Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Manuel Padrón, Passion for the Image

By: Anelí Ruiz García, Photos: Courtesy of Manuel Padrón

Manuel Padrón's universe is centered around the image. Self-taught, he has become successful in photography and audio-visual, his main motivation being Cuba and its people.

Mario Garcia Portela Portraits of Woods

By: Ilsa Rodríguez Photos by José Meriño and Courtesy Portela

Painter since childhood, professor for most of his life and a fine artist always, Mario García Portela has dedicated himself to being an exceptional landscape painter, both urban and rural, for the twenty years since he left his teaching job to do so.

Sleeping with...

By: Cristina Díaz

Sleeping with… is the photo exhibition of artists Enrique Rottenberg and Carlos Otero showcased during Photography month in November at the Cuban Photo Library. This exhibition caused intense emotions and enormous interest in both the public and critics. In direct contrast to the incessant public spectacle with which the lives of Cubans tend to be perceived, immersed in music and unmotivated bustle and clamour, this exhibit tells a different story.

Roberto Loreto.Old Havana, My Great Muse

From February 23 to 27, 2015, the next Habanos Festival will take place in the Cuban capital, what has become a must-attend event for all lovers of the best tobacco in the world.

Reflection Liborio Noval

With the piercing look of a lens master inspired by scenes from Andorra and Cuba, Liborio Noval moves us closer to an unsuspected dimension of human imagination with these unusual lyrical images.

Abel Ernesto in Pictures

Abel Ernesto Rubio Estrada (December 3, 1973) is a photo-journalist for the Agencia de Información Nacional (AIN), which he first joined in 2009 as graphic editor. Rubio studied at the Enrique José Varona Pedagogical Institute in Havana, where he majored in English, and also studied Photography at the José Martí International Institute of Journalism.

The Human Race: A CUBAN-AMERICAN ART EXCHANGE

Havana’s National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA), and The Studios of Key West (TSKW), Florida announce Part II of “One Race, the Human Race,” a two-part project encompassing an exhibition of works by famed American playwright and painter Thomas Lanier “Tennessee” Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), author of many stage classics such as The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, among many others, and “Stainless” the young three-man collective of Alejandro Pineiro Bello, Jose Gabriel Capaz and Roberto Fabelo Hung, three young artists fresh out of Havana’s San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts equally embody bravado, seduction, and humor and whose works are provocative.

José Luis Fariñas Precision in Art

By: Mireya Castañeda Photos: Courtesy of José Luis Fariñas

José Luis Fariñas (Havana, 1972) is a graduate of the San Alejandro Academy of Plastic Arts and studied at the University of Art, in Havana, from 1991 until 1995. He has held more than thirty personal exhibitions and participated in 140 collective ones both nationally and internationally.

José Fuster, When Dreaming is no Longer Utopia

By: Damián Estrada

Coming to the town of Jaimanitas in the outskirts of Havana and entering the house of the multifaceted Cuban plastic artist José Fuster can be a challenge for eyes not used to seeing beyond the obvious. An endless number of handmade sculptures made of flagstone and glass and other countless objects made by Fuster welcomed us at his cherished Fusterlandia, a place which allows the dreamer to imagine things beyond what this planet allows him to see. After an introductory coffee, this modern prophet agreed to answer our questions.

Moret an All-round Artist

By: Mercy Ramos, Photos: Courteousy of the artist

Born and bred in Havana, ever since he was a young child Maikel was taken with repairing clocks and figuring out how electrical and mechanical devices worked which, along with his passion for classical music, brought him to the fascinating world of lutherie. He eventually took lessons from a prestigious Italian luthier.

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.

Abstract 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.

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.

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.

Artistic inspiration deeply engrained in Cuba & Key West

CubaPLUS

The landmark and ongoing project One Race, the Human Race, serves as a cultural bridge between two islands with roots soaked in creativity and Cubanismo. It began with Key West’s Mario Sanchez exhibition of works at Havana’s National Museum of Fine Arts. The first steps across The Florida Straights began on January 17, 2014 in Havana.