From Cuba with art

Marilyn Rosado with Rene Negrin Mendez – Sin titulo, 2005 – Direct carving in “rojo campiña” red marble and sand cast bronze. (Sandy Pitt)

Fri, January 28, 2011 - 12:00 AM

Barbadians are being exposed to some of Cuba’s finest art, in an exhibition at Grove Gallery in the Limegrove Lifestyle Centre.

Cuban curator Marilyn Sampera Rosado selected 52 works of eight well known Cuban painters and sculptors and flew to Barbados to mount them in the premiere exhibition Treasures From Another Island at the invitation of Limegrove developer Paul Altman.

Rosado said: “Limegrove offers this avant-garde art from another island, Cuba. In doing so, it showcases a sample of the richness and diversity of contemporary Caribbean art for those who wish to look beyond pre-conceived stereotypes of the region”.

The curator said by inviting the Cubans to Barbados, it was an acknowledgement of “the value and prestige that the works of numerous artists from Barbados’ regional neighbour has achieved in the most demanding and respected art markets and crtitical forums the world over”.

She added the exhibition aimed to offer works from a wide variety of genres, styles and schools, by artists spanning various generations. Various media have been employed, with one outstanding piece labelled Sugar Cane, featuring stalks of dried sugar cane and cane trash, assembled with glue.

Cuba’s ambassador to Barbados Lisette Perez said it was the first time she had seen Cuban art in a gallery in Barbados, and it was very “exciting and emotional” for her to be viewing the works of eight of her country’s best artists, here in Barbados. (GC)