Thursday, January 11, 2007

José Garcia Montebravo: Cuban Self-Taught Painter

Un Gallo para Eleggua José Garcia Montebravo... Un Gallo para Eleggua (2005, Acrylic on Canvas). From the exhibition José Garcia Montebravo: Cuban Self-Taught Painter at Indigo Arts Gallery. "...José Garcia Montebravo was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba on October 15, 1953. A self-taught artist, Montebravo received a college degree in geography and taught in secondary schools for 19 years before begining to paint seriously in 1980. He had his first solo exhibition in 1984. He still lives in the town of Cienfuegos, where he is a leading member of the art community.
Montebravo is best known for his powerful images of Afro-Cuban infantas or princesses. In a witty play on the court portraits of Velasquez as well as the Latin American“santo” icon tradition, Montebravo’s infantas are unmistakably Afro-Cuban women who carry the attributes of the Santeria deities or orishas to which they are devoted. His 'Infanta con Pez' holds a fish and wears blue in reference to the orisha of the sea, Yemanja, or the 'Infanta con hacha', dressed in red wields a stone club, in honor of Shango/Santa Barbara. His paintings depict birds, animals and the lush Cuban plant life with a strength which suggests an allegorical or religious symbolism. Concurrent with his infanta portraits, Montebravo has worked on two extensive series of mixed media works on paper he calls 'Escenas Fantasticas' (Fantastic Scenes) and more recently a series of 'Espacios Transitados' (Transitional Spaces)."

3 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

The Soviet Roadside Bus-stop
Departure from the common and boring , Next stop the wild and crazy

http://www.polarinertia.com/jan07/bus01.htm

For the most part Soviet architecture and design is remembered for its heavy block buildings and functionally Spartan designs. Its overpowering desire for conformity left little room for individual creative freedom. A notable exceptions to this is in the transportation sector. One can admire this creativity in the Metro stations of cities like Moscow and Tashkent where the coldness and sterility of typical soviet urban architecture is abandoned and costs are not spared as creative freedom is unleashed. While many of us are aware of the elaborate splendor of the Moscow underground, it is easy to overlook the phenomenon of the common roadside bus stop as an example of soviet art and design letting loose and becoming a little weird and crazy.

7:43 AM  
Blogger Andrew said...

Excellent. Have seen it linked from a number of other sites. Thanks.

1:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Beautiful! Where can this painting be purchased?

12:47 PM  

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