Ave Maria 2010
The work becomes an altar to diversity and a prayer for the unity of the Cuban family, for racial and social equality.
Description
Marrero and Toirac’s installation, Ave Maria, features a long, horizontal board, which serves as a base for multiple representations of the Virgin of Charity obtained throughout Cuba and the United States. Carved into the board is the following quote by José Martí, considered the Apostle of Cuba: “Either the republic is based on the whole character of each one of its children…or the republic is not worth a single tear of our women nor a single drop of the blood of our brave men.” By juxtaposing various images of the Virgin of Charity with Martí’s words, Marrero and Toirac write, “The work becomes an altar to diversity and a prayer for the unity of the Cuban family, for racial and social equality.”
Curated by Alejandro De La Fuente
José A. Toirac (Cuban, b. 1966) studied and later taught at the Instituto Superior de Arte and has collaborated since 1994 with Meira Marrero (Cuban, b. 1969), a curator and art critic.