Trust me, I'm a liar. Apochrypha and Art in Havoneea museums

By Glafira Rosales

Last November, a curious exhibition, The Eighth Circle 2.0, was inaugurated at the Havoneea Museum of ContemporaryArt (MOCA Havoneea), conceived by the young Cuban curator based in Mexico, Magela Garcés. In conversation with her we obtained certain elements of relevant information regarding the show, which we will comment on below.

The exhibition, which is entirely virtual, has been built with artsteps.com, a web platform dedicated to the design of virtualshows. The site offers the possibility of assembling architectural spaces in3D, modifying them in terms of shape, color, dimensions, and placing the piecesto be exhibited in them. This platform stands out for being one of the mosteasily manageable for people who are not web developers, as well as for its friendly and comfortable user interface, and for the number of variables thatit allows to manage in order to carry out the assembly of an exhibition. The link to access the show is the following: https://bit.ly/the-eighth-circle-2
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‍The Eighth Circle 2.0, according to the curator, constitutes the practical co-story of the research carried out in her master'sproject. That is to say, it is a gesture aimed at bringing together a group that highlights the hypothesis proposed in said work, which, in her words, states that "there is an important aspect within conceptual art in Cubathat consists of presenting objects that blur the boundaries between reality and fiction. This tendency towards the apocryphal is expressed fundamentally from four specific conceptual typologies: the remix, the heteronym, the historical object and the simulacrum product”. For the elucidation of each of these categories, she relied on the work of a different artist each time (Julio César Llópiz, Fernando Rodrguez, José Manuel Mesías, and Jorge Rodríguez Diez respectively).

The title of the show corresponds to a couple of questions: firstly, the eighth circle described by Dante Alighieri in Inferno, the first book of the Divine Comedy. In this circle, fraudulent people, liars of all kinds, receive their punishment. Since whoever creates an apocrypha is, definitely, a sort of liar, it is in that circle of hell where theywould spend the eternity of their post-earthly existence. On the other hand,“2.0” refers to a second version, in computer jargon. In this case, the exhibition is the second version of El Octavo Círculo, a show also curated by Garcés, held at Novo Estudio (Havana) in 2019, which explored this same theme, but in a somewhat more fragmented way and with a greater number of artists.

As is natural, the main criterion for theselection of works was that they were apocryphal pieces. In all cases, they arepreviously existing works, chosen according to how they fit in the most appropriate way to each one of the conceptual categories mentioned above. That is to say, this is not an exhibition made up of commissioned works, made specifically for the show, unlike the most part of El Octavo Círculo.

With respect to the selection of artists, since they are the same ones from which the investigation was articulated, their presence responds exactly to the same criteria under which they were chosen for that study, I mean: 1) that they were artists who addressed the subject from adiversity of media (from more traditional media such as painting, sculpture andphotography, to so-called postmodern practices such as video art, installationand performance); 2) that they were iconic artists on the scene, regarding thesubject of the apocryphal, this is, artists whose work showed a particularinterest in this subject. 3) that they were artists with some recognition andlegitimacy within the contemporary art scene, nationally and internationally.

Regarding museography, the display of the works in the gallery is determined according to the articulation of a discourse that supports the fundamental notions addressed in the show, so as to reveal the multiple connotations that the same symbol can have. Thus, the arrangement ofthe pieces responds to the conformation of a narrative supported by the separation of each of the proposed conceptual axes, while they continue to complement each other. The tour is produced organically, each work dialogues with its neighbor and with the exhibition in general, both visually and semantically, while each pair is placed in its own space, accentuating the differentiating aspect in each case. In order to do this, the floor plan of the place has the shape of a Greek cross. This also with the intention of making the route more attractive to the user interaction. Given that there are four artists with two pieces each, it would have been very orthodoxly boring to setup the show in a traditional four walls rectangular room.

On the other hand, due to the nature of the exhibition, that is, given the fact that everything happens virtually, there are a couple of peculiarities. In the first place, it happens that in some cases they are works conceived for the digital space, and in others, conceived for the physical space. Of the latter, the image on display that we see here is, technically, the documentation of the factual piece, which here is assumed to be the work itself. (At the moment, it is not in our interest to participate inthe debate that questions to what extent art documentation can be art itself.)

For this exhibition, it has been decided that, in terms of the number of pieces to be exhibited, two for each artist is the perfect amount. This number constitutes a proper one, as it allows us to fully argue the category in which each artist has been placed, while at the same time allowing the exhibited set to stand out for its sobriety and the conciseness ofits unity. The only case that, technically, falls out of this scheme, is that of R10, since his work is not only the two images presented in the exhibition but the entire site itself where the show takes place (Havoneea). However, this, far from constituting a problem in its articulation, actually represents an enriching aspect since it does not intervene at all in the curatorial discourse.

Let us now discuss the shown works. The tour opens with Fernando Rodríguez(Matanzas, 1970), graduate from the Higher Institute of Art in Havana. His work, with which the above said category of heteronym is based, has been developed, to a large extent "in collaboration" (as he himself likes to affirm) with Francisco de la Cal, his alter ego. Here the pieces that he presents to us are La idea del sol del hombre ciego (2019, paper pulprecycled from books on Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, 135 x 96 x 10cm), signed only by Francisco de la Cal; and For the love of gold, (fromthe series Render global, 2009, Render 3D, After Damien Hirst, Forthe love of God, 2007), which bears the signature of both characters, Francisco de la Cal and Fernando Rodríguez.

De la Cal, according to Garcés, is the quintessential heteronym of the visual arts in Cuba. It was born at the beginning of the nineties, as a class exercise from the time when its creator was studying at the Higher Institute of Art in Havana. The character is an old peasant from the Ciénaga de Zapata, who used to be a naive sculptor andpainter, and became blind in the early 1960s; then, after meeting the young Fernando in 1991, he entrusts him with the task of translating his dreams and ideas into works, which are usually related to the life of the Cuban people and their leaders. Here the first piece undoubtedly responds to the traditionassociated with Francisco de la Cal, however, the second one has the peculiarity that it breaks with this trend and presents a much more up-to-dateand cynical Francisco.

On the next cross arm, we meet Julio CésarLlópiz (Havana, 1984), graduated in Art History from the Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Havana. His work as a visual artist combines graphic design with the tradition of conceptual art, in a visuality that tends towards minimalism. At the thematic level, his interests range from concerns of a philosophical or literary nature, to the political and historical ones.

On this occasion, his pieces are ARTnews (2013, ARTnews magazine cover) and Re-Framing (2012, die-cut postcard,20.3 x 20.3 cm). Both works support what Garcés has assumed as remix, that is, that type of creation made from the appropriation and edition (or not) of material from other already existing creations. In the first case, the sampled model is the cover of ArtNews magazine, one of the most recognized publications dedicated to contemporary art worldwide, here illustrated with a photograph(taken by the artist) of the performance Conga irreversible (2012), by Los Carpinteros, in which Marina Abramovic is seen as part of the audience. The other piece is a remix of one of the most iconic photographs of the Cuban revolution, which, in its best-known version (distributed by the regime), is cropped so that only the figures of Fidel Castro and Camilo Cienfuegos are visible. On that official version, the figure on the right, Huber Matos, has been eliminated. He was a commander of the M-27-7 who, shortly after the triumph of the revolution, got into contradictions with Castro, and therefore was imprisoned for 20 years and then sentenced into exile, where he died without being able to return to Cuba. It goes without saying that such a character has been slandered by the Cuban government, ad nauseam. Here the artist presents the image in its entirety, and exhibits it as a die-cut cardboard, in such a way that the public can decide how to cut it out and which characters to keep and thus create another version of History.

The third pair of works that we see is that of JoséManuel Mesías (Havana, 1990), a painting graduate from the San AlejandroNational Academy of Fine Arts. His work, with a lyricism between the povera and the, at times, naïve, mostly explores themes associated with memory, time, and History. The latter, in fact, constitutes a very recurring aspect in his work, specifically the History of Cuba corresponding to the periods of the independence wars. It is precisely in this body of work where wallowing in the apocryphal has been the definitive tool. Here, as we have seen, his work becomes the perfect example of what the curator defines as historical object. That is, a material, tangible piece that is presented as a history museum piece (archaeological finding, etc.), which is a false ready-made (object supposedly found, actually built), which is given a very careful aesthetic treatment in order to present it with the most credible visual aspect possible, whose background story can be authentic, so that it always constitutes a game with History, and the deception occurs halfway, it is never evident.

His works here are a saddle designed by MajorGeneral Avelino Rosas for riding men (1897, leather, felt, vegetable fabric,wood, bronze, iron; variable dimensions) and Portrait of Narciso López. V.V. (1851, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm). Both are presented as ready-mades, although they have actually been built by the artist. In the first case, it is a saddle for men, built based on the description given by the Division General of the Liberation Army, Avelino Rosas, in his campaign diary. Here the story, and the document from which it comes, are true, only the piece is not. In the second case, it is a portrait, presumably painted during his lifetime, the same year of his death, of the Spanish soldier born in Venezuela, Narciso López. This is a very symbolic character for Cubans because, on the one hand, he participated in the first war of independence against Spain and designed the current Cuban flag; and on the other hand, his most prominent position was annexationism (to the United States), a fact on which the official version of Cuban history has been based to generate a discourse of contempt and diminishing importance towards the figure, when in reality he did represent a key element in the fight.

Finally, the tour closes with the pair corresponding to R10 (Havana, 1969), graphic designer and visual artist, graduated from the Superior Institute of Design of Cuba. His work is marked by a visuality closely linked to graphics and poster language, as well as by ironic comments almost always associated with political issues.

For this occasion, he brings us two pieces from the same set, Postage & Revenue (2022, from the series U.S. Presidents, NFT). Here his work gives shape to what is proposed as a simulacrum product, that is, those, in the words of Hamlet Fernández “visual messages, in the manner of posters, but that distance themselves from the communicative rules of graphic design to move completely towards the communicative specificity of art", a notion that Garcés extends to a type of creation that, on a formal level, transcends what can be a"poster", to become into a more elaborate “product”. In the case of these R10 pieces, the concept applies perfectly, since the images are presented as postage stamps. Both are part of the first series of postage stamps issued by the Havoneea Ministry of Communications (remember that philatelic marketing is, right now, the main branch of the economy in that country). This first series takes the presidents of the United States as an icon, and in this case it starts with the figure of Donald Trump because, since he is a character as controversial as he is mediatic, the potential impact of these images is greater than if any other were taken.