Cuban Art Craze Comes to Norfolk

One might imagine that a showing of art painted in Cuba would feature work by artists with stifled, if not censored, creative expression.

Not so. Much of the art currently for sale at the Mayer Fine Art Gallery in Norfolk is passionately, hauntingly political.

The works are "powerful images of protest," said Gallery Director Sheila Giolitti.

Including images of a woman whose own body is molded in the shape of Cuba, a little girl literally being sucked off the island by an object resembling a flying saucer, and a woman whose face is completely covered by a rag, the paintings also leave room for interpretation, as modern art should.

Giolitti attributed the freedom of expression artists in the otherwise suppressed country enjoy to the regime's knowledge that art is profitable. Work known to be censored is not going to bring international buyers, and their currency, to the island. The government collects half of the profits of art sold within Cuba.

Giolitti, the owner of the recently opened gallery in Waterside Festival Marketplace, became familiar with Cuban art in Washington, D.C. "I fell in love with it," she said.

She is not alone in her passion. A March article in The Wall Street Journal proclaimed Cuba as the next hot spot for international collectors. Havana dealers say that at least one third of their buyers are American, according to the article. Because the U.S. government classifies art as a cultural asset rather than a commercial product, Americans can legally bring Cuban art into the United States, even with the trade embargo. The challenge of course lies in traveling to the island to buy it.

The Journal quoted New York collector Ben Rodriguez-Cubeñas citing the unattainable nature of Cuban art as a key to his attraction: "It's the forbidden fruit," he said.

The enticing yet inaccessible quality of the island itself is captured in the title Giolitti gave the show: "Common Waters: An Ocean Apart." "Cuba is a stone's throw away, but a world apart," she explained. The title also speaks to the artists' geographic perspective.

In "Juego de roles," Aimee Garcia Marrero portrays the body of a girl who seems to be trying on different cartoon heads, imagery that tackles the universal themes of self identity and societal acceptance. The faces are those of easily identifiable Disney characters, however, giving the work an additional meaning. American culture and values do in fact permeate the island; Florida is, after all, famously only 90 miles from Havana.

Besides "Abduction," which features the flying saucer, Sandra Ramos illustrates other departures in her paintings and mixed media work. Makeshift boats and rafts setting off into the night show that for Cubans, the United States is still a world away, and vast depictions of water convey the island's isolation.

Marta Maria Perez Bravo portrays a Cuba that is distant and exotic with her enchanting studies of the island's Santeria and Palo Monte religions. A resident of Mexico, Bravo is the only artist in the show who does not currently live in Cuba.

Cirenaica Moreira models for her own provocative photographs. In "Libertad es una palabra enorme," her face is completely covered by a cloth -- she is blinded, muted and deafened by her condition, and location.

Great art, in all forms, is often born out of oppression and political circumstance. The raw emotions unleashed by these Cuban women must contribute to the popularity of their work.

"Common Waters: An Ocean Apart" is open exclusively on weekends and will close June 5. The remaining works will make their way to New York.

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