The Tree of Science in the Garden of the Republic 2010
A digital animation incorporating images of the Cuban National Capitol and the Ceiba, a hundred-year-old tree held sacred by the religions of pre-Hispanic peoples and Afro-Cuban syncretic cults.
Description
In addition to several paintings, Queloides includes a video and installation piece by Esquivel. The Tree of Science in the Garden of the Republic is a digital animation incorporating images of the Cuban National Capitol and the Ceiba, a hundred-year-old tree held sacred by the religions of pre-Hispanic peoples and Afro-Cuban syncretic cults.
Curated by Alejandro De La Fuente
Alexis Esquivel co-curated Queloides I and received his Masters in Art Education from Instituto Superior Pedagógico Enrique José Varona, Havana. Described by Cuban art critic Omar Pascual Castillo as “a nonconformist, a smart-mouth, an artist of disturbingly critical crudeness,” Esquivel uses painting, installation, performance, and video art to examine the relationship between power and race in society. His work can be divided into four stages: (1) Historical Portraits, (2) Hysterical Puns, (3) Remaking Maps, and (4) Creole Remix and Latest News from the Sugar Mill. This last series, begun in 2003, “explores the contrivances of a tropicalesque culture made for tourists, a pseudo-liberated culture that disguises the neocolonial” and includes works such as Smile you won!“