Carlos C. Smiser - Calavera

This work is a lovely oil on canvas, done by Carlos Smiser, done in 1997. Measures about 16" x 12".    Cuba is a goldmine of talent. From the Russian influences, to the classical European artists, that many of the Cuban Masters studied with.    Despite a series of repressive governments the art scene has historically thrived in Cuba, where culture occupies a prominent place. Art played a key role in the Cuban revolution and there are currently about 14 art schools, a University of Fine Arts, as well as 13,000 ‘registered artists’ on the island, as Rene Duquesne of the National Council of Visual Arts points out. The African presence in Cuba is undeniable, incredibly strong and visible but because of the practice of whitening in the US, it is possible to shed, deny, or simply omit one's blackness in order to melt into the dominant, acceptable identity group in Miami. Here it is both possible and common to refer to being Cuban, refer to one's self as “white” while showing pictures of g