(…)Every artist lives his or her work in a different way. There are some who invent an alter ego for themselves, others lineally translate their questionings on the support they choose; many resort to the thoroughness of the complicated and deep conceptual discourse. Glauber Ballestero decides to elaborate his proposals in the context of a fictitious, entirely imagined space, which he has decided to name República Honolástica del Dermis Cromopilato.
For this young Cuban artist, to create is to subvert established patterns. Although at times his good qualities as a painter and a draftsman become evident, there is little conventionality in his proposals. Glauber invents a “Republic” for himself, an unreal space with its own anthem, flag and coat of arms, an almost magical place in which everything is white and luminous.
Therefore, his exhibitions become specific experiences or creative moments within this larger structure of meanings.
Moving away from the reiterated questionings on the identity mostly referred to the black race which crop out not only in our context, but also in a global level, Ballestero bets for an absolute discourse on the white race, equally disclosing its problems and contradictions. With the purpose of reinforcing this proposal, all his works are conceived on the basis of a whitening aesthetics. For that purpose he uses a specific pigment, an individualized white he calls “Appaloosa” and which must be invariable in each of his pieces. (…)
