Visual Arts

Visual Arts

San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts cultural reference

By Alina Gómez

A training institution for relevant Cuban fine arts artists, the San Alejandro National Academy of Fine Arts has remained for more than two centuries as one of the historical references of culture on the island.

Sándor Rodríguez Castro “Everything I’ve done in life has been to have fun

BY ROXANA CONSUEGRA, PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

For Sándor Rodríguez Castro, a young man who has been in the world of photography for some years, taking up this profession has been a motivating, nourishing and spontaneous experience. As soon as the interview with CubaPLUS Magazine began, he said: “Everything I’ve done in my life, including photography, has been to have fun”.

Don’t bathe in the Malecón because in the water there’s a shark

BY MERCY RAMOS, PHOTOS: JOSE (TITO) MERIÑO

So goes a popular chachachá made famous by the singer Farah María in the 1980s and which serves as the title to the mural just completed by visual artist Pablo Rosendo Machín inside the wellknown boutique hotel Malecón 663. Actually, the second floor of the hotel has that name, maybe because it is on that avenue, and from its terrace one can enjoy a spectacular view of the Malecón and the Morro fortress of the Cuban capital.

Havana, seventh among the most posted sites on Instagram

CubaPLUS

Havana, Wonder City, ranks seventh in the list of the 50 most Instagrammable places in 2021, proposed by the @BigSeven Travel site, reported a note published by the Ministry of Tourism of Cuba on its official Twitter account.

Essential clarification

By Mercy Ramos, permanent correspondent for Cubaplus magazine in Cuba

Reviewing the national press, as we usually do, we found that on December 28, 2020, the digital edition of Granma newspaper carries an article on the so-called independent press media.

Modern Town, for lovers of good art

Cubaplus

Works by photographer Alfredo Sarabia and sculptor José Carlos Mesa can be seen in the Modern Town exhibition, sponsored by CubaPLUS magazine and Le Bazar Culinario.

Liesther Amador: desire for experimentation

BY CARY QUINTANA

Various artistic practices are reflected in the creative production of Liesther Amador. His shifting manifestos between paintings, photographs, performances, drawings, installations and interventions, denote the constant exploration and experimentation in the career of this artist, who refused to be pigeonholed. He is a visual artist.

Roberto Diago, his method of working, the day-to-day

BY MERCEDES RAMOS

Day-to-day is how Cuban visual artist Juan Roberto Diago Durruthy defines his work method, with which he has created an infinite number of pieces in more than 20 collections that have been exhibited in countless personal and collective exhibitions in some 25 countries.

Sándor González Vilar: I am from Havana and I am a citizen

BY ROXANA CONSUEGRA

Very specific aspects distinguish a great part of Sándor González Vilar’s artistic production: the representation of a couple and a staircase as symbols of his vision of life, the inclusion of identifying elements that reaffirm his condition as a Cuban, and the constant appearance of architectural structures, mainly of the urban framework of the country’s capital.

TRANSEÚNTES, an underwater gallery in Cuba

BY ROXANA CONSUEGRA / PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ARTIST

On the southern coast of the western province of Matanzas is the Ciénaga de Zapata, considered the largest wetland in Cuba and the insular Caribbean and declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. About 11 kilometers from Playa Girón, one of the most significant beaches of the Ciénaga coastline, one finds the Punta Perdiz International Diving Center.

Art in ceramics

By Patty Monserrat, Photos by José (Tito) Meriño

At a very young age his father led him by the hand into the secrets of making beauty from clay. Today artisan Fernando Velázquez Torres is admired for his expertise in combining ceramics and painting in medium and large scale creations, with flora, fauna and human experiences as predominant motifs.

Art in Metal

By Ilsa Rodriguez, Photos by José (Tito) Meriño

Cuban sculptor Ramón Víctor Casas Viera, well-known for his abstract works in metal, has decided to incorporate woodcarving and scenography into his creative work, enthusiastically reviving knowledge he has accumulated during his fruitful career as artist and teacher.

Roberto Salas a life in Photography

By Ilsa Rodríguez

More than half a century of tireless efforts has led Roberto Salas to the summit of Cuban photography. This has been reached thanks to the almost divine grace with which he immortalized the essence of Cuban history since the 1959 revolutionary triumph of which he has been an exceptional witness through the lens of his camera.

Art, utility and skill

By Marita Porto

Artisans and artists from all over Cuba and Latin American guests are participating this December in the 15th International Crafts Fair (FIART for its Spanish acronym) in Havana. Under the motto Art, utility and skill, it provides an unparalleled opportunity to enjoy diversity and good taste.

The Human Figure in the Work of Sagols

By Graciela Guzmán

The human figure occupies top place in the work of young Cuban painter Vladimir León Sagols, who recently enchanted Havana with his exhibition Evas (Eves), featuring women in an ordinary environment, as if surprised in their intimate world.