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February Issue
2011
The City Gallery at Waterfront Park
in Charleston, SC, Features Works by Cuban Artists
The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs
in Charleston, SC, is pleased to announce Polaridad Complementaria:
Recent Works from Cuba, an exhibition that introduces North
America to the new generation of influential artists from Cuba.
The exhibit will be on view at The City Gallery at Waterfront
Park from Feb. 4 through Mar. 28, 2011. An opening reception will
be offered on Friday, Feb. 4, from 6-8pm.
Developed by the Centro de Arte Contemporaneo Wifredo Lam, Havana,
Polaridad Complementaria offers audiences the opportunity
to become acquainted with the island's current and upcoming artistic
talent. More than 40 works of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography,
video and installation art provide a sense of the serious aesthetic
and conceptual concerns that characterizes Cuban art today. The
24 artists presented here are mainly young artists who have attained
international recognition. The majority of these artists have
taken part in fairs and biennials abroad and all have exhibited
in Europe, Latin America and were featured in various editions
of the Havana Biennial. Several have exhibited in the United
States, including René Peña, Abel Barroso, Aimeé
García, Yoan Capote, Eduardo Ponjuán, Lázaro
Saavedra, Sandra Ramos and Roberto Fabelo.
Often compared to American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, artist
René Peña explores the relationship between individuals
within society and the struggle for their own identity. Abel Barroso
carves three-dimensional pieces using wood and various printing
methods to create a conversation about technology and the third-world.
From Zulueta, Cuba, Duvier del Dago takes things one step further,
combining drawing with handmade 3D design examining the unattainable,
whether it be the material or the ideal. From simplistic to intricately
fabricated, these artists create a narrative of Cuba today.
Diverse in both medium and themes, the artists featured in the
exhibit understand the power of their art to address a wide range
of social issues. The exhibition highlights works that connect
the local context with global concerns and universal human issues.
After many years, Polaridad Complementaria opens a pathway
for dialogue and cultural exchange between Cuba and the United
States, two countries with historic ties and common cultural processes,
despite troubled relations.
Margarita Sánchez Prieto is curator, researcher and art
critic at Centro de Arte Contemporaneo Wifredo Lam in Havana and
recipient of the National Prize of Curatorship at the 2000
Havana Biennial. She has curated various exhibitions and lectured
extensively on Cuban and Latin American art throughout South America,
Europe and Canada. Her work has been published in various art
magazines and she is the author of the anthology An Outlook
of Latin American Art in the Decade of 1980.
Director of the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Centre and curator
and art critic of the Havana Biennial, Jorge Fernandez
Torres has curated over 15 major exhibitions in Cuba, Spain, Central,
and South America. He was a member of the Commission for Cuban
Cultural Development of UNESCO in 1997 and on the Advisory Council
for the Arts of the National Library of Cuba in 2000 and 2001
as well as Vice Rector of the Higher Institute of Arts in Havana
for the past ten years. He is the author of several texts in catalogues
of Cuban art and as professor of contemporary art at the Higher
Institute of Arts (ISA), and has lectured all over the world.
Polaridad Complementaria: Recent Works from Cuba was developed
by the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Havana
and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington,
DC.
Centro de Arte Contemporaneo Wifredo Lam is dedicated to the promotion
of both contemporary Cuban art and the art of the countries of
the so-called Third World. Its main purpose is organizing the
Havana Biennial. The Center also promotes and investigates
the work of the vanguard master Wifredo Lam as well as the current
artistic production of South American countries.
International Arts & Artists in Washington, DC, is a non-profit
arts service organization dedicated to increasing cross-cultural
understanding and exposure to the arts internationally, through
exhibitions, programs and services to artists, arts institutions
and the public.
For further information check our Institutional Gallery listings,
call the Gallery at 843/958-6484 or visit (http://citygalleryatwaterfrontpark.com/).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2011 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2011 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.