Cuban
artists paint garments, not canvases for 'Fashion Art'
show
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[February 01, 2017]
By Sarah Marsh
HAVANA (Reuters) - A
fantastical blue bird emerges from leaves in the latest
work by Manuel Mendive, considered Cuba's top living
artist. But this isn't a framed canvas, it's a painting
on a dress, for the exhibit "Fashion Art Havana" that
opened on Tuesday.
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In creations by other Cuban artists, a ghostly face seems to
scream out from a dark cape, a red and blue matryoshka doll is
painted onto a dress, while a bubble-shaped frock is covered
with wooden spikes.
The show is the latest in the "Fashion Art" series by Spanish
designer Manuel Fernandez, who has worked with artists all over
the world to create one-off garments at the intersection of both
disciplines.
"Art doesn't have to always be hung on walls, it could also be
on floor tiles, earrings, tights or many other places,"
Fernandez said in an interview.
Participating artists said at the opening they had high hopes
the exhibit would help fashion become viewed in Communist-ruled
Cuba as more than a mere consumerist indulgence.
"Fashion is also art, and this is a concept we need to start
understanding here," said Jorge Perugorrķa, who painted a
graphic black and white design on his dress.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Feb/01/images/ads/current/cca_laptop-sda021709.png)
Fernandez said he first designs a garment for an artist, letting
their work and personality inspire the form. He leaves the
fabric blank though, like a canvas for them to then paint.
Given that he lets the artists paint whatever they wish, he has
no idea what his shows will look like until the very last minute
- a nail-biting experience.
In the case of "Fashion Art Havana", which will run in Havana's
sumptuous, neo-baroque Gran Teatro until Feb. 11, Fernandez said
he was struck with how two painters ended up drawing on Russian
themes.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Feb/01/images/ads/current/Symphony_lda_2017.png)
This testified to the strong influence the Soviet Union had on Cuba
during their Cold War alliance, something you would not find in
other Latin American cultures.
Eduardo Abela, son of the Cuban artist of the same name, daubed a
matryoshka doll onto his dress, while Gustavo Echevarrķa, known as "Cuty,"
stained his scarlet, then painted communist symbols like a hammer
and sickle on it.
"Cuba remains a Communist country, yet at the same there is the
sensuality of the dress and the consumerism of the designs - there
is a contradiction there that in this case coexist perfectly," Cuty
said.
With this show, Fernandez said he decided to juxtapose the new Cuban
creations with works from previous collections by Puerto Rican and
Spanish artists like Antonio Martorell and Rafael Canogar.
Since embarking on his "Fashion Art" project in 1998, he has worked
with 300 artists worldwide with a particular focus on Latin America
although his next exhibit will be in Zimbabwe, in May. His long-term
aim is to create a museum for his collection, currently stored
between Spain and Panama.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Bill Rigby)
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