Carlos Garaicoa

Carlos Garaicoa is one of Cuba’s leading contemporary artists. Using multi-media to convey themes of architecture, urbanism, politics, history and human culture, his works examine the gap between the hope and promises generated by the revolution and the actual conditions of Cuban life today. They are poignant explorations of a culture where political idealism is disconnected from the reality of day-to-day living. His work illustrates the contrast between Havana’s desire to represent its affluent past with the faded glory and decaying architecture that typifies its current landscape. The question posed is: Is a culture defined by what it aspires to be, or what it appears to have become? As the architecture of Cuban cities decay, so too does the idea of utopia that had permeated Cuban culture since the revolution. However, a memory of once-great cities remains, and with it, hope for reform.