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Cuban art exhibition and international arts festival offer a glimpse of life in Cuba

By Olivia Pool

Provided/Charleston International Arts Festival

Reinaldo Lopez's 'Rampant Stallion' which is mixed-media on paper.

Provided/Charleston International Arts Festival

Joel Jover's 'La Mano Podersa' a mixed-media work on canvas.

This spring, Charleston will host its First Charleston International Arts Festival, with a main focus on Cuba, its art, culture and people. The festival kicks off with a Cuban art exhibition, titled "Beyond the Door," today at the Avery Research Center of the College of Charleston, with a preview reception beginning at 5 p.m. The show itself will run through April 26.

The exhibition will showcase about 50 museum-quality artworks of various mediums from internationally renowned Cuban artists: Jorge Perugorria, Alejandro Alazo, Jose Fuster, Joel Jover and Reinaldo Lopez. All works will be available for sale.

Perugorria is not only a renowned artist, but also an award-wining Cuban actor. His movie, "Strawberry and Chocolate," the first Cuban film to be nominated for an Oscar (Best Foreign Language Film of 1995), won honors at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. Fuster, one of Cuba's most important ceramists and painters, is well-known to American viewers from Michael Moore's movie "Sicko," as he hosted Moore and his group for a lunch at his whimsical studio near Havana.

"The objective of the exhibition is to present living artists from Cuba and the hardships that they have to overcome on a daily basis in order to create their masterpieces, from making their own paper to preserving traditional values of the nation such as Santeria. Santeria, a Westernized interpretation of ancient Yoruban tribal practices, is reflected in several works that will be presented at the exhibition. African slaves, forced into the outward practice of Christianity, blended their traditional practices with elements of Christianity, often identifying Christian saints with the Yoruban gods," explains the exhibit's publicist, Vladia Jurcova- Spencer.

The second part of the festival will take place April 6 at El Bohio Cuban restaurant, starting at 6 p.m. with a movie premiere of "Sipping Jetstreams" and a Cuban fiesta. Award-winning filmmaker Taylor Steele and renowned photographer Dustin Humprey's movie about the surfing culture eventually became a movement. The movie, winner of the Best Cinematography award at the 2007 X-Dance Film Festival, was shot on different locations around the world, including Cuba. Tickets to the April event are $30 per person. Space is limited.

The festival, designed to reopen the door and answer countless questions that Americans have about isolated Cuba, will offer a more detailed insight into Cuban life through a series of lectures, movie premieres and musical performances. The festival will uncover what is hidden behind the closed door of the embargo during lectures on Latin American and Cuban art, and Cuban culture.

Jurcova-Spencer explains, "This arts festival, presented by Rebekah Jacob Modern and the Simatai Marketing Group LLC, was established as an outcry of Charleston's residents for diverse international cultures that other metropolitan cities are exposed to on a daily basis. The mission of the festival is to feature a new country every year and bring a variety of visual and performing arts, as well as a series of lectures in order to widen horizons of interested public."

The festival is sponsored by El Bohio Restaurant, FireFly Vodka and Stylee PR & Marketing.

Call 697-5471 or visit www.charlestoniaf.com for more information about the festival and tickets.

Wells moves to Meeting

Just relocated to 125 Meeting St., only steps from Queen Street and the Gibbes Museum of Art, the new location of the Wells Gallery is hosting its inaugural painting exhibition titled "Father and Son," featuring Glenn and Evan Harrington.

At 2 1/2 times the size of the previous location, this new space features an open floor plan with three different sections. The custom-made mahogany facade opens into a formal exhibition space for large artworks. Found during the renovation, an underground cistern will be visible through glass panels installed in the floor. With a nod to the inherent beauty of Charleston's architecture, owner Hume Killian says, "We just wanted to take the existing space and make it shine."

"Father and Son" is an exhibition of new work by internationally renowned figurative painter Glenn Harrington and his son, emerging still-life painter Evan.

Starting out as an illustrator for Golf magazine, Glenn Harrington has since developed a following for his personality-laden portraits. Having painted the who's who of the golf circuit for decades, Harrington's distinguished portraits hang in the collections of the World Golf Hall of Fame, the Jack Nicklaus Museum, at the headquarters of the Golf Channel and the Doonbeg Golf Club, among others. When gallery owner Hume Killian spotted Harrington's painting of golfer Tom Watson at the opening celebration of the Cassique course at Kiawah, he knew the work was something special.

Harrington is also recognized for his intimate portrayals of the figure that will be featured in this exhibition. Whether in costume, repose or in a street cafe scene, "these are portraits of a moment, not of the person," explains Harrington.

In addition, his paintings have graced the covers of over 500 books and have been featured on numerous playbills and movie posters. He continues to exhibit widely, with solo gallery and museum shows around the world, including New York, London and Tokyo.

Harrington is also the proud father of two creative sons, Sean and Evan. Sean chose music, while Evan followed in his father's footsteps, but in the slightly different direction of still-life artistry. He studied at the Arcuri Studio and the Chocheli School of Fine Art in Philadelphia, and in 2006 received "Best of Show," as well as Superior and Excellent ribbons in painting at the prestigious ACSI Mid-Atlantic Region Fine Arts Exhibition. Now in his first year on a merit scholarship at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Evan has already sold a number of works through the Wells Gallery. Although he has studied the figure, Evan is intrigued instead by the composition of still life as "creating a stage — not for humans, but for my characters, which are fruits or vases." Beautiful decorative items mingle with ripened edibles in oil-on-linen paintings, such as "Watermelon with Grapes" and "Silver Pot with Peaches."

The exhibit will be on view until March 21.

Visit the gallery at its new location, 125 Meeting St. For more information, call 853-3233 or visit www.wellsgallery.com.

Mount Pleasant ArtFest

Saturday, enjoy the 12th Annual Town of Mount Pleasant ArtFest. There will be local performers and musicians, roving entertainers, a juried art exhibit by the Mount Pleasant Artists Guild and a fun kids' zone with children's games, inflatable play areas and craft stations. Festivities will be taking place from noon to 4 p.m. For more

Information, contact Su McManus-Frost at 849-2061 or visit www.townofmountpleasant.com.

Photography contest

ART Magazine is accepting submissions for its first photography contest, with images centered around the theme of the environment. All entries will be judged by members of the Charleston Center for Photography and ART Magazine. The top three winning photographs will be published in the spring '08 issue of ART Magazine, due out in late April. Each individual is allowed to submit up to three images. All photographs must be at least 300 dpi (dots per inch). Be sure to include your name, e-mail, phone number and mailing address. You can either e-mail images up to 10 MB to info@charlestonartmag.com, or you can mail a CD of images to "Photography Contest," Renaissance Media/ART Magazine, P.O. Box 13115, Charleston, SC 29422.

The magazine is not responsible for returning images, so do not mail your only copy. All submissions are due by March 25.

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