Jose Villa Soberon – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Iris Jazz Club

Posted by Cindy on April 22, 2015

Apr 222015

Music: breathing of statues.
Perhaps
Silence of paintings.
You language where all language ends.
You time standing vertically
On the motion of mortal hearts.

by poet Rainer Maria Rilke

IRIS Jazz Club is a cultural complex located in front of in the city of Santiago de Cuba. The space, originally a cafeteria, was turned into a jazz club with the specific purpose of promoting jazz in the area.

Santiago de Cuba is celebrating their 500th year in 2015. These bronze panels were the work of Santiago born artist Alberto Lescay’s Caguayo foundation to mark this celebration. The program costs 125,400 Cuba Pesos or approximately $5000US.
A group of about 20 Cuban and German visual artists work with Lescay on the project.
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Arco

Posted by Cindy on April 22, 2015

Apr 222015

Arco by Jose Villa Soberon

In December of 2010, the city of Santiago de Cuba held its first Rene Valdes Cedeño Public Sculpture Symposium. Sponsored by the Caguayo Foundation and the Advisory Council for the Development of Public Sculptures and Monuments, the symposium seeks to promote sculpting in marble and metals. Arco was a result of the 2013 Symposium, the pieces that came out of the project are put around Santiago de Cuba.

Jose Villa has two pieces in Havana that have been in this website before and that you can read about here.

Santiago de Cuba native José Ramón Villa Soberón ( September 2, 1950) is particularly known for his public sculptures around Havana. He studied at the Escuela Nacional de Arte (The National School of Art) in Havana, Cuba and the Academy of Plastic Arts in Prague. He is a professor at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana.

El Caballero de Paris

Posted by Cindy on January 22, 2015

Jan 222015

El Caballero de Paris Sculpted by José Villa Soberón

This is one of my favorite public sculptures in Havana, and as you can see how the patina has been worn off, I am not the only one that has a fondness for this character.

El Caballero de París was José Maria López Lledín (1920s-1977), was a well-known street person in Havana, Cuba in the 1950s.

Lledín lost his mind and became “El Caballero de París” when he was arrested in late 1920 and sent to the prison at “El Castillo del Príncipe” in Havana, Cuba. The reasons are unknown but he always claimed in all interviews his innocence.

He sported long unkempt dark brown hair a beard and twisted uncut fingernails. He always dressed in black, covered with a black cloak, even in the summer heat. He was usually seen with a portfolio filled with papers and a bag where he carried his belongings

The stories of how Lledín got his nickname are many, however, his sister Mercedes stated that he got his nickname due to a girlfriend from Paris, who was killed during her trip to join him in Havana.

The sculpture was done by Cuban based artist Jose Villa Soberón in 2001 – it sits in front of Saint Francis of Asisi in Havana.

John Lennon in Cuba

Posted by Cindy on January 20, 2015

Jan 202015

Lennon Park
Havana, Cuba

In the John Lennon Park at 17th and 6th, is a sculpture of the former Beatles member , sculpted by Cuban artist José Villa Soberón. On a marble tile at the foot of the bench there is an inscription: “Dirás que soy un soñador pero no soy el único” John Lennon, it is the Spanish translation of the English lyrics, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,” from the song “Imagine”.

The sculpture of Lennon (like many statues with glasses around the world) doesn’t always wear he’s signature round-lens glasses, which have been stolen, or vandalized, several times. However, during the day, a delightful older gentleman often sits next to the bench, and places the glasses on the statue when he sees interested people approach.

The statue was unveiled December 8th 2000, the 20th anniversary of Lennon’s murder. There is a book about the statue by Cuban author Ernesto Juan Castellanos John Lennon en La Habana with a little help from my friends, about the ban that John Lennon and The Beatles suffered in Cuba during the 1960s and 1970s.

Why a statue in Havana after the ban of the Beatles? “I share his dreams completely. I too am a dreamer who has seen his dreams turn into reality”. –Fidel Castro. When Lennon was harassed by the US government in his later life, Cubans considered him a rebel, and therefore a victim, and therefore worthy of consideration.

John Lennon in Cuba