Cuba Uptown

After my third attempt, I managed to find the Newcomb Gallery on the uptown Tulane campus. The access is somewhat difficult, hampered by extensive road repairs.


Fifty four artworks by twenty seven artists living in Cuba are presented under the combined project with NOMA, "Polaridad Complementaria: Recent Works from Cuba". They can be viewed till March the 14th.


It is impossible to describe every work, but the visit of the first room is the highlight with two installations. One from Duvier del Dago made of cotton, resin, wood, metal: a black screen on which a succession of public health data gathered in Cuba( mortality, cases of infectious diseases...) scroll in white prints. The first plan is a white barbed wire and white strings creating depth, and visual effects.


Fernando Rodriguez presents computerized images of industrial sites. The background noises belong to a science-fiction movie. The subject is related to the relation of the individual and the machine. The message is old.


The work from Sandra Ramos (2009) "Parallel Roads" is two screens rotating at the same pace and putting in parallel views of Cuba and the United States... a gimmick.


Rene Franscisco Rodriguez goes to the poorest neighborhoods and records everyday life of the inhabitants in " The House of Rosa". These lengthy videos bring up the subject of social problems caused by poverty and make me feel like watching a documentary on television.


The photographs from Lidzie Alvisa are interesting with their message of lost communication: ears, eyes covered with nails held by magnets.


Overall, the presentation is interesting, but I still wonder who made this masterpiece hanging from the ceiling: several luggages, with a giant knife pierced through them.


Like any group exhibition, it becomes a succession of artists with different messages, next to each other... a lot of Cuban artists.



Photographs were not allowed.