DATA OF INTEREST

GUEST:
Yenisel Osuna Morales
Samuel Riera

HOST:
Juliana Rabelo


Synopsis:

This talk about art and caretaking is based on the work experience of Riera Studio and the Art Brut Project Cuba. These concentric projects develop reflection and artistic dialogue as they recognize and study the different dynamics of the peripheral development of art, society and the social processes that inspire artists in this context. A large part of this peripheral art reflects extreme mental states, particular idiosyncrasies or elaborate fantasy worlds responding to a strong intrinsic motivation and making frequent use of unusual materials and techniques. “The search for an art without referents, beyond the simple motivation or the overwhelming desire to make your mark, in many cases unconscious of the current reality, leads to artistic expressions such as Art Brut and Outsider Art.”

Samuel begins by recognizing the place of independent arts spaces such as Espacio Aglutinador within his genealogy. His determination began with looking critically at the vices of academicism and visibilizing art that was being ignored by the mainstream, together with his experience as a professor at art school and in social work where art is employed as a therapeutic tool for action. The first actions were held in the street because there was no prior interest in this in Cuba, outside of galleries and circles dedicated to art. The therapeutic element is manifested at first, but then it transforms into the recognition of the task of the artist. Acceptance itself redefines the search of the individual and is the basis of their accompaniment.

Yeni tells us that this universe is almost like a revelation because it is not accepted by the majority. The assimilation of another way of doing things takes years and the question about professional and outsider art is actually in dialogue because while they have basic differences they also have many things in common. The role of arts management tends to be very important because the majority of outsider artists ignore their results and disconnect from the communicative cycle that art has where the meaning of the creation is completed by the spectator. Even so, the process of attraction towards spaces of inclusion must be done without destabilizing the natural dynamics of the artists’ lives. These artists can increase their quality of life with what they do as an innate necessity or gift, but never by going against their will.

Yeni adds that the focus changes when we stop centering the eccentricity of the expression of these creators or their life story (whether they are mediums, autistic, schizophrenics, etc.) and shifts to purely artistic matters. The artistic products themselves possess qualities very highly valued in artt: originality, creativity, etc. Visual education starts in the family and moves outward towards an understanding of society that is not understood from few or singular perspectives. These niches recover the spiritual dimension that has been lost. By further letting go of rationality and the intellectualization deposited in contemporary art, the way of relating to this type of art is as if to magic. It takes on another register that turns towards the mysterious or towards imagination itself and it is not necessary to explain things but rather there is another type of relationship with what is happening.

Yeni and Samuel end by talking about the ethics of caretaking related to economic models. If the idea is to socially integrate outsider artists, it is also important that they perceive incomes like normative cases. The dimension of labor is added to art, and it is no longer simply leisure but also a form of employment. Many individuals go from being perceived as a ”burden” because of the precarious conditions they live in, to becoming someone that contributes (economically) to their own reality.

To become agents of caregiving we must come from a place of human sensibility and empathy.

Why the exhaustion? Why the distance of the person who consumes art?


Bio:

Yenisel Osuna Morales
(Pinar del Río, 1988)

Yenisel Osuna Morales holds a degree in Art History (2013). He has curated Cuban art exhibits in national and international galleries. He collaborates with Portal Artcrónica, where he works as the coordinator of the books section of the website. His texts have appeared in publications such as Rialta, Programa Cuba, Blog Riera Studio, and in individual and group exhibition catalogs. He has been linked for several years to the project Art Brut and Outsider Art, working on increasing the budget dedicated to these expressions within the panorama of contemporary art.

Samuel Riera
(Havana Cuba, 1978)

Samuel Riera is a graduate of the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in graphic arts (2001) and professor of engraving at the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro (2001-2016).

He has participated in over 100 collective expositions in Cuba and internationally. Today his work can be seen in the permanent collection of the Primer Museo de Arte Cubano in Vienna, Austria and in private collections in Spain, Denmark, the U.S., Vienna, Japan, Venezuela and Cuba.

He currently works with different mediums in his artistic discourse, among them graphic art, paint, video art, film and installation.

He has given conferences related to video art in Cuba, Venezuela and Mexico, and participated in different international film festivals such as: Primer Festival de Cine Alternativo in México, Festival de Jóvenes Realizadores, Cuba, and Festival Internacional de Cine Pobre, Cuba.

The primary spaces that have exhibited his work are: Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Cuba. Casa de las Américas, Cuba. Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Cuba. Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Mérida, México. Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, San José, Costa Rica. SALÓN INTERNACIONAL DE PARÍS, Galería Nesle Espace, France. Gran Fundación León Jiménez, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. Galería Espacio Aglutinador, Cuba. Museo de Arte de las Américas, Washington DC, United States. Galería Nacional de Honduras, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Taipei, Taiwan.

In 2012 he opened his workshop RIERA STUDIO with the intent of creating an independent space for dialogue, diagnostics and cooperation for the alternative discourse confronting Cuban contemporary art, supporting the development and presence of outsider art, outside of the centrist discourses of art. In 2013 he created Art Brut Project Cuba, which he has continued to direct with the intention of developing a program of actions in Cuba that allow for the discovery, cataloging, diffusion and support of the work of Cuban Art Brut Creators.

VIDEO

Zones of Empathy, the Search for an Art without Referents

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