House-necessity, boat-mobility, water-horizon -- all are necessary and vital aspirations that become obsessions in the face of their absence.
José Emilio Fuentes Fonseca (JEFF) recycles everything that passes through his hands. He creates works that incorporate multiple objects, where the seemingly useless becomes part of his personal gallery, speaking of human desires and rights in contemporary society.
Pensamiento y Sentimiento (Thought and Feeling) are their own particular “continent,” a mobile and flexible architecture in which JEFF finds an alternative solution to escape the feeling of being trapped in life. With a deep capacity for reflection and commitment, JEFF builds installations that overlap with the immediacy of his surroundings. House-necessity, boat-mobility, water-horizon — all are necessary and vital aspirations that become obsessions in the face of their absence. – Magda Ileana González-Mora, Curator
Fonseca has always drawn inspiration from children’s art and toys. The enlarged “toys” in this installation are created of rusted steel. The house, Pensamiento, (thought) is filled with water in which a small steel version of a folded paper boat floats. A larger version of the boat, Sentimiento (feeling) also filled with water, sits on the floor next to the house. A small steel house — actually constructed by the artist in Cuba — floats in the boat.
José Emilio Fuentes Fonseca (JEFF) uses children’s idiom and iconography to establish an adult discourse, touching upon issues and themes crucial and important to human life. Working around the edges, the edges between laughter, pleasure, sorrow, pain, life, death, politics, religion, he makes the idea fundamental and the means of expression are subject to this.