Cuban artists mixing Communism with sensuality
Print Edition
A FANTASTICAL blue bird emerges from leaves in the latest work by Manuel Mendive, considered Cuba’s top living artist. But this isn’t a framed canvas, it’s a painting on a dress, for the exhibit “Fashion Art Havana.”
In creations by other Cuban artists, a ghostly face seems to scream out from a dark cape, a red and blue Russian matryoshka doll is painted onto a dress, while a bubble-shaped frock is covered with wooden spikes.
The show is the latest in the “Fashion Art” series by Spanish designer Manuel Fernandez, who has worked with artists all over the world to at the intersection of both disciplines.
“Art doesn’t have to always be hung on walls, it could also be on floor tiles, earrings, tights or many other places,” Fernandez said.
Artists say they hope the exhibit would help fashion become viewed in Communist-ruled Cuba as more than just a mere consumerist indulgence.
“Fashion is also art, and this is a concept we need to start understanding here,” said Jorge Perugorría, who painted a graphic black and white design on his dress.
Fernandez said he first designs a garment for an artist, letting their work and personality inspire the form. He leaves the fabric blank though, like a canvas.
Given that he lets the artists paint whatever they wish, he has no idea what his shows will look like until the very last minute — a nail-biting experience.
In the case of “Fashion Art Havana”, which will run in Havana’s sumptuous, neo-baroque Gran Teatro until February 11, Fernandez said he was struck with how two painters ended up drawing on Russian themes. This testified to the strong influence the former Soviet Union had on Cuba during their Cold War alliance.
Eduardo Abela, son of the Cuban artist of the same name, daubed a matryoshka doll onto his dress, while Gustavo Echevarría, known as “Cuty,” stained his scarlet, then painted communist symbols like a hammer and sickle on it.
“Cuba remains a Communist country, yet at the same there is the sensuality of the dress and the consumerism of the designs — there is a contradiction there that in this case coexist perfectly,” Cuty said.
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