MICHEL MIRABAL: ARCHITETTURA DI UN SISTEMA
2023
Review by Beatrice
Entering the Veneto Institute of Sciences, Letters, and Arts is an unforgettable experience every year, whether it's during the Art Biennale or the Architecture Biennale. However, this year, the exhibition of works that initially seem discordant with the context acquires an absolute, impressive symbiosis with the environment during the visit.
It starts with a ground floor sculpture composed of exhaust pipes assembled on top of each other, interlocked to form a huge drop about 4 meters high with flowing blood.
On the first floor, you enter a room where the solar system is represented with illuminated planets lying on the floor, creating a magical, enchanted sight in the dark environment. But in the following room, you find his paintings, and here you begin to understand Mirabal's worldview, especially his own world, the Cuban one, with the representation of his country's flag in a triptych of past, present, and future that strikes a chord for those who know, love, and feel that history...
In front of these, there are two other paintings representing many white bedsheets, among which one bears the Cuban flag, describing the artist's inner world, linked to memories of his childhood.
But in the same room, in the background, right in front of the entrance, there is an installation composed of countless passports on which the painter has thrown paint in national colors to represent the exodus with its causes and consequences, a sort of cry of pain in recounting the departure of Cubans from their homeland.
But that's not all; the artist must pay homage, as in the representation of the solar system, to a universal message.
You enter another room for this purpose, where in front of a screen, there are chairs arranged like in an old cinema, with straw mannequins reclining on them. They are scarecrows watching the projection alongside a few straw birds placed here and there. The unmissable video, with its images and music, represents the chromatic/thematic focus. You can sit on those chairs and let yourself be overwhelmed by the emotions and the ants depicted here and there.
The last room, which I don't want to mention, contemplates the extreme mythological, ontological vision of the artist, magically developed in what cannot be considered an exhibition due to the polyhedricity of expressions, materials, and messages. It cannot be considered a project, albeit complex, due to the diversity of the presumed representations and conceptions. Instead, it is a reflection, a vision, a philosophical/political/social representation addressed with an extremely refined form and sophisticated content.
What Michel Mirabal proposes is a journey that each visitor can undertake in their own way, with their own personal point of view that is individually stimulated to become something more than themselves.
It is an encounter with one's own intimacy along with the universality of a world that is losing its hidden, intrinsic dimension.
A double, triple gaze triggers the journey, guiding the visitor, accompanying them, and at the same time leaving them alone with themselves so they can find the thread of the magically structured aesthetic/artistic discourse.
It is a disenchanted journey, Mirabal's journey, in the system, whether solar, global, personal, or existential. It is a poetic denunciation, a lacerating vision, a disquieting experience like the one described by the Kantian sublime.
An implacable restlessness, which I still feel as I write, unresolved, intentionally suspended in the aesthetic/existential contractions experienced during the journey.
Hasta siempre, Michel Mirabal!
Michel Mirabal, born in Havana in 1974, is a highly talented artist who has made a significant contribution to the world of art. He graduated from the Higher Institute of Design in Havana and continued his studies at the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts. Since 1998, Mirabal has held over 50 solo exhibitions and participated in over 70 group exhibitions in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
His works can be admired in public spaces in various countries, including Cuba, France, the United States, Canada, and Morocco. Mirabal's artistic talent goes beyond traditional means; in fact, he has been commissioned to design airplanes for Eastern Airlines and has had the privilege of being a spokesperson for MasterCard credit cards.
Mirabal has received numerous awards for his artistic contributions. He has been awarded prestigious honors such as medals and honorary doctorates in the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Morocco, the United States, and Italy (particularly in Venice). His works are also present in the collections of prominent figures in politics, culture, and business.
In addition to his artistic commitments, Mirabal is actively involved in community projects. Currently, he is developing a community project at the Finca Calunga farm in Havana, dedicated specifically to children without parents.
In addition to his artistic career, Mirabal has also ventured into art criticism, curating, and poetry. He holds a degree in architecture from the University of Havana and was a co-founder of the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center and the Havana Biennale in 1984. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the director of both institutions and is still part of the curatorial team. Mirabal has curated numerous exhibitions and art events in both Cuba and internationally and has given lectures in various countries in Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.
He is also an author, having published books of poetry and essays in Cuba. Mirabal has served on juries for prestigious art awards, including the Casa de las Américas Prize in 2005, and has collaborated with magazines and television programs. In recognition of his contributions to national culture, he was awarded the Distinción por la Cultura Nacional in Cuba in 1997. In 2008, he was appointed General Curator of the XVI Biennale of Paiz in Guatemala and received the Guy Pérez Cisneros National Art Criticism Award in 2007, 2016, and 2022, as well as the National Curatorship Award in 2013 and 2022.
From May 19 to July 23
Venice
Veneto Institute of Sciences, Letters, and Arts
Campo Santo Stefano 2945
Monday to Saturday 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Curator: Nelson Herrera Ysla
Free admission