Kindred Spirit. 10 artists by de Hubson.
William Pérez / Kenia Arguiñao / Danay Vigoa / Douglas Argüelles / Jorge Wellesley / Juan Carlos Alom / Ariel Cabrera / Geandy Pavón / Jairo Alfonso / Armando Guiller
Ten Kindred Creative Minds
Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind,
Whose words are images of thoughts refin’d,
Is my soul’s pleasure; and sure it must be
Almost the highest bliss of human-kind,
When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee.
– John Keats, 1816.
Kindred Spirits brings together a group of ten Cuban artists who live and work on the west bank of the lower Hudson River. While the city of New York is usually given all the attention when it comes to contemporary art, the Garden State is also a vital crossroads where the American tradition is enriched and transformed by an ongoing interaction of diverse cultures. In the ebb and flow of the migratory waves that have marked the history of their native Caribbean island, many Cubans relocated to the United States during the latter half of the 20th century. This Cuban-American influx continued in the first decades of the new millennium, impacting the demographics, the urban configuration, the flavors, sounds and artistic practices throughout the North Hudson communities.
Sharing a common national origin, the artists featured in this show have settled in New Jersey at different times. These artists with solid individual careers do not constitute a group or school with a singular aesthetic or thematic interest. However, their common cultural background—in many cases nurtured by years of friendship—has created a breeding ground for formal and informal discussions on cultural issues which usually involve other practitioners from disciplines like art history, literature, music and sociology. This phenomenon deserves attention as it also engages the ongoing conversation about Cuban and Cuban-American art beyond the Havana-Miami binomial.
Connections between Cuban art and the history of the Hudson River Valley can be traced as far back as the mid-19th century. The work of Federico Fernández Cavada Howard (Cienfuegos, 1831—Camagüey, 1871) links the American art movement known as the Hudson River School with Cuban Romanticism. Born in Cuba, Fernández Cavada moved to the United States after the death of his father in 1838 and studied engineering in Philadelphia. During a varied professional life that combined a high-ranking military career (both in the Union Army and in Cuba) with his creative work as a poet and painter, Cavada was influenced by the early American landscape tradition which he incorporated into a Cuban theme in his magnificent views of Trinidad.[1]
Delving into those connections, this exhibition presents the renewed panorama of long-lasting relationships. The Hudson River is once again a benchmark, not for stylistic affinities, but for sharing a geographical context significant to the histories of both Cuban and American art. Important concurrent subjects can be highlighted within the variety of mediums and creative processes of these ten artists, among them: the revisiting of history to explore the symbolic power of an image or to alter the historic memory with a playful but intentional attitude; an anthropological approach to individuals and communities—uncovering their customs, values and expectations through material culture; the relationship between text and image, and the arbitrary nature of language to communicate or encrypt information at a collective or personal (even subconscious or dream stage) level; and the aesthetics found in the principles of geometry and nature.
For Ariel Cabrera and Geandy Pavón history is the stage upon which they build their narratives. Usually inspired by images found in magazines and archives, Cabrera’s paintings and drawings alter the linearity of historical discourse blurring the edges between reality and fiction. Each of his compositions is a scenario where disparate subjects, situations, time periods, and historical events coexist. In the playful dialogue between historical truth, possibility and speculation, his characters are stripped of heroism and sacredness to show their human, flirty and carnal side. Meanwhile, Pavón not only explores history in general, but also the history of artistic iconography and genre. The virtuosity of trompe l'oeil is his strategic way to explore the conceptual and symbolic power of an image—to reenact such abstract notions as liberty, power, uncertainty and fragility. Working from archival photographic material, the author of Washington Crossing the Delaware, Chained Liberty and Political Vanitas deconstructs symbols of history by giving a ruin quality appearance to his paintings. Conceived from the perspective of a still life painter, his wrinkled, twisted and fold images are strong commentaries on the political reality of our time.
Jairo Alfonso has the passion of an archivist and the avidity of a compulsive collector who documents and showcases the material culture of his time. Comprising the same number of objects stated in the title, his large-scale drawing 494 (Bergenline Avenue) serves as a unifying element for the entire
[1] Narciso G. Menocal. “Casal, Martí and Late Nineteenth Century French and Cuban Painting”, p. 275. For more information on Fernández Cavada, see: O Wilson Davis. Sketch of Frederic Fernandez Cavada, a Native of Cuba, 1871.
exhibition as it envisions a major commercial district in New Jersey, contextualizing the multicultural community where these artists reside. Within the apparent chaos suggested by overlapping objects, the meticulous life-size representations invite an attentive examination of myriad objects ranging from household items and toys to religious imagery and other archetypes. An anthropological approach connects these collections of piled up objects with the work of Juan Carlos Alom. Even with different mediums and visions, the work of both artists is a testimony to their shared cultural framework and the subjects that inhabit their creations. For Alom, the symbolic value of objects shares significance with landscape and portrait as the main themes of his photography and video art. Named one of the most important Latin American photographers of the millennium by Time magazine (2000), the author of Harley Davidson, Libro Oscuro and other iconic series endows his characters with solemnity while escaping all kind of stereotypes.
Several works in the show relate to language for different purposes: Douglas Argüelles uses language to address questions about originality, innovation, art functionality and transcendence. In a conversation with himself, Argüelles’s Soliloquy series navigates the history of painting—its techniques, genre, and traditions; interlacing a beautiful visual spectacle with phrases from common quotes, readings or personal thoughts providing insights into the artist’s professional journey. In connection with his interest in the history of art, the series Ruins take its inspiration from two rooms (galleries) of the Metropolitan Museum of Art set in the style of the Palace of Versailles. The contrast between sharp and hazy images reminds us that the process of seeing and of revisiting the past creates a dialogue between visible and invisible, detailed and blurred elements, rescue and loss.
The series Coded Paintings by Jorge Wellesley refers to language in a more abstract way. Set in Morse Code, phrases and words become illegible and abstract, breaking up communication while making a statement about the definition of language itself as a social convention, subjected to subtle connotations, meanings, and context-specific interpretations. As the artist has affirmed, these works give the viewer a sense of the pleasure involved in the very act of painting, as well as exploring the intersection of abstraction and conceptual art. In addition, Danay Vigoa focuses on the influence of language on the way we see and interact with the world. In part because of the schematics generated by the education system, people connect specific events and experiences with certain words. Vigoa uses words to relate to her childhood; written language and typography (or its deconstruction) are her way of interacting with her surroundings, connecting her with a past and prospective future that is always built Stone by Stone.
Language is also relevant in the practice of Kenia Arguiñao, even though her stories come from the subconscious level of dreaming. In many of her recent works such as Umbra, Collapse in a Region without Dimensionality or Time, and The Path Leading to the Center (featured in this exhibition), Arguiñao uses her own dreams as a starting point. For the past nine years she has kept a diary of her dreams, recording both dates and handwritten stories. This meticulous journal provides the source for her examination of her own individuality, as well as individuality itself. Turning this information into visual language is not a univocal process; her works range from graphic/abstract compositions to more organic forms resembling beautiful mandalas. In any case, her crafty, almost therapeutic process, is her personal way of connecting some of the dualities of the human mind: rational and spiritual, conscious and unconscious, fantasy and reality.
The work of William Pérez and of Armando Guiller lives in the vortex of art and science. Trained as a sculptor, Pérez’s practice is non-traditional: using drawing as a constant, his interactive pieces integrate a plurality of materials, including Plexiglass, LED lighting, fiber-optic cable, wire, resin and feathers. Emphasizing change as a key part of his endeavor, El artista y su taller (The Artist and His Studio) uses motion sensors to activate the mechanism of the piece and highlight the dialogues and tensions between the private creative space and the presence of the viewing public. Although sharing the interactive nature of many of his works, as well as some recurring symbols, «the object books» are part of a new series where Pérez delves into the universe of fashion through these refined and sensual looking objects which recall the sophistication of a coffret nécessaire.
Guiller is a scientific artist who investigates the principles of physics, geometry and nature through sculpture. Whether using bronze, wood, bamboo or any other material, his mathematically inspired works illuminate the correlation between geometric proposition and natural patterns of beauty. The works included in this show are part of two series: Helictical Work No. 9 is a complex assemblage of twisting and curved forms whose repetitiveness becomes a metaphor for growth and expansion; meanwhile, in the tradition of Euclidean geometry, Euclidean Works nurture the encounter of opposites by fostering relations between curves and straight lines.
While not intending to be the final word on the Cuban artists living and working in New Jersey, this exhibition hosted by the Coral Gables Museum is a microcosm of a much wider reality, a hint of the personal careers of the participants and a challenge to the viewer to explore Cuban art beyond the borders of Miami and Manhattan. Referencing the homonymous painting by one of the masters of the Hudson River School, Asher Brown Durand (1796–1886)[1], Kindred Spirits illuminates the individual poetics of ten kindred creative minds.
Anelys Alvarez
Miami, September 1st, 2018
Bibliography
“Asher B. Durand, Kindred Spirits.” The Hudson River School, accessed August 28, 2018, http://hrs-art.com/important-hudson-river-school-works/asher-durand-kindred-spirits/.
Menocal, Narciso G. “Casal, Martí and Late Nineteenth Century French and Cuban Painting.” In Cuba Counterpoints on Culture, History, and Society, edited by Francisco A. Scarano and Margarita Zamora, 253—297 San Juan, Puerto Rico: Ediciones Callejón, San Juan, 2007.
Sweet, Frederick A. The Hudson River School and the Early American Landscape Tradition. Exhibition Catalogue, The Art Institute of Chicago, Feb 15 to March 25, 1945; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Apr 17 to May 18, 1945.
“Thomas Cole (1801-1848).” Catskill Archive, accessed July 31, 2018, http://www.catskillarchive.com/cole/.
Wilson Davis, O.. Sketch of Frederic Fernandez Cavada, a Native of Cuba. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: James B. Chandler, Printer, 1871.
[1] Commissioned by New York merchant and art collector Jonathan Sturges as a posthumous tribute to artist Thomas Cole (1801-1848), the painting Kindred Spirits (1849) depicted Cole and poet William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) in a Catskill landscape. The idea of representing them as kindred spirits was inspired by the English poet John Keats (1795-1821)’s sonnet “To Solitude” (1816).
