Art show explores Maine-Cuba ties Nation’s crumbling infrastructure, vibrant people at center of Rockport exhibit

ROCKPORT – To most Americans, Cuba is an island of mystery, separated from the United States not only by a stretch of ocean, but by politics and policy.

For a group of Maine artists and art aficionados, Cuba is an inspiration, with a rich cultural tradition and a thriving arts scene. “Cuban Connections,” a collection of work by Maine and Cuban artists currently on view at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport, explores this link.

“Cuba is totally mesmerizing,” said photographer Judith Glickman of Cape Elizabeth, whose black-and-white images of architecture and street life in Havana lead viewers into the show. “The people, the architecture … the history, and all this is going on on a Caribbean island 90 miles away from Miami.”

Though close in distance, it truly is a world apart, as visitors to Cuba found during a 2003 trip to the Biennial sponsored by CMCA. Photographer Barbara Goodbody and watercolorist Frederic Kellogg captured the spirit of the island during a week of tours, studio visits and exhibits. Others on the trip bought contemporary Cuban art for their collections (incidentally, it was easier to get art out of Cuba than cigars).

Glickman had gone the week before on a trip organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. When Brown saw her photographs, “this exhibition became inevitable,” Brown writes in the notes that accompany the show. “It was only a question of uncovering other Cuban connections in Maine – a surprisingly easy and interesting assignment.”

In 1996, Patricia Nick of the Vinalhaven Press had invited five artists she had met on her travels to Cuba to spend three weeks in Maine. Though artists, writers, singers and musicians enjoy a higher standard of living than many Cubans, and are allowed to travel to enhance and promote their work, none had access to printing facilities like the one on Vinalhaven.

It took piles of paperwork, hassles with customs agents and two sets of airline tickets, but they arrived in 1997.

“It was an opportunity for them, and an opportunity for me as well, because their work was wonderful,” Nick said. “It was very strong and unique. Out of the pressure cooker often comes very strong work in all areas – music, poetry, literature, writing and the visual arts. That’s certainly been the case in Cuba as we all know now.”

Among the visitors that summer were Alberto Casado and a trio (who have since become a duo) who call themselves Los Carpenteros. Both have since attracted international acclaim, and both recently had successful shows in Manhattan.

In addition to his print work, Casado uses colored glass and tin foil, the Cuban equivalent to velvet Elvis paintings in the States, to make strong political and visual statements. In “Dicen que en la emajada,” (or “they say that in the embassy”), he shows Che Guevara removing a book about homosexuality from a library, following Castro’s decree.

“He use provocative historical moments in his work,” Brown said. “He takes this very popular art form … and moves it up a few notches. It’s kitsch, basically.”

The isolation of the island plays out in the work of several artists, as do the problems with Cuba’s water supply, as seen in Los Carpenteros’ Vinalhaven print of a hydrant. Another of their works, a 9-foot-tall print of a cathedral in the shape of a screwdriver, serves as the centerpiece of the show.

“They’re carpenters,” Brown said. “Tools are their salvation, I suppose.”

The work by Maine artists provides an intriguing counterpoint. Goodbody’s photographs, taken at the posh mansion of KCHO, one of Castro’s favorite artists, stand in stark contrast to Charles Altschul’s panorama of a cigar factory and the faded beauty of neglected buildings in Glickman’s photographs.

But the crumbling infrastructure hasn’t quelled the Cubans’ spirit – or their artistic vision.

“The people are just amazing,” Glickman said. “They’re very vital, but the situation is horrible. … The country does pay for education and food, but everything else is just in an incredible state of decay. Still, the people are just vibrant.”

“Cuban Connections” is on view through July 24. Patricia Nick, Aran Shetterly, a Maine native who is currently writing a book on Cuban art, and Nancy Versaci, who dined with Castro while visiting Cuba, will give a panel discussion at 7 p.m. Friday. Holly Block, author of “Art Cuba: The New Generation,” will give a lecture at 7 p.m. Friday, July 22. Both events will take place at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, 162 Russell Ave. in Rockport. For information, call 236-2875 or visit www.artsmaine.org.