WATERCOLORS BY DESMOND KINNEY

Desmond Kinney (b. 1934) is one of Ireland’s best known artists. He is a prolific master of very large mosaic murals which adorn many of Ireland’s private and public buildings, mostly based on ancient Irish legends. His paintings are in private collections in Ireland, England and the United States. Kinney divides his time between Spain and Ireland where he paints the landscape and people of each country. He travels to Cuba often; these watercolors are from a recent trip. They have been donated to help raise money for health care in Cuba. Proceeds from the sale of the watercolors will go to the Center’s Lifeline Fund to be used for that purpose. (Sizes shown are with mats.)

PAINTINGS BY #551211014010 . . . [aka Tony]

Antonio Martinez EstupiZan is a Havana architect who signs his paintings only with the number of his carnet de identidad. He draws his inspiration from the streets, parks, plazas and buildings of his beloved Havana and often fills them with Keith Haring-like figures. He will paint on anything–his most recent works have been painted on Cuba’s daily Communist Party newspaper, Granma, and on the newspaper of the unions, Trabajadores. When Tony heard of the Center’s financial difficulties caused by the cessation of group trips to Cuba, he generously donated all 28 of these works. Nonetheless, we plan to use at least half of the income derived from the sale of Tony’s paintings to purchase art materials for him!

PIGMENT PRINTS BY ELENA BORSTEIN

Elena Borstein is an accomplished painter and photographer, well-known in the New York City art world. She lives and works in New York City and the Adirondacks. She has traveled to Cuba several times and these prints are based on work she did in 2000. Janet Koplos, reviewing Elena’s Cuba paintings which were the basis for these prints, in Art in America, wrote: "...the essence of Cuba in her telling is soft color and decay... Ultimately the strongest aspect of Borstein’s work is the gorgeous pastel colors infused with darker or lighter tones. Whether those latter variations are in fact blooms of mildew or patches of scaling plaster doesn’t diminish their beauty."

SKETCHES FOR FILM COSTUMES BY PIEDAD SUBIRAT

Piedad has been doing costume design for Cuban film and television for more than 30 years and two years ago curated a major exhibit in Santiago de Cuba of Cuban fashion through the decades of the 20th century. For our current exhibit, Piedad has contributed four sketches for period costumes which illustrate traditional design details which she finds present in contemporary Cuban designs.

FASHION DRAWINGS BY TRACTER (Karel Trácter Díaz)

Trácter is a second year student in scenic arts at the Instituto Superior del Arte (ISA), considered the foremost training ground for artists in Cuba. Trácter says that for him "Fashion is a dynamic and personal expression of a human being. My designs are catwalks in movement, not simply attire with no connection to the look of the person wearing them. Design is connected to the model, an extension of the model’s personality and expectations. The general idea of my designs point to an eclecticism, a search for different styles and distinct time periods, and I try to avoid any kind of folkloric flourishes." All the drawings are untitled. The 15 large drawings are on heavy cardboard. The smaller drawings are on paper