Cuba conquers North Side

“New Installations, Artists in Residence: Cuba”

Various Artists

October 3 2004-April 24,… “New Installations, Artists in Residence: Cuba”

Various Artists

October 3 2004-April 24, 2005

The Mattress Factory

500 Sampsonia Way

(412) 231-3169

The new art you will see at the Mattress Factory was never touched by the artists’ hands. And this isn’t because of anything close to a minimalist aesthetic — these pieces are vibrant, surprising and complex. The works of 12 of the 13 artists of “New Installations, Artists in Residence: Cuba” were realized through the hands of museum staff because the artists were unable to attain visas to construct their installations in person.

Working through various means of communication, these artists created pieces full of life, all of which somehow relate to Cuba — its history, its landscape, or perhaps the individual’s relationship with the island.

In “Memorias accumuladas! Collective Memories,” Angel Delgado addresses the time he spent in prison for a controversial public performance. While the artist was in jail, he used any available materials to create his artwork. “Memorias accumuladas!” is a large series of wooden boxes, which cover the gallery walls and hold yellow, institutional soap bars.

Within the soap, Delgado has enshrined various mundane objects such as cigarette butts, keys and coins. This piece, in the way it creates a monumental display from the most miniscule objects, suggests a spirituality (perhaps associated with the body) that surpasses even a life of confinement.

The installation by Garcia Gomez also has an element of the spiritual to it. His piece, “Landscape/Paisaje,” is a large light box suspended at eye level in the middle of the gallery space. There is a one-and-a-half inch open strip in the box’s black Plexiglas to reveal time-consecutive photos of the ocean off the coast of Havana.

By walking around the entire box, one can see 24 hours worth of photos of the same stretch of ocean — sunrise, midday and sunset, with every nuance of sky color and wave changing in each frame. However, if one chose to stand still, the images would rotate and allow the viewer to experience the entire installation in 24 hours.

This piece counteracts our ideas of the fast pace. It focuses our attention upon the beauty and happiness that can be found in slowing down and noticing the world around us.

In keeping with the idea of installation, the rest of the pieces in the Cuba show also ask the viewer to engage with them, but each does so on a different level. Some require the viewer to walk around within a space, peeking up at lights while trying not to trip over a purposefully uneven floor, as in the works by Sandra Ramos, and some have you ducking under bleachers of piping, like Rene Francisco’s work.

Some works, such as Larazo Saavedra’s “The Last Supper/La Ultima Cena,” even utilize modern video technology coupled with ancient iconography to create pieces that pull on your brain from all directions.

If you’ve never experienced installation art, now is the time to do it. This exhibit gives the full experience of “art you can get into” with a dash of Cuban spice. It’s conceptual and brain-stretching, but it’s also fun and engaging, and it offers a peek into Cuban culture. Take a trip to Havana on the North Side; it is well worth the trip.