Contemporary Art from Cuba:
Irony and Survival on the Utopian Island

May 19 – July 14, 2001
USF Contemporary Art Museum

This fascinating exhibition presents the work of 16 Cuban artists of the 1990s who explore irony as a strategy for psychological survival and oblique commentary. Embedded in their art is the notion that when political and personal problems are inescapable, humor may be one of the few outlets for the frustration, and a practical means to maintain stability within a context that appears at times to be ruled by irrationality. The works reflect various views of the 1959 revolution and the realities of life in Cuba under the United States embargo. The artists' work speculates on Cuba's complex past, its cultural uniqueness as a nexus of African, European and Asian cultures and exemplifies the concept of inventando, the improvisation and creative resourcefulness required for everyday survival.

The exhibition is curated by Marilyn Zeitlin, Director of Arizona State University Art Museum in Tempe, and traveled by Independent Curators International (ICI), New York. . Contemporary Art from Cuba has been organized in collaboration with the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), Havana.