Image: Roberto Diago, El Mar es mi Frontera, mixed media on wood

Afro-Cuban artist Roberto Diago (b. 1971) recently unveiled La Historia Recordada, a solo exhibition at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in Charleston, SC. The show highlights Diago’s substantial contributions to political and cultural conversations within Cuba—and larger dialogues about race and history on the global stage. Hyperallergic reflected on his influence in a recent story, excerpted here:

Diago’s work is often a direct criticism of racism in Cuba and explores the roots and role of slavery in Cuban history and culture. His work frequently contains found materials from neighborhoods in Havana near his home and studio. Raw materials such as wood, metal, and textiles make up much of his work — often these materials contain traces of their former uses, such as paint or building materials. Diago tracks a lineage of painterly abstraction and other forms in modern Cuban art, condensing them into a body of work that explores the vestiges of slavery and segregation in contemporary Cuban life. 

Diago’s mixed media work El Mar Es mi Frontera (The Sea Is my Border) is a highlight of the Zane Bennett Contemporary collection. Look below for more artwork by legendary Latin American artists in the gallery.

Rufino Tamayo
Untitled (Red Face)
lithograph, 27.25 x 19.25 in.
year: 1973

Carlos Cruz-Diez
Caura-14
lithograph, 23.6 x 27.5 in
year: 2015

Roberto Matta
Nue Bu
lithograph, 25 x 17.5 in
year: 1979

Ibrahim Miranda
Scroll Composite
serigraph, 12 x 12 in.
year: 1991

Mika Rottenberg
U5
graphite,acrylic,and colored pencil on paper, 12.5 x 16.75
year: 2008

 

Click here to browse the complete Zane Bennett Contemporary Art collection.