covering the centaurâs face, but you cannot tell whether the cherub is holding the cloth in order to keep it in place or to remove it. El Caballo (the Horse) is one of the many names for Fidel because in the numerology of the Cuban lottery, the number one is represented by a horse. Another picture shows Lenin in a coffin floating above a contemplative Karl Marx, over whose shoulder the face of Groucho Marx mugs.
Castro is never named in Cuba; he is referred to as Ãl (Him), El Señor (the Mister, the Sir, or probably more accurately, the Lord), El Caballo (the Horse), or El Niño (the Child), or one simply makes a silent hand gesture down from the chin to indicate a beard. Among the art we have seen so far, we have never seen a painting depicting Him openly, and we have been wondering if it is even allowed to paint direct images of Him. We have asked our Elegguá and others if it is allowed, but no one has been able to tell us so far. At GalerÃa Vasquez, though, there is also a painting depicting Him openly: it is a close-up of Him, presumably in some European museum, contemplating a painting of the head of a woman in Renaissance dress. The painting is in black, white, and gray. It is a copy of an actual well-known news photograph of him, Arquitecto Vasquez tells us. Arquitecto Vasquez tells us that the artist, Toirac, has painted an entire series of paintings of Fidel, copied from well-known photographs of Him.
We ask Arquitecto Vasquez if he thinks it might be possible for us to visit Toirac in his studio. Arquitecto Vasquez gives us the telephone number of Toiracâs neighborâs mother. Not everyone in Havana has a phone, and this is the easiest way to get him a message.
ÃNGEL TOIRAC AND HIS WIFE, Meira, live in a fifth-floor walk-up in Old Havana.
Ãngel has large features, and his abundant, curly black hair is, like Esterio Seguraâs, held back by a ladyâs tortoiseshell headband. Meira, who is a poet, has creamy skin and a very wholesome air about her.
Ãngelâs latest series of paintings is called
Tiempos Nuevos
(New Times). The paintings are oil, in black, white, gray, and red, and faithfully reproduce famous photos of Fidel, mostly from the time of the revolution, but within contemporary commercial contexts, in which Fidel appears to be promoting products and businesses. There is a painting of Fidel astride a horse (a well-known photo of the revolution) with the Marlboro symbol beneath him. There is a painting of Fidel and Che trawling off a sportfishing boat, with the words MARINA HEMINGWAY (an existing tourist marina) in one corner. There is a painting of Fidel smiling, eating Chinese food with a large bottle of CocaCola beside it and, underneath, the words, LAS COSAS VAN MEJOR CON COCACOLA (Things go better with Coke).
Toirac was about to have an exhibition when he was told that he couldnât display images of Fidel in those contexts, so he painted new paintings for the exhibition, substituting his wife in a uniform, smoking a cigar, for every image of Fidel. He shows us one of the paintings in which the image of his wife appears. He is not allowed to export any of the paintings showing Fidel, either.
We ask him about the painting of his we saw at Galeriá Vasquez.
âThat has no advertisement with it. It is not part of the series. It is not considered . . . ironic, though some may consider it ironic . . .â
I. 40
Just as I have forgotten about the pigâs head, I open the door of the most broken-down of our three refrigerators, a compact Minsk without shelves and with the internal freezer-compartment door broken off, so that everything in it stays only semifrozen.
There, on the floor of the Minsk, long-lashed eyes closed serenely, frost swirling around it, as if on some glacial altar, is our own little Lord of the Flies.
I. 41
Carlita is from Bayamo, which is on the other end of the island, near Santiago, but her motherâs cousin, Davide,
Castro is never named in Cuba; he is referred to as Ãl (Him), El Señor (the Mister, the Sir, or probably more accurately, the Lord), El Caballo (the Horse), or El Niño (the Child), or one simply makes a silent hand gesture down from the chin to indicate a beard. Among the art we have seen so far, we have never seen a painting depicting Him openly, and we have been wondering if it is even allowed to paint direct images of Him. We have asked our Elegguá and others if it is allowed, but no one has been able to tell us so far. At GalerÃa Vasquez, though, there is also a painting depicting Him openly: it is a close-up of Him, presumably in some European museum, contemplating a painting of the head of a woman in Renaissance dress. The painting is in black, white, and gray. It is a copy of an actual well-known news photograph of him, Arquitecto Vasquez tells us. Arquitecto Vasquez tells us that the artist, Toirac, has painted an entire series of paintings of Fidel, copied from well-known photographs of Him.
We ask Arquitecto Vasquez if he thinks it might be possible for us to visit Toirac in his studio. Arquitecto Vasquez gives us the telephone number of Toiracâs neighborâs mother. Not everyone in Havana has a phone, and this is the easiest way to get him a message.
ÃNGEL TOIRAC AND HIS WIFE, Meira, live in a fifth-floor walk-up in Old Havana.
Ãngel has large features, and his abundant, curly black hair is, like Esterio Seguraâs, held back by a ladyâs tortoiseshell headband. Meira, who is a poet, has creamy skin and a very wholesome air about her.
Ãngelâs latest series of paintings is called
Tiempos Nuevos
(New Times). The paintings are oil, in black, white, gray, and red, and faithfully reproduce famous photos of Fidel, mostly from the time of the revolution, but within contemporary commercial contexts, in which Fidel appears to be promoting products and businesses. There is a painting of Fidel astride a horse (a well-known photo of the revolution) with the Marlboro symbol beneath him. There is a painting of Fidel and Che trawling off a sportfishing boat, with the words MARINA HEMINGWAY (an existing tourist marina) in one corner. There is a painting of Fidel smiling, eating Chinese food with a large bottle of CocaCola beside it and, underneath, the words, LAS COSAS VAN MEJOR CON COCACOLA (Things go better with Coke).
Toirac was about to have an exhibition when he was told that he couldnât display images of Fidel in those contexts, so he painted new paintings for the exhibition, substituting his wife in a uniform, smoking a cigar, for every image of Fidel. He shows us one of the paintings in which the image of his wife appears. He is not allowed to export any of the paintings showing Fidel, either.
We ask him about the painting of his we saw at Galeriá Vasquez.
âThat has no advertisement with it. It is not part of the series. It is not considered . . . ironic, though some may consider it ironic . . .â
I. 40
Just as I have forgotten about the pigâs head, I open the door of the most broken-down of our three refrigerators, a compact Minsk without shelves and with the internal freezer-compartment door broken off, so that everything in it stays only semifrozen.
There, on the floor of the Minsk, long-lashed eyes closed serenely, frost swirling around it, as if on some glacial altar, is our own little Lord of the Flies.
I. 41
Carlita is from Bayamo, which is on the other end of the island, near Santiago, but her motherâs cousin, Davide,
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