Between The Lines: Arte Cubano: A Reference Guide to Cuban Art Resources at the New York Public Library

Between The Lines: Arte Cubano: A Reference Guide to Cuban Art Resources at the New YorkPublic LibraryAuthor(s): Cynthia TobarSource: Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, Vol. 28,No. 2 (Fall 2009), pp. 67-71Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27949527 .

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?etilem The Lin?5

Arte Cubano: A Reference Guide to Cuban Art Resources at the New York Public Library_ Cynthia Tobar

Cuban artists, despite the scant attention they receive from the Western art world, desire to contribute to the international art scene.

These artists, who are particularly aware of their nationality and heritage, have found a way to express a Cuban perspective in

their art. The author describes resources related to Cuban art and artists, which may prove challenging to find given Cuban art's

poor representation in the academic canon. The bibliographic holdings, located mainly in the New York Public Library's Art and

Architecture Collection, include resources representing the following four epochs: 1) Pre-Columbian (before the Spanish conquest of Cuba); 2) Colonial (eighteenth and nineteenth centuries); 3) Modern (turn of the twentieth century); and 4) Contemporary (post 19508).

Introduction

Since the revolution's successful ousting of the Batista

regime in 1959, Cuba has been imagined as a Marxist haven, a model for social integration by the leveling of economic, social, and political inequalities. Alternatively, it is viewed as a place from which its citizens arrive as desperate marielitos on American

shores, eager to escape their economic and political struggle to attain the barest necessities and seeking out capitalist comforts.1

Within this conflicting use of stereotypes born of the Cold War, art can prove to be an effective means of bridging this gap in

understanding. Cuba's isolation from the rest of Latin America has been

more complete in the geographic, economic, and political sense than in its cultural spheres.2 Owing perhaps to its remote, yet intriguing nature, Cuban art and culture has experienced a surge of interest from both the public at large and academics. Amidst the economic crisis of the island3 and the painful establishment of a market economy, the visual arts in Cuba have resisted dete rioration. Cuban artists, despite the scant attention they receive,

long to actively engage with the art world at large. These artists, who are particularly aware of their nationality and heritage, have found a way to express a Cuban perspective in their art. This is one of the few ways in which voices from the island can be heard, successfully dismantling, once and for all, the hurtful label of the wretched Cuban islander. With their original, brave, and exciting art, Cuban artists are succeeding in building a

community where none exists.

This pathfinder is an attempt to help researchers discover

important resources related to Cuban art and artists; they are located mainly in the New York Public Library's Art and Architecture Collection, a department within the Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. This effort has proved challenging, given Cuban art's poor representation in the academic canon, which is exacerbated by a past emphasis on the generalized categories of Latin American or Caribbean Art. Resources are listed from the general to the specific, repre senting the following four epochs: 1) Pre-Columbian (before

the Spanish conquest of Cuba); 2) Colonial (during Spanish rule, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries); 3) Modern (starting around Cuba's Independence at the turn of the twentieth

century); and 4) Contemporary (work created by Cuban natives or exiles, post-1950s). There are also some limited entries on Afro-Cuban art. Researchers interested in this topic should pay a visit to the Sch?mberg Center for Black Culture which has a fine collection of artifacts, prints, literature, and archival material on Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Cuban art and culture. A few of their

holdings have been added to the entries below. Materials are in English and Spanish, and the resources

range from print to electronic format. Entries are organized by category, and are further arranged alphabetically by name or title.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Architecture?Cuba.

Art, Cuban.

Art, Cuban?20th century.

Art, Cuban?21st century.

Art, Cuba?Exhibitions.

Artists?Cuba?Biography.

Art, Cuban?20th century?Encyclopedias.

Arts?Cuba?Periodicals.

Art and religion?Cuba?History. Art auctions?Catalogs?Cuba.

Arts, Black?Cuba.

Cuba?Archival resources?Directories.

Cuba?Buildings, structures, etc.

Cuba?History?Revolution, 1959?Art and the revolution.

Cuban American art?Exhibitions.

Volume 28, Number 2 ? 2009 ? Art Documentation 67



Pamting?Cuban.

Political posters, Cuban.

Sculpture?Cuban.

Monographs Bettelheim, Judith. AfroCuba: Works on Paver, 1968-2003. San Francisco: San Francisco State University; Seattle: distributed by University of Washington Press, 2005.

Bettelheim explores the Afro-Cuban influence on twenty five contemporary Cuban artists, spanning the years 1968

2003. Artists include: Rafael Queneditt Morales, Choco

(Eduardo Roca Salasar), Arnaldo Larrinaga, Nelson Dom?n

guez Cede?o, Raul Alfaro Torres, Diana Balboa, Jorge Knight

Vera, Elio Rodriguez Valdes, Juan Roberto Diago Durruthy, and a special section on Belkis Ayon. Contains thirty color

illustrations, a glossary of technical terms, and a bibliog

raphy on Afro-Cuban art, as well as an essay by Cuban

artist and curator Alexis Esquivel and excerpts from David

Mateo's Looking at Cuban Printmaking.

Camnitzer, Luis. New Art of Cuba. Austin: University of Texas

Press, 1994.

Camnitzer examines the sociocultural conditions that Cuban

artists represent in their work from 1980-1990, covering three generations of Cuban artists that were educated under

the Revolution and their role in the socialist government. Includes over 200 black- and-white illustrations.

Castedo, Leopoldo. A History of Latin American Art and Architecture Prom Pre-Columbian Times to the Present. New York: Praeger, 1969.

This book offers an excellent survey of the development and

stages of Latin American art and architecture ranging from

indigenous cultures to the latter twentieth-century influ

ences of abstract art. It covers many of the influential early

periods such as Pre-Columbian Art, Colonial Art, and Post

Colonial Art. The author dedicates small portions of the text to the Caribbean and briefly discusses Cuba's Colonial art

history.

Dacal Moure, Ram?n, and Manuel Rivero de la Calle. Art and

Archaeology of Pre-Columbian Cuba. Pitt Latin American series.

Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996.

The first report of its kind in which Cuban archaeological

findings are discussed. The authors also address indig enous contributions to art and archaeology, focusing on the

Ciboney and Taino peoples. The second half of the book consists of reproductions.

Juan, Adelaida de. Del Silencio al Grito: Mujeres en las Artes Pl?sticas. La Habana: Letras Cubanas, 2002.

Juan's book presents a study of contemporary female artists

in Latin America, including Cuba. It also features interviews

with prominent artists. The text is in Spanish, with some

English.

Mart?nez, Juan A. Cuban Art and National Identity: The Vanguardia Painters, 1927-1950. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1994.

The focus of this book is the early and significant movement of the Havana painters known as La Vanguardia. The origins

and history of modern Cuban painting as well as the social

context of the vanguardia generation are covered. Martinez

also includes studies of the iconography of the Cuban

peasant and the countryside, as well as Afro-Cuban culture

and art.

Soto, Lionel. 500 a?os de arquitectura en la sociedad Cubana = 500 Years of Architecture in the Cuban Society. Nueva Vedado [Havana, Cuba]: Editorial SI-MAR, 2002.

The book includes over 300 color photographs taken by Cuban photographer Julio Larramendi. Soto takes a critical

look at the history and sociocultural development of Cuba

via its architecture, from indigenous shacks, colonial style residences and churches to palatial neo-classical govern

ment buildings and parks. Includes interiors.

Journals Access Cuba USA. New York: Access Cuba USA.

This Cuban culture newsletter includes film, music, art,

theatre, and dance reviews. The text is in English and

Spanish. NYPL has only one issue from 2005 available.

ArteCubano: Revista de Artes Visuales. La Habana: ArteCubano Editores del Consejo Nacional de las Artes Pl?sticas, Ministerio de Cultura. Rep?blica de Cuba.

Founded in 1995 and published three times a year, this maga

zine covers happenings in Cuba's visual arts movement. The

text is in Spanish with occasional English translations.

Cuban Studies. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

This journal is published annually (winter) and presents interdisciplinary research on Cuban culture. The text is in

English and Spanish.

Important Cuban Artwofa. Coral Gables, FL: Cernuda Arte.

The 2008 volume (the only volume held by NYPL) offers a

panoramic view of Cuban art from the end of the 1700s to the

present, including paintings, works on paper such as early

drawings by Agust?n C?rdenas, and ceramics by Wifredo

Lam, along with pictures of Lam in his studio. It also

contains biographies of Alberto Pe?a, Amelia Pel?ez, Luisa

Fern?ndez, Morrell, Henry Cleenwerck, Augusto Chartrand

Dubois, and Vicente Escobar as well as over 170 illustrations

of artworks held at the Cernuda Arte gallery in Coral Gables,

Florida.

Islas. Afro-Cuban Alliance, Inc.

This journal is devoted to issues relevant to Cubans of

African descent, featuring historical, artistic, religious, and social issues. NYPL received its last issue in 1999. The

publisher may be reached for current issues at acainfor?

afro-Cuban.us.

Latin American Art. Scottsdale: Latin American Art Magazine, Inc.

A quarterly journal focusing on Latin American Art from

indigenous folk arts to contemporary art, including deco

rative arts, architecture, and photography. Cuban art and

artists are featured. Text in English.

68 Art Documentation ? Volume 28, Number 2 ? 2009



Surveys From Here and From There: A Survey of Contemporary Cuban Art

I De Aqu? y de Alla (From Here and From There), http://www. thefrasergallery.com/artwork/Cuban-Show/Contemporary

Cuban-Art.html

This Web site and online exhibition catalog provides a survey

of Cuban art by Cuban artists and artists of Cuban ancestry from around the world. The art works were exhibited and

hosted by the Fraser Gallery in Bethesda, Maryland, from

September 12 through October 8,2003.

Sullivan, Edward ]., ed. Latin American Art in the Twentieth

Century. London: Phaidon Press, 1996.

This comprehensive survey is comprised of essays on twen

tieth century art in fifteen different Latin American countries

and includes an entire chapter on Cuba written by Giulio

Blanc and Geraldo Mosquera. The scope of the book is 1900

1995, and many color illustrations are included. Text is in

English.

Veigas, Jos? et al. Memoria: Cuban Art of the 20th Century. Los

Angeles: California/International Arts Foundation, 2002.

Offering a survey of more than 450 Cuban artists from

1902 to the present, Memoria covers the full spectrum with

paintings and sculpture, engravings, photography, graphic

design, comic drawings, ceramics, illustrations, installations

and performance art. The book is comprised of critical writ

ings that consider the effect of social and political events on

Cuban art. It is accompanied by a CD-ROM that contains

artists7 biographies.

Exhibition Catalogs Cuba-USA: The First Generation: Exhibition Tour 1991-1992. Wash

ington, DC: Fondo del Sol Visual Arts Center, 1991.

This slim catalog of a traveling exhibition focuses on the

work of forty-five expatriate artists, including Jorge Pardo

(p. 40), Gilberto Ruiz (p. 50), and Ricardo Estanslao Zulueta

(p. 79). The catalog is divided into three sections: Visual Arts and Installations, Photography, and Video.

Howe, Linda S. Cuban Artists' Books and Prints/Libros y Grabados de Artistas Cubanos: 1985-2009. New York: Grolier Club, 2009.

Howe's catalog accompanies the Grolier Club exhibition

"Cuban Artists7 Books and Prints" held from May-August 2009 that explored art bookmaking and community projects in Cuba, Cuban art in the context of Caribbean and Latin

American art, and the struggles and strategies of working artists in Cuba.

Rasmussen, Waldo. Artistas Latinoamericanos del Siglo XX: Selecciones de la Exposici?n

= Latin American Artists of the Twentieth

Century: A Selection from the Exhibition. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1993.

MoMA's catalog contains artist biographies of Luis Cruz

Azaceta, Jos? Bedia, Agust?n C?rdenas, Wifredo Lam, and

Ana Mendieta. The essay "Notes on the Birth of Moder

nity in Latin American Art" explores the rise of socially conscious art which resulted from the political upheavals

in Latin America in the nineteenth century. "Surrealism and

Latin America" includes a section on Breton and Picasso's

influence on Wifredo Lam and Lam's incorporation into the

Surrealist circle in Paris in the 1930s. "Displacement and the

Reinvention of Identity" discusses the way contemporary art

in Latin America seeks to dismantle colonial language and

invents a new form of cultural identity and difference, with

an emphasis on Cuban artists Ana Mendieta and Jos? Bedia

and how they drew Afro-Cuban sources into their work. The

catalog was published to accompany the exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art, June 6 -

September 7,1993.

Zeitlin, Marilyn, Gerardo Mosquera, and Antonia Eligio. Contemporary Art From Cuba: Irony and Survival on the Utopian Island = Arte contempor?neo de Cuba: iron?a y sobrevivencia en la isla

ut?pica. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University Art Museum; New York: distributed by Delano Greenidge Editions, 1999.

This exhibition catalog documents the work of seventeen

mostly Afro-Cuban artists who exhibited at the Arizona

State University Art Museum. It includes essays by Gerardo

Mosquera, Tonel (Antonio Eligio Fern?ndez), and Marilyn A. Zeitlin. The catalog also contains a bibliography, biogra

phies on the artists, and an exhibition checklist. The text is in


Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Congdon, Kristin G., and Kara Kelley Hallmark. Artists From Latin American Cultures: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.

Congdon and Hallmark's work includes seventy-five

biographical essays on mostly contemporary artists from

Central and South America and Spanish-speaking Caribbean

countries. Bibliographies follow each essay. Few artwork

reproductions are included, but a glossary is provided. Of

primary interest are the entries for Cuban and Cuban-Amer

ican artists: Maria Brito (p. 45), Maria Magdalena Campos Pons (p. 53), Coco Fusco (p. 81), Felix Gonzalez-Torres

(p. 99), Kcho (p. 130), Wifredo Lam (p. 138), Mar?a Mart?nez Ca?as (p. 165), Ana Mendieta (p. 177), and Mario S?nchez

(p. 245).

Shipp, Steve. Latin American and Caribbean Artists of the Modern Era: A Biographical Dictionary of Over 12,700 Persons. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2003.

This volume is a comprehensive reference resource with

approximately 270 artist entries listed under Cuba. Each

entry contains a biography, bibliography, collections, and

exhibitions information. Descriptions range from brief

(Antonia Eiriz) to extensive (Wifredo Lam), depending on the prominence of the artist. Color illustrations are included.

Turner, Jane, ed. Encyclopedia of Latin American & Caribbean Art. New York: Grove's Dictionaries, 2000.

Part of the Grove Encyclopedias of the Arts of the Amer icas series, this volume offers a rich introductory section

on Cuba, including sections on Cultures (Indigenous and

Afro-Caribbean), Architecture (from the Colonial to the

Post-Revolutionary), Painting, Graphic Arts and Sculpture,

Furniture, Ceramics, Metalwork, Patronage, and Art Insti




tutions. Each section contains black-and-white illustrations

and useful bibliographies.

Iconographies Brown, David H. Santer?a Enthroned: Art, Ritual, and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban Religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.

Brown examines Afro-Cuban themes of renewal in Santer?a

ritual iconography from nineteenth-century Havana to the

present. He includes case studies in Cuba and the United

States. The volume contains color illustrations and a glos

sary.

Howe, Linda S. Transgression and Conformity: Cuban Writers and Artists After the Revolution. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004.

Howe's book contains a chapter entitled "Miguel Barnet's

Creative Oeuvres: Religious Iconography, Revolutionary

Hagiography, and Erotic Jineteros" which explores Cuban

religious iconography.

Professional Organizations Center for Cuban Studies 231 West 29th Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10001

http: / Zwww.cubaupdate.org/ The Center for Cuban Studies has a vast collection of

Cuban artwork including paintings, photographs, and

posters, which it exhibits regularly in its gallery, Cuban Art

Space. The Center reinforces its mission to open channels

of cultural communication by operating an active culture

exchange/travel advisory program between Cuba and the

United States, in addition to offering public programs such as lectures and film screenings.

Consejo Nacional de las Artes Pl?sticas, La Habana.

http: / / www.cnap.cult.cu/

Sponsored by the Cuban government, the Consejo Nacional

de las Artes Pl?sticas site is dedicated to providing art

related information within Cuba including exhibit informa

tion, links to national art museums and institutes, access

to the magazine ArteCubano, and links to approximately 200 contemporary artists' profiles that include biographies,

images of art works, and r?sum?s. In Spanish.

Cuba Art NY PO Box 419

Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922

http: / / www.cubaartny.org Cuba Art NY is a nonprofit organization that seeks to

promote the work of expatriate contemporary Cuban artists

via exhibits, public programming, and an interactive online

site. The Web site serves as an archive of contemporary Cuban art that disseminates publications, essays, and other

resources to the art community.

The Cuban Artists Fund 666 Fifth Avenue, #366 Lower Level New York, NY 10103

http: / / www.Cubanartistsfund.org/

The Cuban Artists Fund (CAF) seeks to strengthen cultural ties and support Cuban and Cuban-descent artists living outside of Cuba by providing grants, scholarships, residen

cies, and sponsoring a visiting artists program. The CAF also

offers arts outreach services such as hosting symposia and

lectures.

Eastern Cuba Cultural Exchange Association

http: / / www.Cubanart.org/

The Eastern Cuba Cultural Exchange Association is dedi

cated to the promotion of contemporary Cuban artists

residing in the eastern region of the island (El Oriente) via various artist exchange programs and direct art sales. Even

though the organization has not updated its Web site since

2007, it can still be a useful resource for researchers inter

ested in the work of artists from Eastern Cuba by providing links to past exhibits and biographies on eleven local Cuban

artists, along with depictions of their corresponding works.

Thumbnails with basic metadata such as title, dimensions, and medium are included along with larger images. In


Wifredo Lam Center of Contemporary Art/Centro de Arte

Contempor?neo Wifredo Lam San Ignacio 22, esquina a Empedrado Plaza de la Catedral La Habana Vieja http: / / www.cnap.cult.cu/insti2b.html

Founded in 1983 in homage to the Cuban artist Wifredo Lam, the Center is dedicated to the research and preservation of

the artwork of its namesake as well as the advancement of

contemporary visual arts created within the context of the

Third World (African, Asian, and Latin American regions). The Center also organizes the Havana Biennial which was

established in 1984 and focuses on Cuban artists as well as

artists from Latin America and the Caribbean who live in

Cuba. In Spanish.

Special Libraries and Collections Archives of the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art at Hostos Community College Library and Archives 475 Grand Concourse

Shirley J. Hinds Allied Health & Science Building, RoomA308, 3rd floor Bronx, NY 10451

http: / / www.hostos.cuny.edu/library

The Archives of the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art

(MoCHA) provides researchers with a rich history of Latin American artists that came into prominence in the New

York City art scene during the museum's brief existence

(1985-1990). Housed within Hostos Community College's library, the archives contain administrative files, slides

and photographs, exhibition files, artist files, recordings of

public programs organized by the museum and recorded video interviews with artists, as well as art objects and arti

facts, including original artwork by Cuban artist Luis Cruz

Azaceta.

70 Art Documentation ? Volume 28, Number 2 ? 2009



Cuban Heritage Collection Otto G. Richter Library Archives and Special Collections

University of Miami Libraries 1300 Memorial Drive RO. Box 248214 Coral Gables, FL 33124-0320

http: / / www.library.miami.edu/ che/

The Cuban Heritage Collection, held in the Otto G. Richter

Library, documents the social, cultural, historical, and polit ical effects on the Cuban expatriate experience, particularly that of the Cuban community in South Florida. The collec

tion includes rare books, manuscripts, photographs, maps,

architectural drawings, audio-visual material and ephemera.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation

Andrea Rosen Gallery 525 West 24th Street New York, NY 10011

http: / / felixgonzalez-torresfoundation.org/

The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation, housed within the

Andrea Rosen Gallery, aims to preserve and archive the

work of Cuban artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996).

The Foundation, which is open to researchers by appoint

ment, provides research assistance, loans for exhibition,

image reproduction requests and license agreements on its

thirty-six linear feet of archival material, including slides

and photographs, exhibition catalogs published in-house

and digital images of the artist's minimalist and conceptual work.

Museum of Modern Art Library and Archives 11 West 53rd Street

New York, NY 10019

Library: http:/ / moma.org/learn/resources/library/index Archive: http:/ /moma.org/learn/resources/archives/index

The Library and Archives department of The Museum of Modern Art offers extraordinary Cuban art holdings within

its collection. Highlights include a collection of rare artists'

books published by Ediciones Vig?a and the papers of Alfred

H. Barr, Jr., the founding director of MoMA. Barr's papers contain travel diaries from his 1942-1943 trip to Cuba, as well

as professional correspondence with Cuban artists.

Rogelio Caparros Collection Florida International University Special Collections and University Archives Department Green Library 11200 SW 8th Street

Miami, FL 33199

This collection is comprised of the Cuban photographer Rogelio Caparros's photographic proofs taken between 1957 and 1963, which include images from the Cuban Revolution and photos taken from his tenure as a photographer for the

United Nations. Also included are photos taken of Fidel Castro addressing the UN in 1961.

Notes 1. This term refers to the 1980 refugee exodus during which

approximately 125,000 people fled to the United States from the Cuban port of Mariel. The boatlift also unleashed a relatively small cadre of prisoners, which quickly changed this term into a derogatory slur for many Cuban refugees.

2. See G. Mosquera's "The Infinite Island: An Introduction to New Cuban Art" in Contemporary Art from Cuba: Irony and Survival on the Utopian Island = Arte contempor?neo de Cuba: iron?a y sobrevivencia en la isla ut?pica (Tempe, AZ: Arizona State

University Art Museum; New York: distributed by Delano

Greenidge Editions, 1999). 3. The economic crisis is due in large part to the collapse

of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the 1960 U.S. trade embargo which is still in effect.

Cynthia Tobar, Senior Metadata Creator,

Museum of the City of New York, New York, New York,

[email protected]




Documents

Between The Lines: Arte Cubano: A Reference Guide to Cuban Art Resources at the New York Public Library