I follow several artists on Instagram, some of whose work I own. One of them recently posted a video of them destroying one of their paintings with a utility knife and the comment, “sometimes they don’t work out.” Lest you think I’m going to clutch my pearls over that, and some commenters were appalled, I’m not. Some of you know that I took art classes and drew and painted throughout my childhood until I was a young adult. The last thing I painted, except the town, was in 1977. And then I stopped. For the record, the last time I painted the town was in 2003. My mother kept every canvas I painted. She hung a few on the walls of our home and the rest were consigned to being kept in the closet in my old bedroom that I would see every time I would come to visit. She asked me one time what I would do with them if I had them and I replied, “Burn them.” That was not the answer she was looking for and so she kept them until her passing. I held onto them for a little longer and then when I moved I put them in the estate sale. Surprisingly people bought some of them. Should I decide one day to pick up the brush again and become a well-known artist, those people will have invested wisely. And while I by no means consider myself an artist, I can appreciate the mindset. If you can create something you can also choose to make it cease to exist, popular opinion, or your mother’s, be damned.
Here is a piece I recently purchased by Cuban artist Daniel Rodríguez Collazo. I visited Daniel’s studio when I was in Cuba though I acquired this through CAMIBAart Gallery here in Austin. The black and white contrast and the details are stunning, but that’s not even the half of it. This isn’t a painting per se, but a piece of drywall that has been painted solid black and the artist has then gone and cut out the images to reveal the gypsum. Knowing how the work is created is part of its story as much as the subject matter (interestingly, it’s untitled.)
I don’t know if Daniel decided to paint on drywall out of choice or necessity, but I feel fairly certain that if he was painting a canvas and didn’t like the results he wouldn’t destroy it, but rather just paint over it. Things in Cuba are bleak. The punitive actions by our government in the last four years have by all reports made life even more difficult for Cuban citizens as if it wasn’t challenging enough before that. And just yesterday the Treasury Department announced new sanctions due to allegations of “serious human rights abuse,” the latest in a string of hard-line actions aimed at Cuba in the final days of the current administration. Here’s hoping for brighter days ahead for artists like Daniel and all the people of Cuba. And if I should ever have the good fortune to visit again upon return when I’m asked if I have anything to declare I will tell the customs agent, “Privilege.”
I'm Just Being Frank 