Continuing through June 14, 2013
A century ago, advocates of modernism declared that the true esthete would never even miss subject matter in art; he or she would perceive only abstract relationships of form and color. It was a nice thought, but in the real world, subject matter matters, and if all places are photogenic (to an abstractionist’s eye), some, paraphrasing Orwell, are more equal than others. Havana, Cuba, is one of these, boasting tropical beauty, picturesque crumbling architecture, a vivacious and resilient populace — not to mention a revolutionary past that may be headed for an evolutionary future. Jock McDonald, who has been photographing Cuba for twenty years, presents seventeen large-format color pigment prints, many of which are “photo weaves,” lattices of cut photo strips, that depict Cuba’s seductive sights, but transcend mere scenic tourist photography. Rather they emphasize the process of vision and the flat artifice of the artifact, in modernist terms, as well as introducing the dimension of time in some, as Cubism did, and the mosaic photo collages of David Hockney in others.
Don’t miss the ninety-six-foot-long accordion-fold panorama of the Havana’s famous waterfront stroll, “El Malecón: The Longview,” featuring views of both land and water in its 288 images, and sure to be of future historic value. The two multiframe views of the interior and exterior of the Gran Teatro de la Habana, resembling huge contact sheets, capture the glories of Baroque opera architecture. A less theatrical photo weave combines two views of a 1950s apartment building, with a 1970s Fiat (perhaps one of the famed taxis) parked in front. A pair of pendant portraits of a mother and daughter reflected in oval mirrors in a bathroom; and day and night woven versions of the Che Guevara sculpted “drawing” on the Ministry of Interior, based on “Korda” Guterierrez’s heroic 1960 photo, also stand out.
