UNEAC’s José Ramón Fundora Hall Awards Ceremony (+photos).
Works by 15 artists recently made up the exhibition of the provincial Salon of Visual Arts José Ramón Fundora, of the UNEAC in Matanzas.
Works by 15 artists recently made up the exhibition of the José Ramón Fundora Provincial Visual Arts Salon of the UNEAC in Matanzas.
The jury, made up of prestigious artists Ramon Pacheco Salazar, Carlos Miguel Oliva Giralt and Vilma Roque Espinosa, specialist of the Provincial Council of Visual Arts, awarded the Juan Esnard scholarship to Ernesto Millan for his piece In God we trust, for the creative performance he demonstrates from the pictorial collage in which he bets on the singularity of his compositional design in relation to his assertive discourse, allowing him to consummate the professional rigor of his artistic proposal.
«The award is a great surprise. It is a work of Cuba and the world. It is not a beautiful work per se, it is a very sad work that addresses the theme of destruction. Unfortunately, in the times we are living in, human beings tend to continue destroying for the sake of a reduced welfare only for a certain group of human beings.
«Today we are going through very hard times for Cuban society and also for the whole world. That is why I say that this work is a reflection, it is a hymn to peace, to life.
«It also represents the starting point of a series I am making and I want to link it with poetry, with my own reflections, using the same collage technique.»
Marialva Ríos’ art book also received a mention. Other institutions of the territory awarded collateral prizes. The Provincial Historical Archive highlighted the work of Gío Fernández, who this time breaks with his usual visual discourse, focused mainly on gender issues and the role of women in society, to approach another thematic line from an intimate and suggestive look.
«The work with which I received the Archive award is entitled Entre plumas y libertades, a tribute to José Martí. My main inspiration was to show a facet of Martí that I think has been very little represented from that moment of his development, that is, at the moment when he is creating his own perspective of life, when he is studying at the University of Zaragoza, when with his pen he seeks his own freedom, with his thought, where he is creating the great man he was. We always see Martí in a solemn way, sometimes distant, sometimes close, but here we are seeing Martí from a more intimate moment.
«It really is that moment of introspection where Martí is alone, preparing what is going to change history. In this series I step out of the comfort zone and it’s really something I loved. It is part of a project that is starting, one of the first works, it is going to be unveiled at the end of this year or early next year.
«This work is exhibited as the second most important in Zaragoza, at the University of Philosophy and Letters where Martí studied. It reflects that no matter how small your beginning is, the important thing is to be faithful to your thoughts, to your ideals».
Photographer Karla González Horta takes home another award. This time it was from the Provincial Council for the Visual Arts. «The series belongs to the Sempiterno project that I exhibited at the Genesis gallery last year, which deals with breast cancer.
«It is inspired by a personal life story and has an important meaning, both in my career and for me. I’m very happy that it’s being awarded in this salon.
«Sempiterno has had a good projection. Previously it also received recognition at a salon of the Cuban Association of Artisan Artists and was exhibited at the Havana Biennial.»
The Cuban Association of Artisan Artists highlighted the work Y ahora no culpes a la Luna, by photographer Frank Alexis Ortega Sosa, while the Cuban Fund for Cultural Goods highlighted La espera, by Eddy Hernandez.
«It’s a series of works I’m doing, touching on a very current topic from different angles. In this case I exhibited the blackouts and made allusion to Rodin’s Thinker, a very universal work.
«I also wanted to depict a fan that many of us had at home in our childhood, called Órbita. I wanted to create it and put it in this context. It is nothing more than the feeling of every Cuban waiting for the current to arrive».
During the closing ceremony of the José Ramón Fundora Salon, José Manuel Espino Ortega, president of the provincial committee of UNEAC, valued the quality of the works as significant.
Liz Laura Valdés Rodríguez, Journalism student
Written by Jessica Mesa.
