Esquivel’s artistic strategy is to delegitimize power. Unafraid to provoke, he explores racial themes through the rebellious “logic of the escaped slave.”
Suggested Reading
Captions adapted by Brandee Sanders from the book Queloides: Race and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art. Learn more about “Queloides” on The Root.
Esquivel uses painting, installation, performance and video art to examine and join the increasingly urgent debate about the relationships between power and race in society.
Through posters, as well as sculptures that can take over whole buildings (like the one shown here), Rodríguez Valdés addresses racial and sexual identity within Cuban culture. He is the co-curator of “Queloides.”
The late Alvarez captured the essence of Cuba’s ever changing sociopolitical landscape through painting and collage.
Inspired by the complexities of racial identity in Cuba, Arenas uses photography to expose the prejudice and discrimination that many Cubans endure.
Diago uses an array of materials — including wood, metal and textiles — to illustrate the conditions of the Afro-Cuban community and to illuminate social issues that have been left in the dark by the Cuban state.
Mariño paints in a neo-surrealist style, juxtaposing often violent historical and contemporary images.
In his paintings, Mariño dissects the influences behind Cuban artistry and reveals a sense manipulation that many Cubans encounter.
Mariño’s paintings, installations and sculptures take you on a journey inside the mind of a suppressed Afro-Cuban man.
One of Cuba’s best-known photographers, Peña frequently uses his own face and body to explore issues of race, blackness and the ambiguities of sexual identities and labels.
Pérez creates narrative paintings that portray the traditional and contemporary divide between blacks and whites in Cuba.
The concept behind Pérez Bravo’s work is the fusion of different identities. In this series, she superimposes early-20th-century images of Afro-Cuban women who were convicted of crimes over her own portrait.
Pérez Bravo is considered to be the foremost female photographer in Cuba.
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