THE CUBAN VISUAL ARTS MAGAZINE

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JUNE AUGUST
A journey through Tonels geography Alexandre Arrechea hits New York
55th VENICE BIENNIAL Q & A: Howard Farber & Luis Miret
J.M. Fors Toms Snchez Eduardo Ponjun Sandra Ramos Inti Hernndez
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Editor in Chief / Publisher
HUGO CANCIO
hugo.cancio@artoncuba.com
Executive Director
ARIEL MACHADO
ariel.machado@artoncuba.com
Executive Managing Editor
TAHIMI ARBOLEYA
tahimi.arboleya@artoncuba.com
Art Director
LLILIAN LLANES
llilian.llanes@artoncuba.com
Editorial Director / Editor
DEBORAH DE LA PAZ
deborah.delapaz@artoncuba.com
Design & Layout
VCTOR MANUEL CABRERA MUIZ
victor.cabrera@artoncuba.com
Translation and English copyediting
ROSE ANA BERBEO
rose.berbeo@artoncuba.com
Spanish copyediting
YAMIL TABO
yamile.tabio@artoncuba.com
Commercial director & Public Relations / Cuba
HAI FAJARDO
hai.fajardo@artoncuba.com / +53 5 2515269
ART OnCUBA a publication of Fuego Media
Group, a division of Fuego Enterprises, Inc.,
a publicly traded company (FUGI)
ART OnCUBA copyright Fuego Media Group,
all rights reserved
STAFF
Cover
TONEL
Iluminaciones, 2012
Acrylic pigment on wall
123 x 96 cm
DOUBLEBLANK
In these times, when many are advocating the end of the print media and
favoring digital publishing, undertaking a project like this can evoke the most
impassioned utopian ideas.
We had the good fortune of coinciding in the same space and time with a
team that saw the necessity of a magazine with these characteristics for pro-
moting Cuban art outside the boundaries of the island, a magazine holding
that undeniable magic of the printed word that has captivated humanity for
centuries.
Hugo Cancio, president of the Fuego Media Group, and his fantastic pro-
duction team for OnCuba magazine set about nding the sta, examining
options, and opening the way for this new publication. Through that process,
we became even more rmly convinced that the realization of Art OnCuba
was essential for achieving an ecumenical perspective on Cuban art, creating
space for projects generated by artists on the island and by those who live
in other parts of the world. The opportunity of taking this knowledge to the
international circuit was another dening factor for us. In a world where mag-
azines focused on the present almost always champion poetics legitimized
by institutions and the market, we want to make a dierence by providing
information in each issue that connects contemporary visual production with
the history of art in Cuba, oering a perspective on the past that enriches and
reveals keys to the present.
For this issue, No. 0, we have put together a diverse and comprehensive
selection, beginning with exhibitions that reect maturity in investigative,
curatorial and museographic work, as well as the projection and inuence
of Cuban art in U.S. circles. The rst cluster of articles takes a look at a solo
show by Tonel at Factora Habana described as an extraordinary exercise in
systemization; the lucidity of two Cuban curators, Jos Manuel Noceda and
Nelson Herrera Ysla, in their conception and production of exhibitions reveal-
ing new ways of appreciating Wifredo Lams work and the course of contem-
porary architecture and graphic design, respectively; Eduardo Ponjuns most
recent proposal for Galera Habana; the inclusion of two works by J.M. Fors in
the Pilara Collection; and the magnitude of Alexandre Arrecheas NOLIMITS
in New York.
Another section of Art OnCuba is devoted to exploring Cubas participa-
tion in the Venice Biennale, with a historiographical overview that begins
in 1952 and ends with projections for Cubas 2013 pavilion, curated by Jorge
Fernndez and Giacomo Zaza. In taking a look at galleries that work with
Cuban art in and outside the country, as well as art collecting in its dier-
ent forms, we have included interviews with Luis Miret, director of Galera
Habana, and with Howard Farber and Alfredo Sosabravo. And yet another
cluster of articles seeks to inform our readers about projectsboth recent and
in progressby Cuban artists from dierent generations, including reviews
of the work of Sandra Ramos, Inti Hernndez, and Carlos Martiel; an inter-
view with Toms Snchez, and more. We also pay our own special homage to
Cubas national ne arts museum, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, as it
celebrates its centennial, and give you all the details regarding the release of a
photography portfolio by Ivn Caas.
Art OnCuba is born. What will be simply a surprise, or an impact, for read-
ers has been for us a convergence of various perfect moments, joined by per-
severance, chance, and experience. That is why we are condent about this
magazine, bolstered by our certainty that its content and visual quality will
take it very far.
As expert competitors in the very Cuban game of dominoes, we drew the
double-blankan unexpected move, surprising and magnifying the interest
of everyone who is paying attention to the game.
LLILIAN LLANES and DEBORAH DE LA PAZ
NELSON HERRERA YSLA
(Morn, Cuba, 1947)
Art critic, curator, poet. Co-founder of the
Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center and the
Havana Biennale in 1984, and director of that
event from 1999 to 2001. His reviews have been
published in magazines such as Art Nexus, Inter,
Atlntica, Archivos de Arquitectura Antillana,
Casa de las Amricas, ArteCubano, La Gaceta de
Cuba, ArteSur, and others.
ONEDYS CALVO
She holds a masters degree in art history. Lives
and works in Havana. Is a curator with the City
Historians Oce and contributes to various
specialized publications, such as ArteCubano,
Revolucin y Cultura and OPUS Habana. She also
contributes to the radio station Habana Radio as
a journalist, and is the principal specialist for the
contemporary art project Factora Habana.
SANDRA SOSA
She holds a masters degree in art history, and
is a curator and editor. She was an editor at the
ArteCubano Ediciones publishing house from
August 2001 to July 2006 and is now news edi-
tor at Noticias de ArteCubano. In 2009 the Latin
American Council of Social Sciences awarded her
a mention in the Essay category of the contest
Cuba, 50 years after the Revolution: assessment,
challenges and prospects.
ARMANDO SUREZ COBIN
(Antilla, Cuba)
Since his rst poetry collection, Corre ve y dile
(Ediciones Extramuros), was published in 1986,
his poems have been included in anthologies
and magazines in Cuba, the United States,
Italy, Spain, Venezuela, Nicaragua, France and
Luxembourg. His book of poetry Nueva York no
eres t, for which he won the 2004 Cuban Artists
Fund Grant, is soon to be released in Havana by
the Ediciones Torre de Letras publishing house.
His forthcoming novel El libro de los amores
breves will be published by Linkgua. He lives in
Brooklyn, where he is working on a novel about
New York.
AUGUSTO RIVERO MAS
(San Luis, Santiago de Cuba, 1940)
He is an architect specializing in urban plan-
ning and environmental design. He is a found-
ing member of the Union of Architects and
Construction Engineers of Cuba (UNAICC) and
of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba
(UNEAC). He is an advisory professor to Cubas
arts university, the Instituto Superior de Arte,
which has awarded him for Pedagogical Merit
and Artistic Merit.
ISABEL MARA PREZ PREZ
(Bayamo, Cuba, 1968)
She is a journalist, and chief editor of ArteCubano
Ediciones, the publishing house of the National
Visual Arts Council. She was awarded the 2011
National Curating Award, along with Rubn del
Valle Lantarn, for the exhibition From Abstract
Formulation To Humanistic Utopia, Soviet
Vanguards in the IVAM Collection, at the Museo
Nacional de Bellas Artes de Cuba.
HAYDE L GUTIRREZ
(Havana, 1962)
She holds a degree in philology from the
University of Havanas Faculty of the Arts.
NAHELA HECHAVARRA POUYMIR
(Santiago de Cuba, 1980)
MA in art history (University of Havana 2006),
MA in museum studies, Carolina Foundation &
University of Valladolid, Spain (2007). Visual Arts
Specialist at the Casa de las Amricas (Havana),
and chief editor of the art magazine Arteamrica
(www.arteamerica.cu). She has curated 10-
plus exhibitions at Casa and abroad (Belgium,
France), and has participated in coordinating
and/or producing 25 shows.
HAMLET FERNNDEZ
(Cabaigun, Cuba, 1984)
Holds an art history degree from the University
of Havanas Faculty of Art. Is a professor of art
culture theory with the University of Havanas
Department of Theoretical and Social Studies of
Culture. He is a visual arts and audiovisual media
critic, and contributes regularly to magazines
such as ArteCubano, Cine Cubano, La Gaceta de
Cuba, Arte por Excelencias, and others.
MILDREY PONCE
(La Habana, 1982)
She holds a history degree. Since 2006, she has
been editorial coordinator and a journalist with
the online magazine Cubanow. She specializes in
cultural and historic issues. She also has contrib-
uted to other media, such as Cubarte, Cubacine,
Cartelera de Cine y Video & Letters de Cuba.
IRINA LEYVA-PREZ
(Havana, Cuba, 1970)
BA in art history, University of Havana. MA in
liberal arts, Florida International University,
Miami, Florida. She is an art historian, art critic
and curator based in Miami. She has lectured at
Edna Manley College and was assistant curator
at the National Gallery of Jamaica in Kingston.
She is currently the curator of Pan American
Art Projects, a regular contributor to a variety of
publications, and author of catalogues of Latin
American artists such as Leon Ferrari, Luis Cruz
Azaceta and Carlos Estevez, among others.
JORGE R. TOLEDO
(1982)
Since 2008, he has been a specialist with
SubastaHabana. In 2010 he curated the collective
exhibition En otra dimensin for Galera Habana,
and between 2011 and 2012 he worked on Artya
a la Vista!, a collective project in Madrid that
brought together three Latin American art
exhibitions held at the Fundacin Pons, the
Ayuntamiento de Tres Cantos and the Centro
Cultural Tamara Rojo.
JUAN CARLOS BETANCOURT
(Havana)
Independent writer and curator. Since 1998
he has lived and worked in Berlin. His essay
Missachtung of nostalgia, diaspora, subjectiv-
ity and utopia was published in Volume 28 of
Theory and Criticism of Culture and Literature,
Investigations on Cultural Signs (Semiotics-
Epistemology-Interpretation), Frankfurt am Main:
Vervuert. Curator and associate artistic director
of the Latin America and Spain section of the
transdisciplinary project Overtures, initiated by
artcircolo in Munich, Germany.
ESTRELLA DAZ GARCA
She holds a journalism degree, and works as
on-air announcer, scriptwriter, and director
of various cultural programs at Habana Radio,
including Luces y sombras [Light and shadow],
which has promoted artists of all generations and
esthetics for the last 15 years. She contributes
regularly to publications such as ArteCubano, La
Jiribilla, Opus Habana and Granma Internacional,
among others.
RAFAEL DAZCASAS
Rafael DazCasas is an art historian and indepen-
dent curator based in New York. He writes about
art and culture for several publications. Co-
author of Hard Light: The Work of Emilio Snchez.
He is currently working on a monograph about
the history of abstraction in the second half of
the 20th century in Cuba.
DIRELIA LAZO
(Havana, 1984)
She holds an art history degree from the
University of Havana. Participated in De Appel
Curatorial Programme from 2009 to 2010. She
is now organizing a year-long exhibition series,
The Story Behind, which will open at Nogueras
Blanchard, Barcelona. She regularly contributes
articles to catalogues and magazines on Cuban
and Latin American art.
ARIADNA RUIZ ALMANZA
A journalist, critic and researcher on subjects
related to Cuban lm. She is now working on the
publication of her book El collage de la nostalgia,
about the documentaries of director Nicols
Guilln Landrin, and is conducting her latest
investigation, about 2.0 documentaries in Cuba.
ABELARDO MENA CHICURI
(Havana, 1962)
Art Historian, curator and art critic. Curator of
the International Art Collection of the Museo
Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, and of
the Farber Collection in Miami. Founder of
Photography-Cuba. Co-curator of the exhibi-
tions The Lost Gaze, Cuba 1970-1984 and Small
Maneuvers: Cuban Contemporary Photography.
CEO of M&M Arte+Media.
GRETHEL MORELL OTERO
(Camagey, Cuba, 1977)
Historian of Cuban photography, curator and art
critic. She is author of the books Otras Historias
de la Fotograa Cubana and Damas, Esnges,
Warriors: La Mujer en la Fotograa cubana desde
el siglo . Co-curator of the exhibitions The
Lost Gaze, Cuba 1970-1984 and Small Maneuvers:
Cuban Contemporary Photography.
IN THIS
ISSUE
6
WIFREDO LAM AT HIS CENTER
Nelson Herrera Ysla
ysla@cubarte.cult.cu
A JOURNEY THROUGH TONELS GEOGRAPHY
On the artists recent solo show at Factora Habana
Onedys Calvo
onedys@factoriahabana.ohc.cu
QUASIMODO
Sandra Sosa Fernndez
sandra@artecubano.cult.cu
THE OTHER CITY: EXCHANGE, THE CONSEQUENCES
Armando Surez Cobin
alscobian@yahoo.com
SIGNS FOR ENHANCING LIVING ENVIRONMENTS
Augusto Rivero Mas -Architect-
augustorimas@cubarte.cult.cu
FORS AT PIER : CITY AND MEMORIES
Isabel Mara Prez Prez
isabel.p.perez@gmail.com
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CUBA IN LA BIENNALE,
THROUGH THE YEARS
Hayde L. Gutirrez
haydee@temas.icaic.cu
HAVANAVENICE
Nahela Hechavarra Pouymir
nahela@casa.co.cu
CUBAS GREAT ARTISTS ARE WAITING
FOR THEIR GREAT GALLERY DIRECTORS
Interview with Luis Miret, director of Galera Habana
Hamlet Fernndez
hamlet@fayl.uh.cu
MUSEO NACIONAL DE BELLAS ARTES:
AN ANNIVERSARY AND MORE
Mildrey Ponce
cubanow5@icaic.cu
HOWARD FARBER AND
THE FUTURE OF CUBAN ART
Irina Leyva-Prez
irina@panamericanart.com
From left to right: ANA MENDIETA - Untitled from Sandwoman Series, 1983 / Vintage silver gelatin print / The Farber Collection | CARLOS MARTIEL - Umbral
| A view of Alfredo Sosabravos garden from the window of his studio | Girls from the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes workshop display their interpretations
of the poetics of Amelia Pelez | LASA, the San Agustn arts laboratory / Environmental system of construction elements / Part of the Seales de vida exhibition
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94
90
THE BRIDGES OF SANDRA RAMOS
Jorge Toledo
roland8205@gmail.com
INTI HERNNDEZ: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN
INTENTION AND REFLEXES
Juan Carlos Betancourt
jcarlosbetancourt@yahoo.com
TOMS SNCHEZ: IDEAS EXPRESSED WITH ART
Estrella Daz
ediazg@enet.cu
BLOOD, EPIPHANY AND REVELATION
BODY RITUALS IN THE ART OF CARLOS MARTIEL
Rafael DazCasas
rafaeldiazcasas@gmail.com
THE VALUE OF ABSENCE
Kunsthalle Basel, March 24 May 26, 2013
Direlia Lazo
direlia@gmail.com
ALFREDO SOSABRAVO:
CONTEMPLATING LIFE,
OR THE ART OF
MODELING MEMORIES
Ariadna Ruiz Almanza
enelhilo@gmail.com
IVN CAAS
EL CUBANO SE OFRECE,
YEARS LATER
Grethel Morell and Abelardo Mena
menaabelardo@gmail.com
INDEX