• Submitted by: admin
• Culture and Traditions
• Paint and Sculpture
• 06 / 17 / 2010

The Katonah Museum of Art will bring some of the Cuban culture here when it opens Cuba Avant-Garde: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Farber Collection, on June 27.

This exhibition, which runs through Sept. 19, features some of the most important art to come out of Cuba in the past two decades, according to museum officials. The museum is at 134 Jay St. (Route 22) in Katonah.

“Bringing Cuba Avant-Garde to Katonah is a rare opportunity for our community,” said Neil Watson, executive director of the Katonah Museum of Art.

“Our audience in the Northeast has had limited exposure to Cuban contemporary art, and the Farber Collection presents a richly textured overview of the exciting and provocative work of today’s Cuban artists.”

Cuban artists whose work is part of the Farber Collection include Los Carpinteros, Tania Bruguera Fernández, Fernando Rodríguez Falcín, Lázaro Saavedra González, Armando Mariño, and Abel Barroso.

“There is so much vibrant and important art coming out of Cuba today,” said Nancy Wallach, director of curatorial affairs at the museum.

“We’ve wanted to exhibit contemporary Cuban art for a number of years and leapt at the opportunity to present Cuba Avant-Garde when it became available.”

The artwork in the exhibition was selected from the extensive collection of Howard and Patricia Farber of New York City and Miami, Fla. Mr. Farber said his fascination with Cuban art began with a 2001 trip to the island, where he was immediately enthralled by Havana’s vibrant art scene.

Mr. Farber began working with curators, dealers and artists to preserve the “best and most important works spanning the broadest possible spectrum of contemporary Cuban art.” The Farbers established in 2010 Fundación Cuba Avant-Garde (fundacioncag.org), a foundation advocating for and promoting a greater understanding of Cuban art and culture.

“The Farber Collection rescues the memory, and the works, of a fruitful moment in Cuba’s recent art history,” Magda González-Mora Alfonso, founder of the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center in Havana, wrote in the collection catalog.

“It strikes a balance between generations and historic periods; acknowledging social realities, it bridges the gulfs that exist among Cuban artists around the world.

Information: 232-9555, ext. 0, katonahmuseum.org, or cuba-avantgarde.com.

Source: www.acorn-online.com