Author Description

Profiles of fifty artists over fifty years, telling the story of modern Cuba through visual art the recent loosening of the U.S. embargo and Castro's opening up of state-regulated tourism has yielded a flurry of student programs, professional conferences, books, movies, and general enthusiasm in this country for all things Cuban. With the future government of Cuba still an open question, its cultural riches have never been more relevant to American readers. Cuba: Contemporary art explores how Cuban artists have worked in and around the constraints of Castroism ("Within the Revolution, everything; outside the Revolution, nothing") and Cuba's severely depressed economy, and how art education there evolved over the years, from an elite community to a popular essential. The book includes more than 500 images and profiles of, among others, Juan Carlos Alom and Felipe Dulzaides. Beautifully produced and written in elegant and articulate style, this is the ideal visual survey of Cuba's contemporary art landscape.