Cuban art is living one of its best moments. I say this with absolute certainty, backed up by the comprehensive push of the program of traveling through the major galleries in the country, organized by the National Council of Plastic Arts (CNAP by its Spanish acronym). The experience in 2014 began with the collection donated by Gilbert Browstone to Cuba, which included pieces by significant authors such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, Peter Saul, Erró, Joan Miró, Antonio Seguí. These efforts were materialized in collaboration with the National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA by its Spanish acronym), which is responsible for its conservation, and the provincial departments of culture of each country. The exhibition entitled Mi amor al arte, mi amor a Cuba still continues its path and we should immensely thank for the opportunity to exchange and growth for the various publics.
These artistic movement strategies have enabled the presence of another major sample throughout the island. After being present in Cienfuegos, Villa Clara province hosted between the months of September-October the exhibition Acentos de Villaverde, lent by artist Héctor Villaverde, National Design Award in 2011, to CNAP. The occasion is a tour of the extensive work of the creator from the 1960s to the present day. A total of 69 pieces make up this unique opportunity to witness the design as a manifestation of legitimate aesthetic identity and (…) exceptional expression of contemporary culture, which transcends by its social nature to various arts toiling in the same projection, according to Pedro de Oraá in the words of the catalog.
The works are the result of a life devoted to the creation. Beginning with its front and back covers for various magazines such as Cuba, where it highlights a design attached to pop art, trend in vogue in the 1960s; Revolución y Cultura; Pueblo y Cultura and Unión, fabulous geometric assays that correctly connect to the text used. It could not miss his promotional posters for cultural events or significant dates: Congreso Cultural de La Habana (Cultural Congress of Havana), La ópera de los tres centavos (The Three Penny Opera), and most recently, the logo of the Salón de Arte Digital (Digital Art Exhibition). The illustrations for children were present in Cuentos Ridículos (Ridiculous Tales) by the writer Ricardo Mariño and finally, the front and back covers of books including those made for El siglo de las luces by Alejo Carpentier, Nación y mestizaje en Nicolás Guillén by Nancy Morejón and Sol de domingo by Nicolás Guillén.
This time with Acentos… represents the rearrangement of an inconspicuous artistic manifestation on the cultural scene, victim of exclusion thoughts and discredit when compared to others that share the stamp of tradition. However, it has been a prominent protagonist in the forming process of the Cuban identity and active representative of the great social changes. The works exhibited all around Cuba, mainly made based on communicative, promotional and illustrative functions of the graphics, allow us to discover in Villaverde those secrets found after each embodiment, where imagination and the artist’s individual spirit lead us to a reality that took place from design.
