Some of Cuba's most successful artists

Lisandra Ramirez' "Cats"

One day, we were fortunate enough to visit several of Cuba's top artists in their studios with a Cuban art expert.  These are artists who sell their works in U.S. galleries and have works displayed in museum galleries around the world.  They are quite remarkable.  They also have easy access to the United States as they can get 5 and 10 year visas to visit, show their work and, in many cases, cast their sculptures here.

calling the U.S. from Cuba, nickel, The-Merger

The expert also took us to the Museo de Bellas Artes, a beautiful museum in Havana with a comprehensive collection of Cuban and world art.  The expert told us that Castro's revolution put a tight lid on dissent in any form.  Cubans say that "inside the revolution, everything is possible; outside the revolution, nothing is possible."  In other words, if you were an artist or writer or musician who portrayed the revolution in a positive light, you could show your work in public and be rewarded by the regime.  If you were a dissenter, you had to hide your works or face sanctions and even imprisonment.

sugar cane workers, Museo de Bellas Artes

calling Cuba from the U.S., nickel, The-Merger

Artists whose works were critical of the revolution hid their works or sold them, if they could, to private collectors who surreptitiously hung them on their walls.  You can see all this art today in the Museum.  It is much like viewing Soviet art which depicted the glorious and magnificent workers toiling in factories and fields in support of the Communist revolution.  And, then, there were the Soviet impressionists, among others, whose gorgeous works were hidden in barns and basements to keep them from the Soviet authorities.
The "gray years" of Cuban art were from 1971 to 1976, when repression was severe.  Creative life opened up in the 1980's, Cubans golden years when the Soviet Union supported the Cuban economy and artists had time to create a new reality.  The government even admitted to mistakes and committed to rectifying those mistakes.  Art gained more of a social conscience.

Ibrahim Miranda's linear works on maps

But, in 1989, when the Soviet Union fell, the Cuban economy went into total collapse, so disastrously that many people were starving.  Artists started emigrating to Mexico and other countries where they could sell their work.  This was a severe creativity drain, but it did help to make the world aware of the energy and beauty of Cuban art.
Today, there is more freedom than during the early years of the revolution.  We visited one artist, Ibrahim Miranda, (www.ibrahimmiranda.com) who uses old maps as the background for his printmaking.  They are fascinating works that sell well in Cuba and abroad.  He is one of the artists who travels freely to the United States.  His work is included in the Museo de Bellas Artes in Havana, and also in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington in addition to many more museums around the world.

Ibrahim Miranda's cow

The-merger (www.themergerart.com) is a group of 3 artists who work together on all their art and sculpture.  Some of their pieces sell for $20,000, so they've obviously hit the big time.  They cast all their sculptures--mostly stainless steel and bronze--in the United States.  Cuba doesn't have the capability to cast large, complicated pieces.

the dancer, The-Merger

Lisandra Ramirez also sells her work, as does her boyfriend, Osmeivy Ortega, in the United States. Many of her sculptures are whimsical, as her cats who are doing what she says (and we cat owners know) cats do, look with bemusement and superiority at their human world.  You can see their works at this website:  www.pupilarteestudio.com/.

tree of life deer, Lisandra Ramirez