Jose Julian Aguilera Vicente's Vibrant Cuban Expressionism

The plethora of unknown, or little-known, talent continues to amaze me, my inked up comrades. Yet, the part that is little-known is really only limited to our access, as is the case with this feature. I came across this person by accident, but the first image grabbed me like a vice grip. Here was powerful and emotive, expressive work that has been hiding only because of its origin. The island where this work is made is, in fact, well-acquainted with this man's work. So, again, it is a matter of access and export. Let's take a look...
José Julián Aguilera Vicente, b. 1933, in Santiago de Cuba. Aguilera Vicente is one of Cuba’s most recognized artists. His career in the art world has been varied and he has shown his work outside of Cuba, but Cuba remains the most popular spot to find his work. This is where the political binds that tie off cultural exchange need to continue to loosen their grip. Art is art, and people can gain a lot culturally from exposure through the arts. Aguilera Vicente has been able to break free a bit with his work to exhibit his prints outside of Cuba, yet there are many artists living and working in Cuba whom we have limited knowledge of or access to see their work. I am glad we have this opportunity.

In addition to working as a professional artist for over 40 years, he is also known for teaching art at the José Joaquín Tejada Art School in Santiago de Cuba, the Art Education Department at the University of Oriente and the Higher Institute of Education (ISE), amongst other places.

As a child, Agguilera Vicente won a competition and some art supplies. His family was not supportive of his artistic ambitions, but his brother Paco supported him to attend art school. His first teacher/mentor was sculptor René Valdés Cedeño. Among his fellow students was Miguel Ángel Botalín. In 1953, Aguilera Vicente graduated from the José Joaquín Tejada School of Fine Arts, which followed the nationally sanctioned curriculum of Havana’s San Alejandro Art Academy.

After he had begun to teach he took a class in printmaking at the Neighborhood Institute. It was mostly theory, but he was interested to pursue the process. The 1960 Revolution ushered in a new era for Cuba and the artists working there. Aguilera Vicente was asked to teach at the José Joaquín Tejada School of Visual Arts and the following year, he exhibited his first exhibition of engraving with more than 100 prints from Mexico’s Taller Grafica Popular, who specialized in graphic arts related to Mexico’s Revolution. Aguilera Vicente explains the personal significance of this exhibition by saying, “We examined them with a magnifying glass, discussed them, and analyzed how they had made those engravings. Then we dared to do some ourselves. I devoted myself to engraving…. My engraving school was the Mexican Revolution.”

Aguilera Vicente later met the president of the Engravers Association of Cuba, Carmelo González, who taught about printmaking by showing examples, yet it was one of Aguilera Vicente’s students, Lesbia Vent Dumois, who actually taught him techniques which helped him develop his own work. It was also at this time he discovered German Expressionism and Soviet realism.

As time went on, Aguilera Vicente began to turn to relief printing. “Wood is better suited for romantic pieces. I enjoyed it from the first creative step, from the moment the idea occurred to me….It’s a magnet, a fever. “

Aguilera Vicente’s expressionist work emphasizes the presence of an existential separation and fragmentation, and, as Octavio Paz pointed out fragmentation “is the most perfect and vibrant expression of our time.” I, for one, enjoy this man's love of making images, in whatever medium he chooses. The dramatic, evocative nature of his line, the bold compositions, the clear message. Some of the work has a more political overtone, but the somber feel of the rain washing away people's passion and dampening their spirits is reflective of most Cubans' plight as they hope for a better day and social freedoms.


Aguilera Vicente is a founding member of the following art groups:
Raúl Gómez García Brigade
the Juan Marinello Cultural Contingent
the Commission for the Development of Monumental and Environmental Sculpture (CODEMA)
the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC)
the Provincial Committee of the National Union of Cultural Workers (SNTC)

As a prolific artist, Aguilera Vicente has participated in over 100 exhibitions, won regional and national awards, such as Professor Emeritus, the National Culture Distinction and Artist Laureate, and his work has been included in international venues such as the Biennials in São Paulo, Brazil (1967) and Krakow, Poland (1972).

He has had numerous articles, reproductions and critiques published about his work, namely the Cuban publications Bohemia magazine, Mella weekly, Granma daily, Caimán Barbudo magazine and Galería bulletin; as well as Russia’s Revista Literaria Internacional; RDA magazine; and Germany’s Gráfica Contemporánea.

His work can be found in many private collections in Cuba and abroad, including the Emilio Bacardí Museum in Santiago de Cuba, and in the Flores Carbonell Collection.

Exhibitions:
Solo:
1961--Oriente Gallery, Santiago de Cuba
1961--Cultural Center, Camagüey, Cuba
1966--Centro Habana Gallery, Havana, Cuba
1966--Habana Gallery, Havana, Cuba
1966--Balcón de Velázquez Gallery, Havana, Cuba
1980--UNEAC Gallery, Santiago de Cuba
1980--Cultural Center, Palma Soriano
1980--Arts Center Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
International:
1962--São Paulo Biennial, Brazil
1975--Art exhibit in Kingston, Jamaica
1976--Santiago in Leningrad, USSR
1976--Modern Cuban Art, Oslo, Norway
1976--Modern Cuban Art, Helsinki, Finland
1976--Modern Cuban Art, Switzerland
1978--Qualifying Committee XI Festival, New York City, USA
1979--Joan Miró International Gallery, Spain
1980--Cuban Graphics, Managua, Nicaragua
1981--Santiago Graphic Exhibit, Mexico City
1982--Cuban Printmaking, Spain
1982--Cuban Graphics, Paris, France
1982--Graphics Sampler, St. George's, Grenada
1983--Cuban Graphics, Mexico City, Mexico
2003-2004--Meridian International Center, Washington, D.C.
2003-2004--Lighthouse Center for the Arts, Tequesta, Florida

View more of Aguilera Vicente’s work at:
http://www.picassomio.com/jose-julian-aguilera-vicente

Richard Tretault's Engagement with Youth and Passages

Richard Tretault is an artist living in Vancouver, Canada. His career has been spent looking at his surroundings and getting a feel for life on the street.  His fascination with the urban landscape is long-standing, so much so that he often has worked to improve the quality of arts found in an urban setting by working on murals and large-scale projects.  His interest in this area led him to coordinate with the Canadian-based LaRaza, bringing arts to public spaces in Canada, Argentina and Mexico.  

Tretault’s prints have the same feel as his other works, meaning they have an expansiveness, both in actual scale and  the allegorical images they project. The bold brushwork and color of his images show us a person working uninhibited in the medium. He brings forth a liveliness and an underlying pulse of the people living in his environments.

The doorways, or passageways, some broken and falling apart let us equally enter and exit the image. The faces of youth, contrasted against the broken down environment show that youth will always carry on into the future. The strength of his lines, collaged sections and angles harken to the Expressionists, but where he differs from them he allows vibrant and passionate color work push and pull the compositions like a Hans Hoffmann painting.

Tretault's series about Cuba and its culture speak about it enduring struggle to survive in the face of overwhelming societal and governmental sanctions. The strata of their lives in Cuba is fraught with obstacles, yet it is a culture full of music and creativity.Doors are closed tot he outside public, and crows or vultures seems to await those that venture outside its confines, but the birds have nothing to eat, and the doors are alive with within. Nothing will keep them from being the creative, inventive people they are.  

Likewise, Tretault's portraits of Cuban youth amidst broken or cubistically-collaged objects in their environment, like a bicycle or an angel floating overhead(whether figurative or allegorical) it is there watching over them protecting them from evil. They will defiantly stand their ground and fix that broken bicycle or 1950s car as many times as it takes because it's all they have. They will survive because they have to.

. 

This final portrait collages the elements of the Caribbean, the waves, the breeze blowing through the palm trees, and the face of this young man, ever-watching for his opportunity to break free of  the confines of his country. I ascribe my thoughts upon these pieces, but I sense and feel Tretault's warm breezes blowing over the land and the youth's skin. On the surface the place isn't so bad, but the translucency of Tretault's printings underscore hidden feelings and suppressed ambitions. They are strong, powerful compositions that engage us through color and linear details, but we are more fascinated by what is not seen and what is unknown about a culture that as been virtually isolated for 50 years.It's as though Tretault is saying, 'open the gates and let us in', for there is much to discover and much to learn about the arts and people of this little island nation. I hope someone listens to Tretault's images and lets us do just that. http://www.richard-tetrault.ca/

Imna Arroyo's Print Installations about Ancestral Heritage and Faith

Imna Arroyo is an artistic force to be reckoned with. Her installations about ancestry,and the rich Afro-Caribbean blend that is her own personal heritage, has propelled her to create installations which engage a re-examination of history and bring about discussions on matters of faith.

I recently came across Arroyo's work and found an artist committed not only to investigating the complexity of her own cultural past, but presenting it as an educational tool for the masses unfamiliar with the Caribbean and how it came to be so culturally diverse. Arroyo, who  is of African, Hispanic and Taino descent, was born in Puerto Rico, and came to the US for her education. She teaches at East Connecticut State University and has exhibited her work widely in the US, Mexico and Cuba. http://www.imnaarroyo.com Arroyo works with images and symbols associated with her ethnic identities and combines them with her physical/spiritual identities as a woman and her guidance from the Orishas in the practice of Santeria. The installation above is dedicated to the Orisha Yemaya, a symbol of the Ocean, the essence of Motherhood and protector of Children. 

Arroyo often combines her interests in printmaking, creating works on banner-sized paper/fabric, and incorporates them with handmade objects covered with symbols associated with the subject. Her other series "Ancestors of the Passage" and "Trial of Bones" describe the horrific losses of human life as Africans were transported across the Atlantic Ocean during the 'Middle Passage' lead her to visit Africa to explore the detention centers where people were gathered and held imprisoned before bringing them as slaves to the Caribbean and the States. 

Overall, Arroyo ambitiously presents these subjects an enlightens us about elements of history and faith. I applaud her ingenuity and am intrigued to know more about her work. The Orishas guide her journey as she identifies what it is to be a woman and the fortitude with which she embarks on her path. All artists embark on their own creative paths. It is pleasing to see how this artist has chosen to follow hers.