently

been an act of political or social

commentary for Oliver Benoit, whose stimulating, multilayered works present to us challenging

interactions between his powerful themes and the textures and colours which bring them forth.

“(Agora Gallery, October 2009).enoit’s paintings are found in private and corporate collections in

many countries, including Grenada, England and Scotland in the United Kingdom, Germany,

Canada, Japan, United States of America and Israel, as well as on public display at the Grenada

Embassy, Washington, DC. U.S.A.; Grenada Development Bank; Grenada museum; Museum of

Nature and Culture Convention of Biodiversity, Montreal, QC. Canada.

Lives and works in Grenada www.oliverbenoit.com


Gordon Hamilton

1946- Grenada


Jamaica School of Art 1971-1975. Hamilton was sent to Jamaica to study art, and returned to

Grenada and became fully involved in teaching. His dream of directing an art school located in

Grand Etang did not materialise, but his efforts to educate have continued nonetheless. He works

in oil paint with careful strokes, depicting realistically the beauty of Grenada, its flora and people.

He has exhibited locally, and been part of a group exhibition that was sent to the OAS gallery in

Washington DC. His work is found in many local corporate and international collections. Lives

and works in Grenada


Lisa Hererra 1963- Grenada


Self-taught and tutored by other artists in oils . Inspired by the colors and vibrant simplicity of

everyday island life, she paints prolifically, and has gained a following of collectors both in

Grenada and abroad. She has travelled in Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean and has been

inspired by the lifestyles, people and cultures. She has experimented in expressionism and

cubism and more recently, realism becomes the focus of the work. Lives and works in Grenada

www.lisaherrera.com


Suelin Low Chew Tung 1965- Trinidad/Grenada


Studied Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Florida Exhibited locally and internationally as well as

curated several Grenada exhibits that were shown internationally. Travelled to Cuba in 2006 to

see the Havana Bienale, and was equally inspired by the grand architecture and atmosphere of

the old city, as well as the ingenuity of the Cuban artists, in particualar in Jaimanitas, home town to

Jose Fuster. These works are from a series of works still in progress about that Havanah trip.

Has written and presented have presented papers on Grenada’s history through its traditional

carnival portrayals at Caribbean studies and literature conferences in Grenada, Jamaica and

Puerto Rico. Two papers on the Grenada Carnival ShortKnee have been published. Envisioned

and executed the long mural on Lowthers Lane in St. George’s depicting the original people of

Grenada, the Kalinagos. Lives and works in Grenada.


Gordon Vivian de la Mothe

1933- Carriacou, Grenada


Portrait of Donna Oil on board 1979

Educated England, Luton College of Art, Maidstone College of Art, University of Liverpool. Taught

art in England, Kent 1974-85. Exhibted London, Royal Academy Summer Art Exhibit, New

English Art Club, Royal Society of British Artists, One person show at BBC Studios. Returned to

Grenada in 1998 and taught art at T.A. Marryshow Community College. Has exhibited in many

local shows. One man show in 2003-04. Wrote the book Reconstructing the Black Image. Lives

and works in Grenada.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reconstructing-the-black-image-gordon-de-la-mothe/1003052850


Susan Mains 1958- USA/Grenada

From the Mask Series


Educated USA, self-taught artist. Began painting in the 80’s while living in Dominica. Returned to

Grenada in 1992, and has exhibited extensively locally and internationally. Strong colour and

contrast characterise the work. Widely collected, her popular work explores the many layers of the

beautiful Caribbean. Her contemporary work deals with social issues, having documented the civil

war in Sierra Leone, the aftermath of the Grenada Revolution,and dealt with women’s issues in the

Mask series. World ecological issues were examined in the “Little Boats” installation which has

been shown in Shanghai, China, Dominican Republic, and Barbados.

Operates Art and Soul Gallery, at Spiceland Mall in Grenada, established 2002.

Lives and works in Grenada www.susanmains.com

http://artandsoulgrenada.com/


Copyright for all artists are protected by International copyright law and may not be used without

express permission.

Grenada 2013


The opening, 12th April 2013

Abasador

Angel Reigosa de la

Cruz

and Gipsy Rodriguez


Angus Martin Grenada National Museum Brenda Hood Parliamentary Secretary


Susan Mains Artist

art exhibit cuba - grenada 2013

Documents

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curator cuba grenada

cuba embassy

cuba bienale

republic of cuba

exhibition of cuban

grenadian artists

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