Subject

Contemporary art of Cuba is the result of a complex artistic and social process that began with the revolution in the sixties.
Until then, Cuban art had been depending on the academy “San Alejandro” which oriented itself at French art decrees from the 19 th century. This tradition got interrupted in the early twenties by Lam, Enriquez, Manuel and other so called avantguardists – and again in the fifties, when eleven painters and sculptors [Los Onces] rebelled with abstract expressionisms against the Batista-regime and “San Alejandro” which had been at its service.
But the real changes came with the, literal revolutionary, education campaign of the new government, during which every province got an art school and workshops and art-happenings were brought into towns and factory halls, and mostly by students, who had at the same time to learn how to deal with the severe material shortages caused by blockades. But the latter made them also inventive and the accompanying isolation to focus on their rich cultural and natural heritage and to search for ways to integrate it into a radical changing society. Not an easy task, since the more gifted students had to teach in the new schools too.
The first results showed in the early eighties, in a series of improvised exhibitions called “Volumen” and in the following “Biennials of Havana”, which did cause quit a bit of a sensation in the international art scene and a lot of young artists to follow the lure of fame and money abroad. Which was of course a shock to the remaining ones– especially those who had been used to work in groups – but never the less a healthy one, since it made them pay attention to what was going on in the world of arts and consequently to experiment with new impression and with individual expressions.
The artists presented in this catalog do belong to the first generation and are, so to speak, the pioneers of the contemporary art of Cuba. That they are not as well known as they ought to be, is due to the still going on blockade and because to many of them is the development of their art more important than its promotion.
Nevertheless, their studios do get quite crowded lately by collectors from allover the world and especially from the US. The reasons are the relatively low prices and that there is a so called “generation-explosion” going on that will increase the popularity of Cuban art and thus also the value of the works of the first generation, which – according to “Artnews” 9/03 – has already doubled in the last five years.
But the main reason is without doubt that Cuban art is extraordinary versatile, profound and expressive.