public art of Cuba – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Monumento al Cimmarón

Posted by Cindy on July 31, 2015

Jul 312015

Monumento al Cimarron by Alberto Lescay

The Monumento al Cimarrón, by Alberto Lescay, or Monument to the Runaway Slave is in the Cuban town of El Cobre. El Cobre is home to the cathedral that houses Cuba’s patron Saint the Virgin on Caridad.

Lescay has said “I feel the spirit of that work in others and I think I’ve found a road, because it is a very open proposal, not at all schematic or dogmatic and those are very universal codes that are expressed in it.”

Lescay goes on to say that being a cimmarón is an attitude toward life, and will continue to exist as long as any trace or expression of slavery exist in the world, because “being free, never being fettered, is the most humane attitude there is.”

Cimmaróns were enslaved Africans who had escaped from their Spanish masters and lived together as outlaws. The term Cimarrón comes from the Taino word ‘si’maran’ meaning “the flight of an arrow”.

The sculpture requires an approximately 400 step climb after traveling for approximately 1/2 mile on a dirt road, but is well worth the visit.

Lescay has been in this site before with a piece in Santiago de Cuba.

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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Outer Harmony

Posted by Cindy on April 22, 2015

Apr 222015

Armonia Exterior by Ramon Casas – 2013

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. Armonía Exterior was a result of the 2013 Symposium, the pieces that came out of the project were put around Santiago de Cuba.

Ramon Casas graduated from the National School of Arts (ENA) in Havana in 1976, he then went on to study at the Higher Arts Institute (ISA) in Havana, Cuba and graduated in 1982.

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.

Antonio Maceo

Posted by Cindy on April 21, 2015

Apr 212015

This piece, titled Antonio Maceo sits in Revolution Square in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. Created by Alberto Lescay, a Santiago born artist, it was installed in 1991. This monument is dedicated to the 19th century war hero, General Antonio Maceo. Saw-toothed “machetes” rise from the grass and surround a large sculpture of the General on horseback.

Alberto Lescay Merencio graduated with a degree in Painting in 1968 from the “José Joaquín Tejada” Fine Arts Workshop; In 1973 he added a degree in Sculpture from the “Cubanacán” National Art School. He became an Art Professor in 1979 at “Repin” Academy of Sculpture, Architecture, Painting and Graphic, in San Petersburg, Russia. Lescay now keeps a studio and his foundation in Santiago de Cuba.

Studio Lescay
Avenue Manfully No. 453 Entre 17 y 19
Reparto Vista Alegre

Lescay was the founder and creator of the Caguayo Foundation for Monumental and Applied Arts. The institution represents over 300 Cuban artists.

There are 23 “machetes” representing the date March 23 1878, when Maceo issued his “Protest of Baraguá” showing his disagreement with the Pact of Zanjón

The group that helped to get this off of the ground included the Structural Engineer Esteben Ferrer Esotiu. The project took over nine years.

There is a river running underneath the project site forcing some serious engineering to be accomplished. There is over 600 tons of steel underground to keep the entire thing stable.

Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales (June 14, 1845 – December 7, 1896) was second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence.

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.