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Art show explores Maine-Cuba
ties
Nation's crumbling infrastructure,
vibrant people at center of Rockport exhibit
By Kristen Andresen, Of
the NEWS Staff. Wednesday, July 06, 2005
- Bangor
Daily News.
ROCKPORT - To most Americans, Cuba is an
island of mystery, separated from the United
States not only by a stretch of ocean, but
by politics and policy.
For a group of Maine artists and art aficionados,
Cuba is an inspiration, with a rich cultural
tradition and a thriving arts scene. "Cuban
Connections," a collection of work
by Maine and Cuban artists currently on
view at the Center for Maine Contemporary
Art in Rockport, explores this link.
"Cuba is totally mesmerizing,"
said photographer Judith Glickman of Cape
Elizabeth, whose black-and-white images
of architecture and street life in Havana
lead viewers into the show. "The people,
the architecture … the history, and
all this is going on on a Caribbean island
90 miles away from Miami."
Though close in distance, it truly is a
world apart, as visitors to Cuba found during
a 2003 trip to the Biennial sponsored by
CMCA. Photographer Barbara Goodbody and
watercolorist Frederic Kellogg captured
the spirit of the island during a week of
tours, studio visits and exhibits. Others
on the trip bought contemporary Cuban art
for their collections (incidentally, it
was easier to get art out of Cuba than cigars).
Glickman had gone the week before on a
trip organized by the Metropolitan Museum
of Art in New York. When Brown saw her photographs,
"this exhibition became inevitable,"
Brown writes in the notes that accompany
the show. "It was only a question of
uncovering other Cuban connections in Maine
- a surprisingly easy and interesting assignment."
In 1996, Patricia Nick of the Vinalhaven
Press had invited five artists she had met
on her travels to Cuba to spend three weeks
in Maine. Though artists, writers, singers
and musicians enjoy a higher standard of
living than many Cubans, and are allowed
to travel to enhance and promote their work,
none had access to printing facilities like
the one on Vinalhaven.
It took piles of paperwork, hassles with
customs agents and two sets of airline tickets,
but they arrived in 1997.
"It was an opportunity for them, and
an opportunity for me as well, because their
work was wonderful," Nick said. "It
was very strong and unique. Out of the pressure
cooker often comes very strong work in all
areas - music, poetry, literature, writing
and the visual arts. That's certainly been
the case in Cuba as we all know now."
Among the visitors that summer were Alberto
Casado and a trio (who have since become
a duo) who call themselves Los Carpenteros.
Both have since attracted international
acclaim, and both recently had successful
shows in Manhattan.
In addition to his print work, Casado uses
colored glass and tin foil, the Cuban equivalent
to velvet Elvis paintings in the States,
to make strong political and visual statements.
In "Dicen que en la emajada,"
(or "they say that in the embassy"),
he shows Che Guevara removing a book about
homosexuality from a library, following
Castro's decree.
"He use provocative historical moments
in his work," Brown said. "He
takes this very popular art form …
and moves it up a few notches. It's kitsch,
basically."
The isolation of the island plays out in
the work of several artists, as do the problems
with Cuba's water supply, as seen in Los
Carpenteros' Vinalhaven print of a hydrant.
Another of their works, a 9-foot-tall print
of a cathedral in the shape of a screwdriver,
serves as the centerpiece of the show.
"They're carpenters," Brown said.
"Tools are their salvation, I suppose."
The work by Maine artists provides an intriguing
counterpoint. Goodbody's photographs, taken
at the posh mansion of KCHO, one of Castro's
favorite artists, stand in stark contrast
to Charles Altschul's panorama of a cigar
factory and the faded beauty of neglected
buildings in Glickman's photographs.
But the crumbling infrastructure hasn't
quelled the Cubans' spirit - or their artistic
vision.
"The people are just amazing,"
Glickman said. "They're very vital,
but the situation is horrible. … The
country does pay for education and food,
but everything else is just in an incredible
state of decay. Still, the people are just
vibrant."
"Cuban Connections" is on view
through July 24. Patricia Nick, Aran Shetterly,
a Maine native who is currently writing
a book on Cuban art, and Nancy Versaci,
who dined with Castro while visiting Cuba,
will give a panel discussion at 7 p.m. Friday.
Holly Block, author of "Art Cuba: The
New Generation," will give a lecture
at 7 p.m. Friday, July 22. Both events will
take place at the Center for Maine Contemporary
Art, 162 Russell Ave. in Rockport. For information,
call 236-2875 or visit www.artsmaine.org.
"Museum of the Revolution" by
Charles Altschul
Bangornews.com Staff. ©2005
All rights reserved.
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