Exhibitions
ON THE HORIZON: CONTEMPORARY CUBAN ART FROM THE PÉREZ ART MUSEUM MIAMI
Frist Art Museum / 919 Broadway January 28, 2022 - May 1, 2022
Yoan Capote, Los Carpinteros, Teresita Fernández, Enrique Martinez-Celaya, Zilia Sánchez
The Frist Art Museum presents On the Horizon: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Pérez Art Museum Miami, an exhibition that explores the diverse cultural and political landscapes of Cuba and its diaspora through the paintings, photographs, sculptures, videos, and installations of fifty artists. Drawn from one of the largest public collections of Cuban art in the United States, On the Horizon will be on view in the Frist’s Ingram Gallery from January 28 through May 1, 2022.
Featuring approximately seventy works by Cuban artists of multiple generations, the exhibition inspires dialogue regarding the physical, social, and political landscape of the island and its diaspora. Artists include Yoan Capote, Los Carpinteros, Teresita Fernández, Enrique Martinez-Celaya, and Zilia Sánchez. Vanderbilt art professor María Magdalena Campos-Pons, who won the prestigious Pérez Prize in 2021 in honor of her powerful explorations of history, race, and culture, has two large triptychs in the exhibition.
The horizon line functions as a motif and symbol of personal desire, existential longing, or geographical containment throughout the exhibition—while always visible and alluring, it remains perpetually distant and unattainable. Works in the exhibition demonstrate how artists can weave political commentary into their practices, providing insight into the sophistication of creative expression that is possible even in an authoritarian system. Those artists working in exile offer a different perspective, exploring memories, political contrasts, and personal identity through the lens of displacement.
“Because of the strained history of Cuba-US relations and current unrest in Cuba, especially in artistic and intellectual circles, the exhibition’s timeliness cannot be overstated,” says Frist Art Museum chief curator Mark Scala. “In these works, guests will see hardship and humor, despair and hopefulness, spirituality and political critique.”
Image: René Francisco. Heaven, 2007. Acrylic on canvas, 49 x 95 in. Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami,gift of Jorge M. Pérez. © René Francisco
