By Karina Rivera
The Bronx Museum of the Arts is the new home to a collaboration of art between the Bronx and Havana, Cuba. The paintings and sculptures, all from the 1970s to the present, reflect the way Cuban artists, such as Alexandre Arrechea, Abel Barroso, and José Bedia, viewed the issues of identity, community and urban living.
There is a mixture of culture, meaning and detail behind each piece. Some of the paintings and sculptures are untitled with minor detail, such as the Untitled (Baseball Players) by Quisqueya Henriquez. Henriquez is a contemporary Cuban artist that was inspired by her oasis, by living in the Dominican Republic, and wanted to represent one of the most beloved sports there, baseball.
In this piece of four frames, all depicting parts of a baseball player, she wanted to emphasize the passion this sport is for many Dominicans and how “baseball fans have served as an incubator to some of the best players in the world.”
Another interesting piece in this exhibit is Dialogo, by Aimee Garcia. This is an oil painting with newsprint cutouts on a canvas. Garcia uses the technique of having two women face each other, becoming one as they are both surrounded by a backdrop of newsprint words that describe the literal depiction of female artists and their prominent attributes such as “strong, important, powerful and patient,” all typed in Spanish.
The exhibit also holds a piece that explores women’s sexuality, named “When I am Not Here/Estoy Alla) by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons. She has focused on the role of women in Cuban society as she works in rejecting the stereotypical representation of women.
By bringing over 60 pieces of artwork by many different artists from Cuba to the Bronx, the museum has provides a private taste of Cuba here in the cold winter weather. The exhibition will be displayed until this summer.
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