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At WSU, 20 artists
present images of a gloomy Cuba
By Joy Hakanson Colby /
Detroit
News Art Critic. Detroit News, September
21 Detroit News, 2004.
You can't tell the students from the teachers
in the exhibit of contemporary Cuban art
showing at Wayne State University's Elaine
L. Jacob Gallery.
The 20 exhibitors, who are affiliated with
Cuba's leading art school, are pretty much
on par. In fact, the Institute Superior
de Arte in Havana is known for accepting
only the most outstanding students with
a professional edge to their work. "Cuba
from the Inside Out" includes works
from faculty members, students and alumni,
all contributing to a seamless exhibit.
WSU Gallery director Sandra Dupret traveled
to Cuba to make selections. Help in getting
the work to Detroit came from the Cuban
Art Space in New York.
"Inside Out" is one way Wayne
State is observing Hispanic Heritage Month.
The show comes in two parts: The second
installment, which begins Nov. 5, will show
Cuban art from American collections.
As a collection, part one has an overall
sadness about it, a certain grayness despite
occasional flashes of color. For instance,
clouds of yellow don't make Orestes Hernandez's
lean dog less melancholy. Nor does intense
red brighten Michel Perez's giant insect.
No image is more sorrowful than the fragments
of Adrian Rumbaut's self portraits contained
in wooden bird cages. He repeats the caged
theme again and again, underscoring a sense
of futility.
The show gets a lift from the Brito sisters,
Jacqueline and Yamilys. Jacqueline shows
mysterious small pieces that blend painting
and metal objects in a ritualistic way.
Yamilys makes collaged prints of very high
quality.
In fact, the main strength of the collection
comes from prints, a field in which the
artists excel. Printmaking is a populist
art form, one that is comparatively inexpensive
and available to a wide audience. Havana
has a large, professional print workshop
that is respected internationally.
The understated mood of this exhibit is
quite different from "Cuba: Irony and
Survival" at Cranbrook Art Museum in
1999. That show mounted by Arizona State
University was freer, more upbeat and energetic
than the present exhibit.
You can reach Joy Colby
at (313) 222-2276 or jcolby @detnews.com.
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