[Many thanks to Cuban Art News for sharing this information.] According to Florida Tech’s Newsroom, an exhibition featuring dozens of contemporary works by Cuban artists—“Crosscurrents: Contemporary Selections from the Rodríguez Collection of Cuban Artists”—opens on November 2, 2019, at the university’s Foosaner Art Museum. On November 2, at 10:30am, the museum will also host a gallery talk by featured artist Henry Ballate, who is also the Miami-based curator in charge of the Rodríguez Collection. The exhibition will continue through March 14, 2020. The Foosaner Art Museum is located at 1463 Highland Avenue, Melbourne, Florida.
Crosscurrents: Contemporary Selections from the Rodríguez Collection of Cuban Artists will showcase 56 works by 19 different artists. All objects are from the private Rodríguez Collection, based in Miami. Leonardo Rodríguez amassed his collection over 20 years, and it represents a diversity of styles and media.
The art to be displayed at the Foosaner was curated by Executive Director and Chief Curator of University Museums Carla Funk, who chose works that highlight the New Cuban Art movement that arose in the 1980s in the country’s capital, Havana. “These artists make up the first generation to grow up after the Revolution of 1959,” Funk said. “Ironically, the New Cuban Art movement flourished in spite of the increasingly oppressive control of cultural expression on the island.”
Artists featured in the Foosaner show include José Bedia, Ruben Torres Llorca and Rogelio “Gory” López Marín, Ana Albertina Delgado, Ciro Quintana, Tomás Esson and Angel Delgado.
After graduating from leading art schools including Havana’s San Alejandro Academy and the Higher Institute of Art, these artists banded together in the 1980s to explore new art forms that challenged the state-controlled narrative. Now living in the United States, they continue to push the boundaries of their unique Cuban and exile experiences, question the role of art, and influence their fellow artists at home and abroad.
There will be several events and opportunities to meet featured artists in conjunction with Crosscurrents. Opening day Saturday, Nov. 2, kicks off with a gallery talk by featured artist Henry Ballate, who is also the Miami-based curator in charge of the Rodríguez Collection. This free event begins at 10:30 a.m. in the main Foosaner galleries.
Crosscurrents: Contemporary Selections from the Rodríguez Collection of Cuban Artists will remain on display through March 14, 2020.
For more information, visit https://foosanerartmuseum.org/.
[Image above: RUBEN TORRES LLORCA’S “ADORNO NUMERO UNO” FROM 2015.]
Repeating Islands 