By Jay Amberg Bloomberg Lifestyles. Fri, 20 Apr 2001,
11:31am EDT
New York, April 18 -- For the second time in two years, Cigar Aficionado
magazine will devote its cover story to the Republic of Cuba.
In the May-June issue of the magazine, articles will detail Cuba's growing
list of hotels, resorts and cigar shops. Of special interest to cigar smokers
will be the magazine's feature on a 10- year quality analysis of Cuban cigars,
including all major brands.
Called "Cigar Aficionado's Cuba Extravaganza,'' the articles in the
upcoming issue will update tourist information on travel to Cuba that the
magazine first published in June 1999, with its issue "Cuba, Is It Time to
End the Embargo?''
When that issue was published, anti-Castro groups in Florida boycotted the
magazine and had it removed from some newsstands in the Miami area, claiming the
articles were pro-Castro.
The magazine defended the issue saying its reporting on Cuba was aimed at
international subscribers who weren't bound by U.S. law and could legally travel
to Cuba.
Besides cigars, May issue will review Cuban restaurants and nightclubs,
especially those that have opened in the past two years. There will also be a
feature on the logistics of visiting Cuba, something most U.S. citizens are
prohibited from doing unless licensed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The magazine will feature two of Cuba's new resorts, the Sol Club Cayo Coco,
off the southern coast of Cienfeugos province and the Sol Club Cayo Largo.
For information on this issue, call M. Shanken Communications at (212)
684-4224 or visit the magazine's Web site at http://www.cigaraficionado.com
after the issue is on the newsstands in May.
Los Angeles Exhibit Focus on Cuban Post-Revolution Photography
By Vincent Sgro Bloomberg Lifestyles
Los Angeles, April 19 -- An exhibit of work by three generations of Cuban
photographers depicting the social and political changes in Castro's Cuba is on
view through July 1 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
"Shifting Tides: Cuban Photography After the Revolution'' includes more
than 100 black-and-white and color photographs, organized in three sections.
"One of the reasons I did 'Shifting Tides' was to expand the common
perception of what Cuban photography is generally thought to be,'' said curator
Tim B. Wride.
"That is, black-and-white, documentary reportage with a hint of magic
realism, and replete with iconic images of Che and Fidel.
"What the exhibition demonstrates is the broad range and inventive
nature of work, both conceptual and visual, that has been and continues to be
done on the island. The work is expressive, sophisticated, and firmly grounded
in an international art dialogue,'' Wride said.
The prologue to the exhibition offers an overview of Cuban political, social
and cultural history. Using time lines, text and ephemera, the prologue gallery
provides a context within which to understand the images produced after the
revolution.
Included in the prologue will be a few examples of the iconic photographs
made by important photographers of the revolution's military struggle.
The photographers of the first generation extended the heroic
representations of earlier photographers. Instead of fostering the cult of the
personalities such as Guevara and Castro, however, this new generation
concentrated its efforts on the new hero of the revolution, the common man.
Photographers such as Enrique de la Uz, Ivan Canas, Rigoberto Romero, Maria
Eugenia Haya (Marucha), and Jose Alberto Figueroa are featured in this section.
The concerns of the second-generation photographers are reflected in images
of the cycles and obstacles of everyday life. In a departure from the previous
generation, this new way of relating to the consequences of revolution features
the rise of manipulated imagery and tableaux.
"This approach to image making borrows from a pervasive Latin American
magic realist impulse expressed through an Afro- Cuban cosmological
vocabulary,'' Wride said.
Rogelio Lopez Marin (Gory), Juan Carlos Alom, Marta Maria Perez Bravo and
Jose Manuel Fors are featured in this section. All were educated in revitalized
state-supported arts institutions and reflect a broadened internationalized
perspective on art making and photography.
The current generation of artists is distinctive for many reasons, including
their status of having never lived in a pre- Castro Cuba.
"While the previous generation's concerns centered around a reclamation
of personal histories and mythologies, contemporary artists using photography in
Cuba today extend this to include meditations on personal and conceptual
space,'' Wride said.
"Their art must be viewed through an awareness of the artist within an
international art dialogue tempered by the organic flow of the Cuban cultural,
political and socioeconomic structure,'' he said.
This generation includes Pedro Abascal, Manuel Pina, Carlos Garaicoa,
Abigail Gonzalez and Ernesto Leal. Employing lush color as well as traditional
black-and-white images, mixed media and installation, these artists provide a
commentary on the current state of life and art on the island.
"Photography in the Cuba of Fidel Castro has been and remains a
thriving means of artistic expression,'' Wride said. "Through their images,
photographers working in the aftermath of the military revolution have compiled
a legacy of a people, a country and of the revolution itself.''
Following its showing at LACMA, the exhibit will be on view Aug. 28-Oct. 27
at the Grey Art Gallery in New York.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is located at 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Hours
are noon-8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, noon-9 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m.-8
p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
For information, call (323) 857-6000 or visit the museum's Web site at
http://www.lacma.org. | 