Rental information 

Several of Cuba's best-known artists are women, and since its inception the center for Cuban Studies Art Space has made a conscious effort to collect art by women.

This exhibit consists of:

• 50 artworks by artists such as
• Jacqueline Brito, Yamilys Brito, Rocío García, Alicia Leal, Marucha (Maria Eugenia Haya), Martha Jiménez, Isabel de las Mercedes, Elsa Mora, Cirenaica Moreira, Marta Maria Pérez Bravo, Sandra Ramos, Zaida del Río, Julia Valdés.

1. All of the works in the exhibit are stretched, framed or matted.
2. Full biographical information and photographs for each artist are provided.
3. The exhibit can be rented for a period of two weeks to one month, at a cost of $3,000 to $5,000 depending on the length of time. The cost includes one-way shipping costs and insurance from New York city. Return shipping and insurance, as well as insurance during the exhibit is the responsibility of the renting institution.
4. If works are to be sold during the exhibit, a separate agreement will be made between the center and the renting institution
5. Individual exhibits are also available for the following artists: Alicia Leal, Zaida del Río, Rocío García, the Brito sisters.

For further information: Sandra Levinson, (212) 242-0559.

The diversity of the work in this show attests to the creative facility of these women to make art of a uniquely personal experience while simultaneously forging a relationship with the concerns of women worldwide. The themes, for the most, are political, sexual, relational and psychological, are particularly associated with gender, but the pictorial and visual turns the art takes are formed out of Cuba’s particular stimuli; its history, geography, politics, religion and folkloric tradition. It is all the more surprising, or rather revelatory, that this small island, lagging behind in global communication, can produce so many excellent contemporary artists of an altogether fresh voice in dialogue with the art world at large.

Rocio García's painting explores same sex relationships, often through parable, with a humorous touch. Sandra Ramos, working in etching to installation, is concerned with Cuba's history, especially colonization and emigration. Aimeé García creates allegorical assemblage with materials symbolic of women, like hair, thread and photos to parody the clichéd canons of femininity. Elsa Mora's deeply personal reflections about the essence of a woman's body and soul appear in works on paper, photo-collages, mixed media drawings that combine thread, leaves, handmade papers, bits and pieces of the world. Alicia Leal's very being seems imbedded in her flat brightly colored images, whether on canvas, paper or mosaic. The Brito sisters, only 30 and 31, have been doing artwork together and separately since they were children in the same classroom. Today Jacqueline works with tiles, plaster, found objects to assemble works that are commentaries on daily life and paints as well; Yamilys explores the Cuba of her present and its past in monotypes and collages. Zaida del Rio's work of "magical realism" makes her a legitimate heir to chagall, while defining a style clearly her own. Olympya Ortiz does work that is both classical and Goyaesque in its technique while treating themes as mundane as the absence of eggs in the Cuban marketplace. And Julia Valdes, an abstract painter, chooses to work against more popular trends. She is influenced by earlier periods of Cuban art; references to cubism and Surrealism come together in her work.

Whatever the medium or mode, this exhibition of Cuban Women Artists provides a concise yet thought-provoking overview. The Cuban Art Space has work covering many years of almost all of the artists whose work is displayed -- their ages range from 30 to 54 -- and in portfolios of earlier works and catalogues viewers will be able to see how the artists' work has evolved.

Our thanks to all those who helped us with this exhibit: Ralph Casado, Julio Mendoza, Lila Nordstrom, Jenny Rejeske, and Gail Tauber.
Framing and matting was done by Big Apple Framers and Jadite Galleries.