Cenia Gutierrez Alfonso 2D Art

Cenia Gutierrez Alfonso began painting as a small child and continues to create folk paintings and ink drawings in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Representing her community through their legends, popular beliefs, fiestas and religions, she enjoys capturing the lives of those around her on canvas.

Clandestina Apparel

Design

Clandestina is Cuba’s first urban fashion brand, a collective of designers, artists and other creators committed to “showing our young folk, and people all over the world, that our traditions can also evolve as we do with time — so they don’t have to be lost with the passage of generations.” Recycling and upcycling have always been popular in Cuba, as people without access to new fabrics and materials get creative with what they have on hand. Clandestina is inspired by these traditions and traditional items, giving them new life through art and design.

Dairan Fernández de la Fuente 2D Art

Using the continent- and centuryspanning process of woodblock printing, Cuban artist Dairan Fernández de la Fuente creates work steeped in the ever-evolving cultural heritage of his hometown of Havana. Reminiscent of vintage travel posters and conveying an appealing art deco design sensibility, de la Fuente’s work features a palette of elegant colors. With this, he explores themes relating to his own family’s immigration to Cuba and the joy and pain of nostalgia.

Guillermo Estrada Viera 2D Art

Cultural Preservation

The work of Guillermo Estrada Viera is a creative combination of two completely unrelated traditions in Cuba: engraving and rationing. He uses wood recycled from old furniture in works inspired by traditional iconography. “In my work, I use the used ration cards of my community and some of the products purchased with them. In this way, my work becomes a record of our daily lives,” says the artist.

Julio Barbón Davis 2D Art

Some artists, like Cienfuegos-based painter Julio Barbón Davis, seem to have been born to make art. Rendered in eye-grabbing colors of vivid yellow, deep cerulean blue, and a panoply of other vibrant shades, Barbon’s paintings portray traditional scenes of Cuba as well as universally appealing portraits and depictions of the natural world.

Leandro Gomez Quintero 3D Art

Environmental Sustainability

For decades, Cuban artist Leandro Gomez Quintero has been creating model vehicles that are both uncannily representational and also replete with whimsy. The humble car or truck is the immediately familiar subject of his lightweight sculptures made of paper, cardboard and other materials. Each work is carefully assembled and hand-painted, with attention paid to replicating even the various wires of a vehicle’s undercarriage.

Luis Rodriguez Ricardo El Grupo Bayate

2D Art

Mella, a village in southeastern Cuba, is the home of artist collective El Grupo Bayate: some 35 self-taught artists who support each other socially and creatively. Their work offers reflections on village life, the tropical landscape, agriculture, celebrations and everyday activities in Cuba.

Roberto Domingo Gil Esteban 2D Art

Roberto Esteban takes inspiration from his personal history, living in the heart of Cuba surrounded by fields of sugarcane and the simplicity of farmers’ lives. He uses a variety of materials to create his whimsical works, including acrylics, pencils, engraving tools, linoleum and printing paper.