The XXX Provincial Salon of Fine Arts is a fact in the city of Holguin, since the personal exhibition “Del espanto a la ternura” (From fright to tenderness), by the artist Welys Peña, was inaugurated last Wednesday afternoon, September 13, at the Art Center.
A little earlier, an action aimed at the community took place with a strong vocational impact on high school students, with the presence of the creators Onelio Escalona, graphic humorist, and Vladimir Sanchez, representing the wood carving workshop of the nicknamed Cuban City of Parks.
Speaking to Radio Angulo’s website, Clara Hilda Moreno, communications specialist of the Provincial Center of Fine Arts, explained that this edition has a special symbolism, because it opens the way to the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Provincial Salon of Fine Arts, to be commemorated in 2024, hence one of the motivations is to recall the founding moments from the slogan “Calendario 30. ¿Te acuerdas de…?” (“Calendar 30, Do you remember me…?”)
Since 2009, Moreno clarified, the Salon adopted a biennial character, due to the complexity involved in organizing an event like this, however, it has gained in call and acceptance among local artists, as they can conceive their projects at leisure, which in this edition are close to 50.
Regarding the program, the specialist underlined its variety, since it intends to cover most of the expressions of the visual arts, from the exhibition in competition, central axis of the Salon, to the collateral exhibitions, in addition to the tribute to two important figures of the visual arts in Holguin: Roy Gonzalez, outstanding in the teaching work, and Julio Breff, naif artist, recipients of the Electa Arenal Distinction.
The multiple expressions of Holguin’s visual arts
Provincial Salon of Plastic Arts, Holguin.
Holguin-born artist Welys Peña returned to the galleries with his personal exhibition personal exhibition “Del espanto a la ternura” (From fright to tenderness). Photo: Courtesy of the La Luz Cultural Communication CenterHolguin artist Welys Peña returned to the galleries with his personal exhibition “Del espanto a la ternura”. Photo: Courtesy of La Luz Cultural Communication Center.
Roxana La O, curator of the Art Center in charge of the exhibition “Del espanto a la ternura”, by Welys Peña, highlights as positive the return of this important artist to the institutional panorama of the visual arts (although from silence he did not stop creating), with pieces that produce a sentimental mixture: from tranquility, intimacy and calmness to despair, fears, losses…, traces left by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The curator also referred to two other exhibitions included in the Provincial Salon’s program: “Muda desesperación” (“Mute despair.”), by Aníbal de la Torre, in which he experiments with abstractionism and discourses towards the hopeful in a work marked by the cowrie snail as a distinctive feature of this creator and “Piensa fuera del marco” (Think outside the frame), by Julio César Cisneros, a renowned exponent of graffiti whose art has radically banished the old myth that categorizes this form of expression as vandalism.
He highlighted the will of the organizing committee to transcend the borders of the city of Holguin, with which the echoes of the Salon will reach the Justica Jimenez Gallery in the municipality of Mayari, where a collective exhibition entitled “As in the old days” will be inaugurated.
Dialogue and reflection among the keys of the Salon
Provincial Plastic Arts Salon, Holguin.
The theoretical spaces distinguish the XXX Provincial Salon of Plastic Arts. Photo: Courtesy of La Luz Cultural Communication Center.Theoretical spaces distinguish the XXX Provincial Salon of Plastic Arts. Photo: Courtesy of La Luz Cultural Communication Center.
The Provincial Plastic Arts Salon is also distinguished by the theoretical spaces, among them, the presentation of the book “Memories of the 80s. A cultural decade”, in charge of the critic Jose Rojas Bez, together with the panel integrated by the plastic artist Jorge Hidalgo, the professor Isabel Garcia and the art historian Yuricel Moreno, director of the Provincial Center of Plastic Arts of Holguin.
In addition, there was an intergenerational exchange at the El Alba Academy, with the participation of Alejandro Lescay, second vice-president for Monumental and Applied Arts of the Caguayo Foundation, who shared with the students his experiences in painting, engraving and sculpture.
Another important moment for the debate were the panels “Commercial management of Cuban visual arts”, in which specialists from the Caguayo Foundation, the Cuban Fund for Cultural Goods and the Collage Habana Gallery took part, as well as “Relevance of provincial salons as a means of visibility and regional artistic insertion for emerging artists”, with Ronald Guillen, Magalys Reyes, Leticia Leyva, Dayami Pupo and Lazaro Reynaldo.
This Friday, September 15, the official inauguration and award ceremony of the XXX Provincial Salon of Plastic Arts will take place, whose purpose is to promote, recognize and exhibit local talent through the combination of visual and museographic design. / By Aniel Santiesteban García.
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