CubaPLUS Magazine

A diversity of expressions proliferates in todayrsquo;s Cuban visual arts. In that polyphony,nbsp;landscapes, a painting genre of significant resistance and persistence on the island,nbsp;are inevitably present.nbsp;

As sober as his paintings, Gabriel Sánchez Toledo (1979), whom we interviewed fornbsp;this magazine, responds to an initial question:

How do you view landscapes within Cubarsquo;snbsp;visual arts today?
There are good landscapists. There arenbsp;those who cultivate it in the traditional way,nbsp;with skill and domination of their materials;nbsp;they are academically followers of the genre.nbsp;And then there are those who are interestednbsp;in looking for more, in not resigningnbsp;themselves, in constantly exploring andnbsp;trying to revitalize (the genre)."

Unquestionably, Sánchez Toledo is partnbsp;of that small group of innovators, andnbsp;moreover, one of the very few who havenbsp;been able to conceive of landscapes withnbsp;their own perspective and establish their ownnbsp;style. His work is formally and conceptuallynbsp;distinguished by its search for a universalnbsp;meaning, going beyond those rhetoricalnbsp;images of rural and urban settings that havenbsp;been seen since the early 1990s," as criticnbsp;David Mateo says.

From a technical standpoint, as anothernbsp;art critic, Píter Ortega says, Gabrielrsquo;snbsp;brushstrokes are daring and irreverent, withnbsp;a predominance of drips and stains caused bynbsp;thinner on the material. All of that creates anbsp;gauzy background for the objects depicted, anbsp;setting permeated with fog and mysticismhellip;."nbsp;Sánchez Toledo began exhibiting in 1999nbsp;at the Oscar Fernández Moreira Gallery innbsp;Sancti Spíritus, his hometown. Since receivingnbsp;an academic award in 2001 from the Highernbsp;Institute of Art (ISA) and the San Alejandronbsp;Academy of Art in Havana, he has participatednbsp;in numerous group and solo shows.

Collective exhibitions include: Paisajes at Lanbsp;Acacia, Havana (2010); American Intrsquo;l Fine Artnbsp;Fair (2010); Arteaméricas (2008); Importantnbsp;Cuban Artworks, Volume V, Cernuda Arte,nbsp;Coral Gables (2007); and solo shows include:nbsp;Gabriel Sánchez: Landscapes of Poetry andnbsp;Enchantment, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gablesnbsp;(2007); Mare Mostrum, Lloyds Register, Havananbsp;(2011); Viajero anónimo (2011), Palacio denbsp;Lombillo, Havana, and Melancolía, Miramarnbsp;Trade Center (2012).

During the opening of the exhibition Viajeronbsp;Anónimo (Anonymous Traveler), Havana Citynbsp;Historian Eusebio Leal remarked, The work ofnbsp;Gabriel Sánchez Toledo claims its own space.nbsp;He has been able to do his own work, find hisnbsp;own way, despite the fact that one can nevermdash;and never shouldmdash;be separated from what hasnbsp;been onersquo;s source of inspiration, no matter hownbsp;sacred, how pure." That clear final referencenbsp;was to the fact that this painter is also the sonnbsp;of painter Ania Toledo, who is part of the smallnbsp;group of Cubarsquo;s most original landscapists.nbsp;

Always landscapes?
Landscapes have been the motivation thatnbsp;has led to all of my pieces. I always tried tonbsp;break with what was established, the classicnbsp;landscape. My work is more experimental;nbsp;it is a different kind of search, going for thenbsp;conceptual. I really enjoy working with lostnbsp;elements, a sort of forest, a tennis court, anbsp;motor in the middle of nothing, a satellitenbsp;antenna that I placed in one piece, which I likenbsp;a lot, called Secreto del jardín (Secret of thenbsp;Garden), one of my emblematic works.

What experimentation led you to a changenbsp;of language in landscapes?
I lived in Central America for a while, andnbsp;landscapes really moved me. My mom andnbsp;I lived there and we often visited the studionbsp;of Tomás Sánchez. Those encounters reallynbsp;marked the way I approach painting. Everynbsp;time a maestro can give you a suggestionnbsp;or tell you something, itrsquo;s very important,nbsp;very gratifying, because his views are sonbsp;accurate. Also, there is a tradition of verynbsp;good landscapists in Central America. All ofnbsp;that enriched me, and I transposed a littlenbsp;bit of things from there with others from mynbsp;identity, and this work came out of it. It is anbsp;more universal idea, not from any specificnbsp;place; it could be Central America, Europe,nbsp;Cuba. Itrsquo;s a mixture. Tell us about your purpose in front of thenbsp;canvas, the creative process.nbsp;

I think it is always a state of mind. I start outnbsp;by conceiving of what Irsquo;m going to do, thenbsp;element that produces that missing feeling, thenbsp;element that begins to float in my mind. Afternbsp;it goes through various sketches, I take it to thenbsp;canvas. I study it a lot, do a lot of tests, and then,nbsp;when I begin to make the painting, I always trynbsp;so that the viewer will end up wondering whynbsp;such-and-such an element is here or there,nbsp;what its function is, what is it that is happening.nbsp;That is what I try to take on in my work.

And what about composition? What elementsnbsp;do you use to attract the viewerrsquo;s eyes towardnbsp;the point that you want?
My compositions are almost always simple;nbsp;I donrsquo;t try to do over-elaborate things, ornbsp;confuse people. For example, La piscina (Thenbsp;Swimming Pool), which people really liked, isnbsp;empty in the middle of a strange place. I alwaysnbsp;take on things that were used by civilizationnbsp;and in the end were left unused, filling thenbsp;spectator with unknowns and questions.

What about color and its gradations?
I always work with sober, dark colors becausenbsp;they really help me to construct the theatricalitynbsp;that I give to my paintings. It gives me a darknbsp;atmosphere, something mystical. Now I have anbsp;series with lighter, more vibrant colors; at somenbsp;point they change the viewerrsquo;s sensation whennbsp;looking at the painting. But sobriety helps menbsp;with my idea of a piece as such.

You refer to several series. What makes themnbsp;different from each other?
There is always an evolution. My work is innbsp;constant evolution. Every year you feel likenbsp;yoursquo;re going further, and sometimes whatevernbsp;you like or donrsquo;t like at a certain stage you seenbsp;again after a time and it interests you. Perhapsnbsp;they also differ in state of mind.

What project are you working on?
This latest exhibition that I am working on nownbsp;is going to be called Paranoia. They are largenbsp;format paintings where there is one piece thatnbsp;really motivates memdash;a baseball field that hasnbsp;an oil well; the ideas are a little bit absurd. Thisnbsp;most recent stage I consider to be stronger, or itnbsp;might be that whenever you take a step you seenbsp;something better and you think itrsquo;s going to benbsp;the most definitive and important step. I hopenbsp;something else gives me the same motivationnbsp;in the years to come.

Through his universal landscapes, Gabrielnbsp;Sánchez Toledo makes spectators think aboutnbsp;the objects that civilization uses, and that whennbsp;discarded and empty, change their function,nbsp;and remain in oblivion, anonymous. Perhapsnbsp;those metaphors, those enigmas, are what I amnbsp;interesting in addressing."