postcard of the 31st Diamond Pepper Festival
- NEWS
- Sat, 9 Sep 2023 13:54:20 +0330
Artist
Biography
Recently, he mentioned Valera's name to several friends and they immediately identified him due to the uniqueness of his graphic works more closely related to pictorial visuality, a figuration that, of course, for many is attractive. However, beyond the seduction that it can provoke, his work is not unrelated to an eagerness to vindicate thought through caricature.
This interview with Reinaldo Hernández Valera was carried out shortly before the opening of the exhibition Humor in Phase 3 proposed by Ares and curated by Lisset Alonso Compte at the renowned Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo, from where the Havana Biennial is organized and the institution where they have been exhibited very important exhibitions, already historic due to their preeminence in the field of visual arts in Cuba.
In general, the tendency is to make a conceptual humor that is not to laugh out loud, but to make you think and send a message.
According to my concept, humor has a weight in communication and an enormous utility to transmit ideas. Here we have lost a little or a lot the use of editorial humor, because many may not give importance to the title of an editorial, but it should be taken into consideration that the power of synthesis of graphic humor is extraordinary, it guides the reader what the content is about of the article and prompts you to read the texts.
Cuban painter Reinaldo Hernandez Valera's latest art exhibition Entrar Valera was opened on March 5 at Sydney's TAP Gallery. The colourful and evocative collection of paintings was viewed by a varied gathering of art fans and Cuba supporters who were joined by the Consul General of the Republic of Cuba in Australia, Nelida Hernandez Carmona.
Valera's paintings are a lively snapshot of life in Cuba, comprising portraits of Cuban women and men painted in a caricature style. With vivid colours and strong outlines his subjects often show a weariness of the everyday, sometimes with an iconic Cuban cigar. They each show their character in the exaggerated lines that define their identity.
I was very happy to exhibit here, at the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center, because what we do is not a minor art at all, in truth, it is very difficult to make graphic humor. It is about making a forceful drawing and at the same time according to an idea. It also involves looking for the absurd. There are cartoons that are only to provoke laughter, but others are to incite reflection. I specifically like the latter.
The comedian has to be very documented, otherwise, he cannot be. Even because we are not an encyclopedia, and if you have an idea, to complete it you have to look for information and study.
In that sense our work is very interesting. I really love. I, for example, make a lot of sketches, I lean a lot towards doing plastic, that's why I don't tend to work on murals, but on sketches in order to create the works.
