RETRO CUBA: Opening Reception

Join us for the opening reception of RETRO CUBA at Gallery 625!

The artists featured in the show are: FRANCISCO J. RIVERO and ROBERTO SALAS who reside in Cuba and JOSE R. RAMIREZ and JORGE A. SANTANA, California artists.

Latin guitar by Emanuel Pailes | Light refreshments | Free and open to the public

6:30pm - Presentations by Jorge A. Santana, author/photographer; and Rick Swig, Roberto Salas representative

Retro Cuba depicts some of the harsh graphic and pictorial realities of this struggling country, and at the same time provides a glimpse of the beauty and resiliency of a people that know how to survive within their often difficult environment.

JOSE R. RAMIREZ has had a love affair with Cuba and its music since his teenage years. Since the late 1980s, he has traveled to Cuba many times and presents these photos of captured moments in Cuba from those visits. He is fortunate to have many friends and family on the island and hopes to return there soon.

FRANCISCO J. RIVERO is from Cárdenas, Cuba. Like all artists living in Fidel’s Cuba, his initial works were murals utilized by the revolution to help beautify public buildings and exalt the accomplishments of the revolution. As restrictions on artists eased up he began to develop a body of work that also reflected more controversial themes such as injustice, drawing on satire, metaphors and tropes.

ROBERTO SALAS is a renowned New York-born Cuban photographer who has documented historic and cultural moments in Cuba over the last 50 years, including the rise of Fidel Castro in the 60s. The twelve images exhibited in Retro Cuba are a tribute to animal husbandry and farming in a country where food is scarce. They are part of a larger series, “Such Are the Cubans”, a visual study of Cuban identity.

JORGE A. SANTANA, the curator of this exhibit, retired to begin his "creative phase" after 40 years of teaching Hispanic language and culture at California State University, Sacramento. He has led more than 55 travel study groups abroad, always with a camera in hand. For him, photography is a life-long passion and these photographs were taken during CSUS study trips to Cuba.

Face coverings are encouraged in the gallery and the most recent recommendations from the Yolo County Health Officer will be followed.

The artwork can also be viewed (and purchased) online at yoloarts.org/online-galleries.

Retro Cuba continues at Gallery 625 through October 4

Image (detail): Jorge A. Santana, Flautista, Digital photograph with archival pigment

Retro Cuba continues at Gallery 625 through October 4. Gallery 625 hosts exhibitions and receptions every other month. New exhibitions typically open on the first Fridays of February, April, June, August, October, and December.

Gallery 625 is located at 625 Court Street in Woodland, in Yolo County's Erwin Meier Administration building and is open Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. For more information, contact YoloArts at 530-309-6464