YOAN CAPOTE

CRDITOS/CREDITS
Edicin/Edition

Elvia Rosa Castro

Diseo/Design

Luis Alonso
Fotografa/Photography

Rodolfo Martnez

Archivo del artista/Artists archive

Traduccin/translation
Coordinacin/Coordination

Yoan Capote
Asistencia/Assistant

Waldo Collazo
En cubierta/On cover
Stress (detalle/detail), 2004

Todos los derechos reservados a

All rights reserved to
Yoan Capote, 2008
Impresin/Printed
Escandn Impresores,S.A.
Sevilla, Espaa

OBRAS1997-2008WORKS

YOAN CAPOTE

El artista junto a su obra Stress en el parque de esculturas,

Lincoln, Nebraska. Coleccin Robert Duncan.
Artist with his work Stress at the Sculptures Park, Lincoln,
Nebraska. Robert Duncan Collection.

El beso / The Kiss, 1999

Bronce con diferentes patinas,
esencia de perfumes, esponja
Bronze with different patina,
perfume essences, sponge
7.5 x 4 x 4.5 cm cada una/each one

Esta obra examina nuestra

posicin frente a los temas raciales.
Narices en bronce colgadas en la
pared con diferentes formas, olores
y colores de patina, en relacin con
diversas caractersticas raciales.
Las narices con diferentes olores
en su interior, crean una instalacin
multisensorial que usa el gesto
del pblico al oler la pieza como
una interaccin sensual entre el
espectador y la escultura. La accin
del pblico cuando trata de oler la
fragancia de cada nariz, se convierte
en un performance inconsciente que
crea una secuencia de besos.
El espectador se convierte en
parte de la obra, como la pareja de
alguien que emerge de la pared.

This work questions our position

on racial issues. It consists of
several noses in bronze hung on the
wall with different shapes, smells
and patina colors, in relation with
diverse racial characteristics.
The noses, with different smells
inside, create an installation that
uses the publics sense of smell as
a sensual interaction between the
work and the spectator. When the
public tries to smell the fragrance of
each nose, it looks like a sequence
of kisses between the viewer and the
sculpture. The spectator becomes
part of the piece, like a couple that
is emerging through the wall.

Razones de los sentidos

Por Corina Matamoros Tuma*

Vctor Patricio Landaluze

Jos Francisco
Cortesa Museo Nacional
de Bellas Artes de Cuba
Courtesy of National Museum
of Fine Arts, Cuba

Yoan Capote comienza a trabajar a fines de los noventa y

sus obras comparten ciertas cualidades comunes a algunos
creadores ya establecidos en esos aos y a otros que la
crtica actual est llamando generacin 001. Me refiero
a que esgrime un tranquilo desentendimiento sobre los
asuntos de la identidad y la pertenencia, las que han sido,
sin lugar a dudas, notablemente importantes para la cultura
insular. Ni siquiera se ha tomado el trabajo de reaccionar
dramticamente hacia la identidad; ha preferido mirarla de
soslayo, curioso y condescendiente.
La llave con que abre las puertas y pretende seducir al
mundo es la del sensualismo. Escultor de inmenso instinto
sensorial, sus obras no solo pueden verse, sino tocarse,
orse, degustarse y hasta olerse. A veces nos relacionamos
con ellas directamente, mediante un solo sentido, y otras
muchas por mecanismos de sinestesia. Pero en la mayora
de los casos las obras estn diseadas para excitar varios
sentidos a la vez. En sus exposiciones son hechos cotidianos
unas palabras que exigen ser escuchadas, la forma misteriosa
de una superficie que se ofrece al tacto, un aroma particular
que despierta imperiosamente nuestro olfato, o un surtidor
de vino que se concede al paladar. Atrapados en mecanismos
vitales, quedamos a merced de sus sibarticas intenciones.
Y a pesar de la recurrencia y profundidad con que esta
caracterstica se despliega en sus trabajos, por mucho que
nos tiente, por mucho que parezca que todo se resuelve all
en el sensorio perceptible, en la satisfaccin de los deseos;
por ms que nos muestre toda la inventiva y el esplendor de
su mtier y nos seduzca con sus habilidades, este escultor
halla su verdadero sustento en el anlisis de los estados
emocionales del hombre. Siempre deja claro que no reduce la
interpretacin del mundo a lo que nos informan los sentidos.
Muy por el contrario, el artista se ocupa de relacionar
1

Trmino utilizado por la crtico Yuneikys Villalonga.

meticulosamente

muchas

sensaciones

con

estados

sicolgicos especficos, confirindoles a estos una dimensin

simblica concreta. Sus esculturas hablan de la obsesin, el
miedo, la violencia, la paranoia, la incomunicacin, el deseo, el
amor, las ansias de poder, la neurosis.
En otras ocasiones, nos remite directamente a conceptos
que son suministrados, principalmente, por los ttulos
con que designa sus piezas. As, Stress, es el fuste de
una pilastra exenta hecha de concreto donde el bruxismo
es escogido como encarnacin mxima de las tensiones
humanas. Lo hace subrayando el acto de apretar mandbula
contra mandbula, diente contra diente, tal y como hacemos
los mortales durante el sueo en ciertas noches de agona.
Entre las secciones de cada uno de los cinco tramos de
concreto que, con su peso, simulan los rigores de la vida,
estn engastadas cuatro lneas horizontales de dentaduras
humanas fundidas en bronce copias de las verdaderas
que el artista recopilara en una clnica dental. En esta
columna de base cuadrada, sobria, casi minimal, resultado
de un bruxismo poco menos que colectivo, se condensa una
eficiente imagen de sobrecarga extrema, de lmite de lo
soportable, de equilibrio a punto de ceder. Hay una peculiar
manera de ofrecer tanto la nocin misma de stress como sus
manifestaciones concretas en una nica pieza. La fusin de
esos dos planos, sensorial y conceptual, asegura la fuerza
de la escultura.
El momento ms importante en sus obras es aquel en que
Capote proyecta en un objeto un estado mental; la hora de
encarnar una pasin, de traducir al plano de lo concretosensible una estacin de la psiquis. En ese momento se pone
al descubierto toda la ingeniosidad de su simbolizacin, la
inteligencia para hallar la clave del concepto, as como la
tremenda humorada que su visin sostiene.

Auguste Rodin
El beso/The Kiss
El beso/The Kiss
(detalle/detail)

Porque, a pesar de incursionar en la psiquis mbito

tradicional de la pintura de introspeccin o, en otra vertiente,
espacio asumido por los surrealistas en la exploracin del
subconsciente, no hay excesos de dramatismo en su
Locura, ni en su Stress, ni en su Paranoia. Las pasiones no
le provocan martirios ni romanticismos. Ms bien le suscitan
una mirada de emociones contenidas que se combinan con
una operatoria analtica, casi perpleja, como de alguien que
disecciona un asunto y puede encontrarlo incluso ocurrente.
Junto a estas esculturas, pegado a ellas, est el cuerpo. O
partes, huellas y emanaciones del cuerpo. O el resultado de
sus acciones: un cerebro en Mente abierta; una cabeza en
Locura; mujeres arrodilladas en Parque prohibido; genitales en
Racional; narices en El beso; hormonas y neurotransmisores
en Feromonas, Endorfinas, y en Dopamina.
El cuerpo como espejo de la cultura con sus respuestas
biolgicas, sicolgicas y sociales. El cuerpo con sus
experiencias fsicas y ticas. El cuerpo humano como cuerpo
social. El cuerpo humano con su prolongacin en los objetos,
en su historia. Y en esto Capote es un seguro artista de hoy:
no le teme a la tradicin. Ha superado el desdn moderno por
la acumulacin de la herencia cultural, tambin se encuentra
ms all del popular citacionismo postmoderno.
A veces la historia salta durante el proceso de investigacin en
su arte. Mientras trabajaba la pieza El beso, compuesta por un
conjunto de narices fundidas en bronce de las que emanan fragancias
especficas, era consciente de que Rodin estaba inspirando toda la
empresa con su famosa escultura homnima, poderosa apelacin
a la pasin desde la piedra. La instalacin de Capote sera una
especie de homenaje al gran clsico de la escultura. Sin embargo,
deambulando por las salas de arte colonial del Museo Nacional
de Bellas Artes, en La Habana, Capote repara en un interesante
cuadro de Vctor Patricio Landaluze2 fechado hacia el ltimo cuarto

Caricaturista y pintor nacido en Bilbao en 1830 y radicado en La Habana desde

1850 aproximadamente. Se dedic a la pintura de tipos y costumbres y fue un
activo caricaturista en peridicos satricos de la poca. El Museo Nacional de
Bellas Artes conserva una importante coleccin de su produccin artstica.

Isla (detalle/detail)

del siglo XIX. En una pequea pintura, un esclavo domstico negro

se inclina, plumero en mano y en la soledad de la habitacin de los
amos, para besar la cabeza esculpida de una dama blanca. Este
episodio, comn en el costumbrismo del pintor vasco y derivado
de sus convicciones esclavistas, hace reflexionar a Capote sobre
las connotaciones sociales y raciales del acto de besar. Lo que
al principio era una mirada hacia el impresionismo de Rodin se
ampla con nuevos puntos de vista procedentes de la tradicin
pictrica cubana y, particularmente, con un anlisis de posibles
implicaciones sociales, raciales, antropomtricas, fisiolgicas y
culturales del beso.
Capote se lanza entonces a una carrera de razonamientos
y experiencias que densifican su proyecto original. Estudia,
por ejemplo, la anatoma de negros, asiticos, nativos
americanos,

caucsicos,

etctera,

para

obtener

un

repertorio de narices que se va expandiendo hacia toda raza.

Se asombra, asimismo, al acercarse a los experimentos
nazis, en su demente bsqueda a todo trance de patrones
antropomtricos que sustentaran la existencia de seres
superiores. Estas observaciones lo hicieron reconducir su
idea hacia la fundicin de narices de dismiles tipologas
humanas. Quera que pblicos tambin diversos se acercaran
y olieran las fragancias escondidas en ocultas esponjas, y
ensayaran un beso sinestsico acercndose a la nariz que
les pareciera ms apetecible o a la promiscuidad de todos los
besos prometidos por el conjunto. Ensayar un beso burlando,
por una vez, nuestros prejuicios raciales, nuestras fobias,
nuestras inhibiciones sexuales, nuestros desdenes sociales.
10

Un beso de curiosidad en la algaraba de una galera de arte:

un beso pblico delante del pblico; un beso-performance con
el accionar de todos.
En otras obras se advierte un proceso similar de intervencin
de la historia del arte. Y es que, mientras perfila una pieza,

Capote busca retrospectivamente cules pueden ser los

puntos de contactos con ciertas poticas antecesoras. De
esta manera, el artista se encarga de crear una filiacin
histrica y conceptual dentro de la cual puedan interpretarse
debidamente sus obras. Esta intencin se suma sutilmente a
los propios enunciados de las piezas, las cuales pueden crear,
de este modo, relaciones con esculturas tan notables como
las de Brancusi, Louise Bourgeois, o los cubanos Teodoro
Ramos Blanco, Kcho, o el propio Landaluze.
Existen incluso asociaciones en las que el artista no ha
reparado conscientemente. Parece obvio, por ejemplo,
que desde Osneldo Garca no haba surgido en la Isla un
escultor tan apegado al trabajo de los metales, tan imbuido
de sensualismo y tan ingenioso en la construccin de sus
aparatos como Capote. Osneldo, la figura ms importante
de la escultura ertica en nuestro medio, parece revivir
en piezas como Traganquel o Feromona, donde un mismo
sentido del humor conecta a ambos creadores.
Hay otro ejemplo notable de esto en una de las producciones
recientes del artista: la serie Isla, de 2007. Surgida como
especie de continuacin de la serie American Appeal, en
la comenz el trabajo con anzuelos de pesca, Capote ha
proyectado este conjunto de pinturas-esculturas como una
serie de paisajes marinos prcticamente idnticos.
A la distancia son solo marinas, tranquilas, convencionales,
de seguros horizontes. Marinas que se filtran entre el amor
por la pintura que siente este escultor. Marinas comme il
faut, evidement. Marinas de la tradicin. Marinas como
tributo (inadvertido) a Leopoldo Romaach.3

11

Leopoldo Romaach
Paisaje marino (Marina) / Sea-piece
Cortesa Museo Nacional
de Bellas Artes de Cuba
Courtesy of National Museum
of Fine Arts, Cuba

En el conjunto todos los cuadros mantienen la lnea del horizonte

a la misma altura, dimensiones similares y tcnicas idnticas
de leo sobre madera. La forma ideal de disfrutar de estas
piezas sera desplegarlas por todo el permetro de una galera
en cuyo centro se ubicase un telescopio. La pieza est hecha
para sentir la seduccin del mar. Desde lejos se observan las
superficies apaisadas de cielo y mar divididas por el horizonte.
Nada ms aparece en estos cuadros: ni barco, ni hombre,
ni bandera. De cerca, los cielos son pinceladas poderosas,
empastadas, yuxtapuestas, mezcladoras de luces, sabias en
sus texturas; de cerca los cielos son alucinantes. De lejos el
mar es oscuro, acerado, de olas pequeas. Pero de cerca el
mar es un tenebroso mundo de anzuelos. Ellos han trado la
ilusin de la sal y, al mirarlos detenidamente, han empezado
a desatar sus historias particulares de agonas, migraciones
e impedimentos. Estamos sitiados por el mar y los anzuelos
estn ensangrentados. El cielo pastoso, contumaz y denso,
se cierne sobre nuestras cabezas como colofn de soledad.
La pieza est hecha para sentir la seduccin del mar y sus
veleidades.
Entre el arte pblico, el performance y la intervencin del
espectador se debaten la mayora de las obras de Yoan Capote.
Hay un manifiesto inters por reconstruir colectivamente la
experiencia privada del artista, de salir del cerco individual y
sentir con los otros.
Seducido l mismo por la riqueza de la escultura, devorador
hedonista de materiales clsicos, admirador y estudioso de
la pintura tradicional, constructor de probada ingeniosidad,
12

Capote est obligado a actuar en la inteligencia del contexto

artstico cubano, pero no puede explayarse en un nuevo
romanticismo o en clasicismos insostenibles y practicar ese

Leopoldo Romaach, pintor cubano que viviera entre 1862 y 1951. Profesor por
muchos aos de la ctedra de color en la Academia de San Alejandro, Romaach
cultiv con xito el retrato y las marinas y se destac igualmente como el gran
formador de la generacin de artistas modernos, aparecidos hacia la segunda
dcada del siglo XX.

Isla, 2005
leo, anzuelos de pescar
y puntillas sobre madera
Oil, fish-hooks and nails
on playwood
78 x 110 x 6 cm

arte de la tradicin que tanto admira. Tiene que demostrar

que domina esa tradicin, que puede con ella, que logra
colocarla subliminalmente en sus piezas o convertirla en
reservorio de ligersimas insolencias. Capote tiene, adems,
que contar con el espectador haciendo su experiencia hacia
afuera. El artista confa mucho en su fuerza para dirigirse a
todos, en mostrarles su Mente abierta, donde prometemos
racionalmente no dejarnos seducir por las trampas que nos
tiendan los sentidos.

* Corina Matamoros es curadora de arte contemporneo del Museo Nacional de

Bellas Artes de Cuba

13

14
Exposicin personal Anmica
Solo Exhibition
Galera George Adams Gallery
N.Y., 2004

15

Detalle/detail

16

La idea de esta obra proviene de una experiencia personal de

The idea of this piece comes from a personal experience

presionar los dientes como efecto del stress, pero tambin

of grinding teeth as a side effect of stress; but also we

podemos considerar esta obra como un monumento a la

can consider this work as a monument to the collective

experiencia colectiva del stress en la vida urbana contempornea.

experience of stress in contemporary urban life. The artist

El artista tom los moldes de las dentaduras de muchas

went to a clinic in Havana and took the molds of teeth of

personas annimas en una clnica dental de la Habana. Luego

several anonymous people; he reproduced those teeth in

reprodujo exactamente dichas dentaduras en bronce, unindolas

bronze and fixed them in square lines. The bronzed teeth

de manera lineal. Los dientes en bronce soportan el peso de

support the weight of each concrete block (approx. 500

cada bloque de concreto (aprox. 500 lbs cada uno) La escultura

pounds each). The sculpture uses gravity, the material

usa de una manera simblica la gravedad, el material y su peso.

and weight in a symbolic way; it also employs the meaning

Tambin el significado de los dientes como parte importante del

of teeth as an important part of the body in a persons

cuerpo en la identificacin o identidad de una persona.

identity.

17
Stress, 2004
Concreto y bronce fundido
Concrete and cast bronze
250 x 60 x 60 cm
Galera George Adams Gallery

18

Stress, 2004
Emplazamiento en exterior
Outdoor emplacement
Concreto y bronce fundido
Concrete and cast bronze
250 x 60 x 60 cm
Coleccin/Collection
Karen y Robert Duncan,
Lincoln, Nebraska

19

Constantin Brancusi
El beso

In love (after Brancusi), 2004

Madera y bisagra/Wood and hinge
30 x 30 x 30 cm
Coleccin/Collection
Beth DeWoody, N.Y.

Inspirada en la obra de Brancusi El beso, 1908, esta pieza

combina nuevamente las formas geomtricas con la calida
alegora del cuerpo humano. La misma puede ser apreciada en
dos posiciones (abierta y cerrada). La pieza evoca la relacin
20

o contradiccin entre amor y sexualidad. Cuando la pieza est

cerrada crea la forma geomtrica perfecta (un cubo). Al igual
que en la obra de Brancusi se representa el amor como un
elemento monoltico conformado por la unin de la pareja. Pero
cuando la pieza est abierta una fuerte alusin sexual rompe
la perfeccin minimal de la escultura, descubriendo el espacio
ntimo de esta.

Inspired in the Brancusis piece The Kiss, 1908, this work

recombines geometric shapes with a warm allegory of the
human body. It can be viewed in two positions (open and
closed) The piece evokes the relationship or contradiction
between love and sexuality. When the piece is closed, it
creates the perfect geometrical shape (a cube). Like in
Brancusis work it represents love like a monolithic element
created by a couples union. But when the piece is open
a sexual allusion breaks the minimal perfection of the
sculpture, revealing an intimate space.

21

Detalle en acero/Steel detail

In love (after Brancusi), 2004-2007

Obra abierta/Opened work
Acero y bisagra/Steel and hinge
30 x 30 x 30 cm

22

Touch, 2004
Obra abierta/Opened work
Bronce y bisagra/Cast bronze and hinge
25 x 25 x 25 cm

23

24

25

26

Racional, 2004
Yeso, plexiglas/Plaster, plexiglas
80 x 55 x 55 cm
Coleccin/Collection
Michael Bewley, California

La escultura encarna la dicotomia entre placer y miedo,

pensamiento y deseo, instinto y razn.
The sculpture embodies the dichotomy between pleasure
and fear, thought and desire, reason and instinct.

Detalle/detail

27

28

Racional, 2004-2007
Bronce fundido/Cast bronze
196 x 66 x 66 cm

29

Galera Villa Manuela Gallery

La Habana/Havana

Racional, 2006
Mrmol, vidrio, madera y metal
Marble, glass, wood and metal
196 x 66 x 66 cm

30

Romance, 2004
Metal, madera y textil
Metal, wood and fabric
Dimensiones variables

31

32

33

Casados/Married, 2004
Cuero/leather
8 x 40 x 80 cm aprox.

34

Pgina anterior/Previous page

Casados/Married, 2004
leo sobre lienzo/Oil on canvas

35

Casados/Married III, 2004

Cuero/leather
8 x 40 x 80 cm aprox.

36

Como una extensin metafrica de un objeto (herramienta

Like a metaphorical extension of an object (liquid level tool)

de nivel lquido) la silueta de la cabeza adquiere una posicin

the silhouette of the head assumes an unstable position.

inestable. La forma de su base es el dibujo (al revs) de la parte

The base shape is the drawing (in the other way around) of

del cerebro que la cabeza ha perdido.

the part of the brain that the head has lost.

Locura/Madness, 2004
Madera y nivel lquido
Wood and liquid level
42 x 26 x 10 cm

37

Proceso de trabajo
Work in progress
Less Brunning Studio,
Omaha, Nebraska.

38

Locura/Madness, 2004
Acero y nivel lquido
Steel and liquid level
220 x 180 x 90 cm

39

40

El artista terminando su obra Nostalgia

Artist concluding his work Nostalgy
Galera George Adams Gallery

41

42

El artista us su propio equipaje despus de viajar desde la

The artist used his own luggage after traveling from Havana

Habana a Nueva York. El espacio interior de su maleta, como

to New York. The interior space of his suitcase, as an allegory

alegora de una ventana, fue cerrado con ladrillos de Manhattan.

of a window, was closed with the bricks of Manhattan. It is

Esta es una obra que encarna de una manera potica la

a piece that embodies in a poetic manner the situation of

situacin de viajar y emigrar. La maleta es siempre un objeto

traveling and immigration. The baggage is always the object

que contiene nuestras memorias y ms importantes cosas

that contains our memories and more important things

cuando estamos viajando. La pared de ladrillos y su peso crea

when we are traveling. The brick wall and its weight create

una metfora sobre la imposibilidad del retorno y las barreras

a metaphor about the impossibility of returning and also

que cargamos en la vida.

about the barriers we carry in life.

43

Nostalgia/Nostalgy, 2004
Maleta, cemento y ladrillos
Suitcase, bricks and cement
85 x 54 x 35 cm

La escultura funciona como un banco o mueble simblico para

espacio publico. Explora la experiencia de viajar y las situaciones
de emigracin. Cuando el espectador o transente comn
se sienta en la obra, esto lo hace parecer como un viajero o
emigrante; y cuando este decide abandonar el banco, su accin
simboliza el comportamiento de alguien que est dejando todo
su equipaje y recuerdos detrs. El peso de la pieza (concreto
slido) tambin enfatiza su significado.
The sculpture works like a bench or symbol furniture for
a public space. It explores the experience of traveling and
the emigration situation. When the spectator or common
people sit on the piece, they look like travelers or emigrants;
and when they leave the bench, that action symbolizes
the behavior of somebody that is metaphorically leaving
luggage and memories behind. The weight of the piece (solid
concrete) also emphasizes the meaning of it.

44

In tran/sit, 2002
Concreto slido y metal/Cast solid concrete and metal
Maletas a tamao real/Life size suitcases
Coleccin/Collection Alex y Carole Rosenberg, N.Y.

45

46

Dos puertas ensambladas impiden el acceso y se obstruyen

una a la otra impidiendo la posibilidad de abrirse. Sus colores
(blanco y negro) pueden recordarnos las dualidades presentes
en smbolos como el Yin y el Yang; apareciendo entre ambas
el color gris como una transparencia tridimensional que alude
al estado psicolgico de confusin e inseguridad del individuo
frente al futuro.

Two doors are assembled and fixed. Each one closes the
access and the movement of the other. Its colors (black
and white) reminds us of the dualities that are represented
in symbols like Yin and Yang; grey color appears between
them like three-dimensional transparency that alludes to
the psychological state of confusion and insecurity of an
individual faced with his future.

47

La duda/Doubt, 2006
Madera pintada y metal
Painted wood and metal
230 x 124 x 20 cm

48

La obra es una manipulacin conceptual que contiene

The work is a conceptual manipulation that contains a lot of

significados acerca de la dualidad en los asuntos econmicos

meanings about duality in economic and political issues of

y polticos. Esta consiste en un ensamblaje de dos diferentes

the contemporary world. It is an assemblage of two different

monedas (Quarter de Dollar y 20 centavos de dinero cubano).

coins (a quarter dollar and 20 cents of Cuban money). The

La imagen de los dos hroes es unida, y el idioma tambin es

images of the two heroes are joined, and the language also

mezclado.

are mixed.

Dinero bilinge/Bilingual Money, 2002

Ensamble de monedas/Coin assemblage
2.5 cm

49

Intrnseco/Intrinsic, 2006
Yeso y papel moneda/Plaster and dollar bills
7 x 17 x 16 cm

50

El signo (igual) es fundido en yeso dejando atrapados los billetes

The symbol (equal) was cast in plaster leaving the dollar bills

en su interior. La forma de los dollares dibujan el signo opuesto

inside, the shape of the dollars draw the opposite symbol

(desigual) Simblicamente el dinero se exhibe como elemento

(unequal). Metaphorically, money is shown as an element

que quiebra el concepto de la igualdad.

that breaks the concept of equality.

Impotencia/Impotence, 2004
Madera, metal, bocinas y sonido
Wood, metal, speakers and sound
250 x 320 x 250 cm

51

Detalle/detail

52

La instalacin evoca la situacin humana de incapacidad y

frustracin. La voz del artista se escucha desde dos altavoces
de diferente tamao, diciendo las palabras SI y NO, El
volumen y potencia del sonido de la bocina grande (NO) se opone
y convierte en silencio la voz de la otra (SI). Solo en algunos
momentos el espectador puede escuchar el repetido susurro
de la palabra SI.

The installation evokes the human situation of incapacity

and frustration. We can listen to the voice of the artist
from both speakers saying Si and No. The potency and
volume of the sound from the big speaker opposes and
becomes in silence the voice of the other (SI). Just in a few
moments spectators can listen to the repeated whisper of
the word Si

53

Secreto (mucho por decir)

Secret (so much to say)
2006-2008
Vidrio y goma de silicona
Glass and rubber
14 de diam. x 100 cm

54

Detalles/details

El espacio hermetico dentro del tubo de cristal es una alegora

The hermetic space inside the glass tube is an allegory to the

de la situacin psicolgica de preservar la informacin que

psychological situation of preserving the

conocemos y escuchamos. La experiencia de ser introvertido

information that we know and listen, the experience of being

y cuidadosos con nuestras palabras.

introvert and careful with our words.

55

56

57

El artista tom el dibujo de los perfiles de varias personas

The artist drew the silhouettes of several anonymous

annimas, desde la sombra que estas proyectaban sobre

people whose shadows were projected on a wall. Then, he

una pared, creando despus una analoga entre la reja y

created an analogy between a fence and the representation

la representacin de muchos individuos. La obra como

of several individuals.

ventanas sin salida sobre el blanco de la pared, nos

The work, like a no exit window on a blank wall; gives us

transmite la sensacin de desesperacin y alucinacin, o la

the sensation of desperation and hallucination, or the

experiencia de sentirnos prisioneros de quienes nos rodean

experience of when we feel imprisoned in our own body or by

o de nosotros mismos.

the people that surround us.

Pgina anterior/Previous page

Paranoia, 2006
Rejas de acero/Steel bars

58

Detalle/detail

59

60

Retrato de la masa (lote)/Mass portrait (lot), 2007-2008

Piedra caliza tallada y metal/Carved stone and metal
Dimensiones variables

Detalle/detail

La instalacin consiste en un grupo de retratos inconclusos,

The installation consists in a group of unfinished portraits,

tallados en bloques de piedra. Cada pieza de piedra es como

carved on st one blocks. Every piece of stone is like the

la representacin de una individuo sin identidad. Puede

representation of an unident ified individual. It seems that

verse que los rostros no fueron tallados porque cada piedra

the faces were not carved because every stone was not big

no era suficientemente grande. Esta situacin cnica crea

enough. This cynic situation creates the metaphor of the

la metfora de la obra, donde el artista se limita a esculpir

work, where the artist limits himself to carving just the

solo los odos de personas diferentes extrados de fotos de

detailed ears of different people, from photos of anonymou

seres annimos que el l tom en la calle.

spersons that he took at the st reet.

Esta obras analiza temas como la identidad perdida,

This work analyzes contents like the lost identity, the

la imposibilidad o disolucin de la expresin individual y

impossibility or dissolution of individual expression and the

la condicin del ser humano dentro de una colectividad

condition of the human being inside collective circum stances

o estructuras sociales. Los odos sin el rea de la cara

or social structures. The ears without a face area symbol

simbolizan el hecho de no tener voz. Es una representacin

of no having voice. It is a representation of the subject as a

del sujeto como parte de una masa incapaz de expresar algo

part of the mass that dont expresses anything and is just

y que solo recibe y escucha palabras.

receiving words and listening.

61

Autorretrato (cada uno de nosotros)

Self-portrait (each one of us), 2002-2008
Concreto y bronce fundido/Concrete and cast bronze
250 Kg en equilibrio/in equilibrium
175 x 50 x 50 cm

62

63

64

Detalle/detail

El artista realiz moldes de huesos reales que provienen

The artist did molds of real bones with provenance from

de diferentes personas muertas y despus reprodujo en

different dead people and after reproduced in wax each one,

cera cada uno ajustndolos y representando un nuevo

adjusting them and creating the representation of a new

sujeto en esa escultura. El peso del concreto es usado

subject in that sculpture. The weight of the concre te is

como elemento simblico. El equilibrio es una metfora de

used like a symbolic element. Equilibrium is as a metaphor

lucha y resistencia. La gravedad recuerda el peso espiritual

of struggle and resistance. Gravity reminds the spiritual

que cada uno soporta y habla de la fragilidad de nuestras

weight that everyone supports and talks about fragility of

propias vidas.

our own life.

65

66

Voluntad de poder/Will of power, 2006

Madera/Wood
230 x 60 x 135 cm

Esta pieza puede ser usada de manera interactiva por el

pblico, pero la concepcin de riesgo y dificultad intrnsecos
en el subir y mantenerse en una posicin elevada en las
escaleras es una metfora acerca del ascenso y codicia en
la sociedad contempornea.
That piece can be used or interact with public, but the
conception of risk and difficulty that is intrinsic in go up and
maintain a high position on the stairs is a metaphor about
ascend and greed of human been in contemporary society.

67

Yoan Capote: Beauty and the Bite

By Phoebe Hoban*

Yoan Capotes art accomplishes something unique: it

combines wit, heart, and beauty in equal measure. In recent
years, conceptual art has often given irony a bad name.
Work that is either cynical, or deliberately unaesthetic,
or both, has frequently dominated. But Capote carves out
his own idiosyncratic niche; he consistently finds ways to
merge classical aesthetics with contemporary concepts,
creating pieces that are appealing on a physical, emotional
and intellectual level.
Sometimes, the humor is obvious, as in Racional, 2004, an
academically rendered plaster cast of a male torso, which
boasts a sly organ-transplant: instead of genitalia, this
crotch sprouts a brain. Other times, it is more subtle, as
in the piece entitled Stress, in which multiple bronze casts
of human teeth support sections of a cement pillar, a literal
representation of tooth-grinding anxiety that only reveals
itself upon close examination. As in much of Capotes work,
the specific flows seamlessly into the universal: the artist
got the idea from his own nocturnal tooth-grinding, but his
use of anonymous dental molds from a Havana clinic raises
the piece to a collective level. In its austere simplicity and
aesthetic elegance, Stress exemplifies Capotes gift for
transforming cerebral ideas into visually powerful and readily
accessible works of art: beauty with an actual bite.
While much contemporary art has emphasized the abject
element in human physicality, Capotes work focuses on the
68

sensual, erotic and even the tender. His delightfully clever

In love (After Brancusi) -2004- is a hinged wooden cube
that opens to reveal a male/female allegory: a cylindrical
member, itself a kind of hinge, plugging a hole. The sanctity
of the closed cube, smoothly split in half, exposes the hidden

intimacy of the gently interlocking parts. A similar piece,

cast in bronze, replaces the male member with a digit, and
is called simply Touch.
A different view of (male/female) union is on display in Married,
2004, in which a womans shoe merges with a mans shoe,
creating a single leather unit. This stylized uni-shoe is
punctuated on one side by a male shoe, and on the other by
its female counterpart, which function as visual parentheses;
witness the before and after of the connubial state, at
least from a sartorial point of view.
Capote is wide-ranging in his use of scale and materials. Take
his modest but potent 2004 piece Nostalgia. It consists
of the artists own suitcase, which traveled with him from
Havana to New York and then back, this time filled with
Manhattan bricks, creating a visual punthe artist weighed
down with baggagethe experience of his trip. In In Tran/
sit an earlier piece, 2002, it is the exterior of the luggage
that communicates transience: a series of concrete and
metal suitcases form a bench that looks as much lost as
found.
Capotes use of visual metaphors based on quotidian objects
evokes both Magritte and Duchamp: the surreal readymade.
But there is something particularly lyrical about Capotes
work; his solutions to the artistic problems he poses are not
just singularly pragmatic but also strikingly poetic.
69
Born in Pinar del Rio in 1977, Capote began studying art at
the age of 11 at the Provincial School of Art in his hometown.
By the time he was fourteen, he was attending the National
School of Art in Havana, completing high school at the Higher

Institute of Art. He studied with Rene Francisco at Havanas

Instituto Superior de Arte, and participated in a group
called DUPP, an acronym for the Spanish words Dsde Una
Pragmatica Pedagogica (which means, from a pedagogical
pragmatics). By the time he was 24, he was also teaching
at the school.
I think art is sensitivity and thought, says the artist, who
begins each piece by giving it a title in his sketchbook. In
affect, his art starts in the act of naming his idea. The title
and the subject it evokes sow the seeds of the individual
work, and also determine its scale and material. For Capote,
content comes first, followed by form: The most important
thing is not how to produce the work: the really important
concern for me is how to get in touch with the spectators
mind, he says.
Capote works out of a rough-hewn two-story studio space
in Havana. One enters a large, raw area that boasts one
of his prize possessions: a vintage tk car the sort of oldfashioned American automobile that has become an iconic
image of a contemporary Cuba frozen in time. (Think of those
sepia-toned photographs of Havana.) But like many artists of
his generation, Capote strives to transcend his geographical
and historical roots. And while his art is certainly shaped in
part by his everyday life, his vision extends well beyond the
Malecon the famous seawall between Cuba and the world.
70

I think that my experience as a Cuban artist is reflected in

my works in many ways, and I think that most of the time
it is unconscious, he says. I feel it is not good to exploit
too much identity exoticism. Because it leads the art to
stereotypes, and it can become a vicious circle that can

make the work banal. It is the big challenge of my generation:

to find an equilibrium between our strong personal and
contextual experiences and our need to project ourselves
as international artists. I want to expand my daily concerns
through a human sensibility, because the human sensibility
itself is an international language.
It is this international language the lingua franca of the
human condition that Capote eloquently articulates, with
both insight and ingenuity, in his original and compelling
oeuvre.

71

* Phoebe Hoban is a New York-based journalist. She wrote the book Basquiat:
A Quick Killing in Art.

Yoan Capote
By Tanya Barson*

The fundamental contacts, transactions and exchanges

involved in human relations are the basis for Yoan Capotes
work, whether these are based in fiscal or emotional
economies, or driven by necessity or desire. His works can
be seen as constituting a lexicon of psychological states, his
major themes and concerns being drawn from his overarching
interest in fathoming the depths of individual subjectivity.
On the one hand, his works examine sensibilities inspired
by personal relationships (including love, jealousy, longing,
grief, claustrophobia) and, on the other, those grounded in
the impacts of political or social structures upon individual
experience and daily life (stress, fear, isolation, paranoia,
cooperation, conviviality). Utilising allegory and visual puns
as

universalising

devices,

Capote

creates

sculptures

which, while they relate to the immediate context of their

making Cuba during the special economic period. Equally,
although the works often have an autobiographical impetus
or observation behind them, they are abstracted from any
specific experience or detail to become reflective of the
human condition in general. Thus, they eschew solipsism,
privileging instead psycho-social associations.
In a career that now spans more than a decade, Capote
has produced a body of work that encompasses a variety of
processes and materials but which is grounded in the practice
of sculpture.

His work combines aspects of Duchampian

neo-conceptualism with post-minimalist figuration inspired

by artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Bruce Nauman and
Joseph Beuys. And yet, he also returns to the example of
earlier twentieth century modernist artists, and in particular
72

to Surrealism, as the basis for an adaptable sculptural

vocabulary. At the same time, surreal eroticism, the pull
and push of desire and the potential threat to subjectivity
inherent in this oscillation, has become an important theme
within Capotes work. Another of Capotes key influences is

Constantin Brancusi, whose pared-down modernist figuration

provides a model for sculptures which are also grounded
in a sensitivity to the sensuous qualities of materials
such as wood, stone or bronze. Following the examples of
Brancusi and Bourgeois, Capotes work is characterised by
a preference for somewhat traditional material processes
such as carving and casting, though this is combined with a
willingness to use less customary materials such as rubber
or organic substances including bone. This seems to be as
much, if not more, to do with a general comfort with material
hybridity, than with the need to improvise with the materials
that are available in a context of relative scarcity. Moreover,
these materials and processes are put to the service of an
absolutely contemporary sensibility, addressing dilemmas
and questions of existence rooted in the here and now.
While Capote does address the impact of political controls
and power structures, his work nevertheless avoids overt
pamphleteering or campaigning in favour of a more discrete
and sophisticated deployment of metaphor. Works such
as Self-portrait (Each one of us) 2002-8, set up disturbing
tableaux, which emphasise the fragility of the human body
and its condition of daily struggle. In this work, seemingly
fragile human leg bones support three blocks of concrete;
although they are rooted in a fourth block of concrete, the
work establishes a dissonance through the exposure of the
bones, the disproportion of their narrowness and apparent
insufficiency to support the blocks above. The combination
of materials, warm brown bronze which contrasts with the
stark, brutal concrete, plays up an evocation of the abject
and bodily in opposition to the sterile and industrial. Yet the
bones and concrete are placed in a condition of suspended
animation, suggesting both the probability of violence that
has occurred, which the combination of these elements
seems to evidence, and of imminent disaster as we anticipate

73

the bones crushed by the weight of the blocks. What results

is an image of life lived in a state of perpetual stress and
resistance, of past, present and future aggressive violations.
This work relates to an earlier piece named Stress 2004, in
which regular modules of concrete are interspersed with a
band of bronze cast from a mould of the artists clenched
teeth.

In both, balance or equilibrium is made inherently

problematic and disturbing. Moreover, bodily parts combined

with or encased in concrete has more widely known, sinister
connotations.
Capote uses both bodily fragmentation and anthropomorphosis
of domestic objects and situations to address the
relationship of our bodies to the world around us. His works
engage with both the pathos and the humour of living together.
For instance, Married 2004 consists of two pairs of ordinary
footwear, mens shoes and womens sandals, however one
of each pair is in the process of metamorphosis, stretching
to join and morph into one another. Such works evince both
an apprehension about the dissolution of identity, though
viewed with a keen sense of the absurd, but also express the
proximity and unity acquired through marriage. Meanwhile,
a work such as Secret (so much to say) 2006-8 encapsulates
the condition of concealed information exchange, of anxiety
related to the open expression of true opinions as well as
interpersonal relationships and the basic need for (private
or intimate) communication. In what appears to be a model
or device for a scientific experiment, but one whose precise
function evades us, a glass tube is plugged at either end
with a rubber stopper, the inner end of which incorporates
74

the form of a human ear. Such works go beyond the more

literal anthropomorphism of sculptures such as Married.
Here the artist presents the impossibility of communication
within a given structure; two ears, perfectly mirroring one
another, listen endlessly to the vacuum between them, into

which no sound can enter. Capote embraces such images of

paradox, frustration and futility in his work. He describes this
sculpture as addressing the circumstance of being careful
with our words as well as concerning the preservation of
knowledge.1
In certain circumstances the most innocuous information
turns out to be powerful, details become crucial, divulging
anything a matter of risk why else is the right to privacy
defended so vigorously by human rights organisations
wherever possible. Knowing the power of knowledge exerts
a compelling influence over the individual, often leading to
self-censorship, or to the development of clandestine forms
of communication. In this sense, Secret (so much to say) was
prefigured by a work and performance Capote executed in
collaboration with his brother Ivan; Secreter 2000 consists
of two connected capsules which create a closed circuit
system of communication allowing the brothers to speak
to one another confidentially, without being overheard. The
work manifests an ingenious, improvised response to the
need for privacy and presents an image of co-operation and
complicity. Thus, through his work Capote aims to reveal the
profound physical and psychological impacts of authoritarian
power on the individual and the community. Suely Rolnik has
identified similar thematics in operation in the work of the
Brazilian artist Cildo Meireles, in which the psychological
realities, or in fact the sensation of political repression or
what she calls the excessive pathalogical normality of
life under state terrorism, are made evident through the
work2. The difference is that while Meireles works were
conceived under and refer to a period of repressive military
dictatorship, Capotes have been created in the context of
a different level of state control and in an era of relatively
unprecedented optimism about the future and increasing
connections with the world outside. Therefore, his project

75

also has a positive dimension and outlook. Another work, Open

Mind 2006-8, offers a very different response to the need
for communication both locally and within an international
context. This work, a public art project that exists as
drawings and a maquette for the time being, is a somewhat
Borgesian labyrinth which takes its form from the mind itself,
the channels and modulations of the brain. Rather like the
sculptures of the Austrian sculptor Franz West, Capotes
open-access work is intended to offer an experience which
is physical, visual, auditory and sensory, with the additional
possibility of fulfilling a useful function. West has commented
Best of all I like art in the streets; it doesnt demand that
you make a special journey to see it, its simply there. You
dont even have to look at it -that is probably the ideal art.3
While Wests sculptures incorporating seats offer members
of the public the opportunity to sit down and have a rest,
Capotes labyrinth through the addition of music, is intended
to stimulate meditation and a sense of global solidarity. Both
aim to promote conviviality and operate in an in-between
space crossing art-life boundaries.
A departure in form and technique within Capotes practice,
Isla (in memorium) 2007 is a diptych depicting the sea and
its horizon line beneath a grey sky. This rather bleak image
is composed of both conventional and strange materials,
oil paint combined with fish hooks and nails on wood. What
results is a simple yet powerful, expressionistic, monochrome
image recalling the seascapes of Anselm Kiefer, and with a
similarly oppressive effect and basis in existential reflection.
Yet, the Isla paintings also embody a form of profound
76

longing, an awareness of isolation and claustrophobia

that comes from living on an island and of the sea which
surrounds and divides. It summarises the emotional basis
for emigration the curiosity about and need for contact
with the outside world just beyond the horizon. The Cuban

population, having endured a longer and more acute history

of isolation than most in recent history, has an intimate,
communal knowledge of conflicting desires such as the pain
of separation, the solidarity of shared circumstance and
the longing for departure or escape. An earlier work, 1,2,3,
Testing 2000, addressed a similar longing for contact with
the external world. For a site-specific project realised during
the 7th Havana Biennial the artist, collaborating with Galeria
DUPP, placed cast iron sculptures of microphones along
the sea wall, some facing outwards, towards the horizon,
some inwards, towards Havana. The work seemed to ask
the familiar question is there anybody out there? Yet, the
microphones provided no possibility of making audible this or
any other question directed outwards, or any reply; being
functionless objects they would be unable to facilitate any
form of communication. The work eloquently summed up the
lack of a dialogue existing between Cuba and the world and
the intense desire for contact. In his work, Capote walks a
fine path between reflection on the past and projection into
the future, between observation of the specifics of his local
environment and an outward-looking attitude that seeks
to connect with humanity in general. Although his works
encapsulate the condition of living between two worlds,
the complex state of double-consciousness that seems to
sum up Cuban experience, they also address situations and
states that apply almost universally to human experience.

January 2009
Tanya Barson, international curator at Tate Modern, London.

77

1
2
3

Unpublished notes by the artist.

A shift towards the unnamable by Suely Rolnik, in Cildo Meireles, Tate, London, 2008, p.133
West quoted in Robert Fleck, Bice Curriger, Neal Benezra, Franz West, London 1999, p.20

Detalle/detail

78

79

Ereccin, 2002-2008
Madera/Wood
210 x 105 x 52 cm

Galera Habana Gallery, Cuba

La instalacin comenta acerca de la ausencia de dialogo

y comunicacin entre pases y polticos. Las formas de
varios micrfonos conforman el diseo de dos sillas y una
mesa como muebles simblicos. Este tipo de micrfono es
asociado en muchos pases con el discurso de los polticos.
Particularmente el diseo de la silla evoca la posicin humana
en los niveles polticos. Los micrfonos en el espaldar de la
silla implican simblicamente que cualquiera que se siente
en estas para conversar, estar diciendo siempre las cosas
que otra persona detrs pronuncia. El espectador puede
sentarse en la galera, pero la decisin de tomar asiento en
la obra es metafricamente como la decisin de entrar en
una posicin poltica.

Protocolo/Protocol, 2001
Aluminio fundido, terciopelo rojo,
vidrio, alfombra y sonido
Cast aluminum, red velvet,
glass, carpet, sound
Dimensiones variables
Variable dimensions installation

80

The installation comments on the absence of dialogue and

communication between countries and politicians. The
shapes of the microphones create the design of two chairs
and a table, as symbolic furniture. In several countries, this
kind of microphone is associated with politicians speeches.
Particularly the chairs design evokes the human position at
the political level. The microphones in the back of the chair
symbolically imply that anybody that sits down in those
chairs to talk, will always be saying things the person behind
him pronounces. The spectator can be seated in the gallery
but the decision of take a seat in the piece, is metaphorically
like the decision of entering in a political position.

81

Detalle/detail

82

83

84

85

Pgina anterior/Previous page

1, 2, 3... probando/testing
Mixta sobre cartulina
Mixed media on paper

Detalle/detail

86

1, 2, 3... probando/testing, 2000

(con Galera DUPP/with DUPP Gallery)
Instalacin/Site-specific installation
Hierro fundido y concreto/Cast iron and concrete
100 micrfonos de hierro fundido emplazados en el litoral
habanero durante la VII Bienal de La Habana
100 microphones placing at the Havana litoral during the
7th Havana Biennial

87

88

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Pgina anterior/Previous page

Isla (in memoriam)

Detalle/detail

90

Estas obras se inspiran en la experiencia de la seduccin, el

Those works are inspired in the experience of seduction, desire

deseo y la obsesin como expresiones constantes de nuestro

and obsession like constant expressions of our body and its

cuerpo y su naturaleza humana en la sociedad contempornea.

human nature in contemporary society. Specifically, this

Especficamente, la serie ISLA reproduce la imagen del mar usando

work entitled ISLA reproduces the image of sea using around

alrededor de 100 000 anzuelos de pescar como una metafrica y

100 000 fish-hooks like a metaphorical and dramatic visual

dramtica presencia visual. Esta pieza resume dicha experiencia

presence. This piece resumes a geographic experience; the

geogrfica; las obsesiones y limitaciones de habita r en una isla.

obsessions and limitations of living in an island. Nonetheless

Sin embargo, esta obra tiene otras connotaciones de significado

the work also has others connotations of meaning in a context

en un contexto como Cuba, pres sintetiza el drama permanente

like Cuba, because it synthesizes the permanent drama of

del aislamiento y la emigracin, la necesidad, el dolor o la ilusin

isolation and emigration; the need, the pain or the illusion of

de ir ms all del horizonte. Durante un largo y difcil proceso de

going beyond the horizon. During a long and difficult process

trabajo el artista accidentalmente se hiri sus manos, dejando las

if work the artist hurt accidentally his own hands living the

huellas de su sangre sobre la pintura . Entonces, decidi entender

traces of his blood on the painting. Then, he understood the

el proceso de creacin como otra actitud simblica transmitindole

creation process like another symbolic attitude that gave

la idea de usar su propia sangre como otro pigmento que refuerza

him the idea of using his own blood another pigment that

el contenido de la obra. Cada anzuelo fue clavado sobre el panel

reinforces the content of the work. Each fish-hook was fixed

de plywood usando puntillas muy

pequeas. Entre el anzuelo,

to the plywood panel knocking a tiny nail. There is a close an

la sangre y el mar hay una estrecha relacin alegrica pero en

d allegorical relationship among fish-hooks, blood and Sea;

este caso es el mar y su horizonte quien atrapa, quien seduce,

but in this case the Sea and its horizon are the trap that

mostrndose como una trampa que divide y desafa.

seduces, divides and challenges.

Detalle/detail

91

Pgina siguiente/Next page

Isla (in memoriam), 2007

leo, anzuelos, puntillas
y sangre del artista sobre madera
Oil, fish-hooks, nails
and artist blood on plywood
136.5 x 258.5 x 7 cm cada uno/each one

92

93

94

El artista se inspir en su primera visita a Nueva York,

The artist was inspired by the experience of visiting New York

creando una serie de trabajos titulados American Appeal,

for first time, creating a series of works

donde us miles de anzuelos como smbolo de seduccin y

Entitled American Appeal where he uses thousands of fish-

trampa.

hooks as a symbol of seduction and trap.

Detalles/details

95
Pgina siguiente/Next page

American Appeal, 2006

leo, anzuelos y puntillas sobre madera
Oil, fish hooks and nails on plywood
120 x 200 cm

96

97

98

La imagen del cerebro fue tallada en PVC, creando y diseando

The image of a Brain was carved in a volume of PVC, creating

un cerebro. La escultura funciona como maqueta para un

a design of maze. The sculpture

proyecto pblico. La idea es crear un espacio arquitectnico

functions like a model for a public art project. The idea is

abierto para el acceso de todos sin importar la condicin

to create an architectural space opened to the access of

(poltica, racial, religiosa, cultural, etc.) Open Mind es un

any class of spectator from any kind of background (political,

proyecto para construir un parque subterrneo hecho de

race, religion , culture, etc).

muros que construyan un laberinto similar al cerebro humano

Open Mind, is a project to build an underground park made

y simule cierta contemplacin mientras caminamos por l.

with walls that construct a labyrinth similar to the human

Habr hierba alrededor del laberinto subterrneo y encima

brain and stimulate meditation while you walk through. There

de los muros.

will be grass around the underground labyrinth and on top of

El proyecto es ideal para un espacio urbano, donde las

the walls.

construcciones circundantes permiten ver a las personas

The project is ideal for an urban space, where the surrounding

caminando dentro, como neuronas movindose y llevando

buildings allow one to view the people from above and look

informacin. Dentro, la instalacin ser un mueble minimal.

at them walking inside like neurons moving and carrying

Msica para meditar, venida de los muros del laberinto,

information. Inside the installation, will be minimal furniture.

ayudan a crear un ambiente de relajacin.

Meditative music, coming from the walls of the labyrinth,

Los

seres

humanos,

como

neuronas

que

contienen

helps create an environment of relaxation.

conocimiento e informacin se convierte en metfora de

Human beings, like a neuron in possession of knowledge and

nuestra mente y nuestra conducta. La naturaleza urbana de

information, become metaphors of our mind and our behavior.

la pieza y el sentido de trnsito ser una alegora acerca de la

The urban characteristics of the work and the sense of

aceptacin y la necesidad de reflexin del ser humano sobre

transit intend to transmit an allegory about acceptance

la vida urbana contempornea. Un detalle de la obra muestra

and the need for human reflection of contemporary urban

que uno de los muros del laberinto posee la forma del mapa

life. A detail the piece shows that one of the walls of the

de Cuba y puede llevar a pensar acerca de la situacin del

maze has the shape of the Cuba map and it could create

contexto cubano hoy pero fundamentalmente se trata de una

interpretations about the situation of the cuban context

reflexin acerca de la necesidad de ser ser tolerante y tener

today but mainly the work is a reflection about the human

la mente abierta en un mundo global.

need of tolerance and open mind in a global world.

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Open Mind, 2006-2008

Maqueta/maquette PVC
Bronce, metal y cristal
Bronze, metal and glass
92 x 126 x 126 cm

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105
Top Feminist, 2002-2008
Zapatos, madera y pintura
Shoes, wood and paint
245 x 50 x 50 cm

Detalle/detail

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Lagrimal/Tear dot, 2000-2001

Cemento, bronce cromado,
vino tinto y monedas
Cement, chrome bronze,
red wine and coins

108

Fuente-bebedero realizada con cemento, bronce cromado,

Drink fountain system, cement, chrome bronze, red wine

vino tinto y monedas. La obra es una pieza muy dramtica,

and coins. The work is a very dramatic piece in relation

relacionada con el fenmeno de la prostitucin. El artista

to the prostitution phenomena. The artist did a mold of

realiz un molde de la cara de una prostituta en La Habana y

the face of a prostitute in Havana, and after recreates

luego cre un objeto pblico (un bebedero de acero inoxidable)

a public object (a stainless steel drink fountain) adjusting

ajustando el retrato de la prostituta al mecanismo objetual

the portrait to the mechanism of the object in a very

en un posicin muy sensual. Durante la inauguracin de la

sensual position. During the opening of the show the public

expo el pblico poda beber vino tinto de la pieza, dando la

could drink red wine from the piece, giving the sensation

sensacin de que se produca un beso entre la obra y las

of a kiss between the work and different people. But the

diferentes personas. Pero el mecanismo de la pieza solo

mechanism of the piece only functions if the spectator put

funciona si el espectador introduce una moneda dentro de

a coin inside a hole and after introduces the finger inside

un orificio y luego introduce su dedo en el objeto. La relacin

the object. The relation between art and spectator is in

entre el espectador y el arte en este caso produce una suerte

this case a kind of metaphor about possession, pleasure

de metfora acerca de la posesin, placer y tristeza pues la

and sadness, because the position of the face in the

posicin del rostro en la escultura remite a una situacin

sculpture reminds an erotic situation but at the same

ertica pero al mismo tiempo una posicin de sacrificio.

time a sacrifice position.

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Anlisis de la belleza
Analysis of the Beauty
1999
Contenedor de basura, textil, metal
Garbage container, fabric, metal

La pieza evala los conceptos de belleza que estn en

The piece evaluates concepts of beauty that relate to external

relacin con una nocin externa y superficial; y nos comenta

and superficial notions; and it comments allegorically about

alegricamente acerca de la condicin de recipiente del

the recipient condition of the human body. The piece was

cuerpo humano. Primeramente la obra fue exhibida en espacio

first exhibited in a gallery space, and after, in a public space

de Galera y luego en un proyecto en espacio pblico en la

project in Panama City (Multiple City exhibition).

ciudad de Panam (exposicin Ciudad Mltiple).

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Entertainment, 2003
Concreto fundido, yeso, acero, luces azules
Cast concrete, plaster, steel, blue lights
Dimensiones variables
Variable dimensions installation

Esta obra comenta sobre la relacin entre el individuo y

la tecnologa; acerca de la manera en que los Mass Media
pueden generar situaciones de manipulacin, simulacin
o adiccin en la sociedad.

Cada escultura en su interior

posee una forma cncava y vaca, con una superficie pulida e

iluminada de azul produciendo el efecto visual de la pantalla.
Esto estableca una relacin metafrica entre la luz azul
de la pantalla del monitor y el color azul del cielo. Todas
las piezas estaban montadas sobre bases con una altura
suficientemente elevada, para recordar las ventanas de una
prisin. Esta instalacin fue mostrada en la 8va Bienal de la
Habana, en un espacio de una fortaleza que en otros tiempos
fue una crcel real.
The installation talks about the relationship between the
individual and the technology; about the way that Mass
Media can generate situations of manipulation, simulation or
addiction in society. Each sculpture has a concave and empty
shape inside, with a polished surface illuminated in blue that
produces the visual effect of the TV screen. It establishes
a metaphorical relationship between the blue light of the
monitor screen and the blue color of the sky. Every piece
was mounted in a base high enough on the wall, to recall the
windows of a prison. This installation was showed at the 8th
Havana biennial, in a fortress space that in other time was
an actual jail.

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Equilibrio/Equilibrium, 1998-2002
Detalles/details

117

Equilibrio/Equilibrium, 1998-2002
(con/with Ivn Capote)
Bronce fundido, arena, acero y performance
Performance and cast bronze object, sand and steel
Dimensiones variables

La accin consista en la realizacin, entre dos artistas, de

The action consisted of two artists creating a circular line of

una lnea circular de textos sobre la arena. Cada uno de ellos

text on sand. Each one of them used a pair of bronze sandals,

us un par de sandalias de bronce, con una inscripcin a

with a script in relief underneath, of the words ARTE and

relieve en la parte inferior, con las palabras ARTE y VIDA.

VIDA. When they walked on the circular sand line, the texts

Cuando ellos caminaban sobre la lnea circular de arena, la

of the footprint ARTE (art) were superimposing constantly

huella de la palabra ARTE se superpona constantemente

on the trace of the word VIDA (life), and vice versa. After

sobre la huella de la palabra VIDA, y viceversa. Despus de

the performance, the object and the traces were left as an

terminada la accin se apreciaba el objeto y las huellas como

installation.

una instalacin.

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Secreter, 1999
(con/with Ivn Capote)
Metal, plstico, sillas y performance
Metal, plastic, chairs and performance

122

Los artistas crearon un objeto para comunicarse opiniones

The artists created an object for communicating private

privadas en el espacio pblico. El performance duraba varios

opinions in public space. The performance lasted several

minutos y mas tarde; los transentes (personas annimas)

minutes and afterwards; the anonymous people from the

haciendo uso de este objeto se comunicaban y expresaban

street had the possibility of communicating with each other

entre ellos.

and expressing themselves through use of the object.

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Lder/Leader, 2002
Juego de domin en madera
Wood domino game
3 x 55 x 55 cm

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126

La escultura funciona como una puerta giratoria y objeto

The sculpture functions like a revolving door and interactive

interactivo. Esta se mueve con el paso del pblico esparciendo

object. It moves as the public passes, spreading the smells

olores de perfume con el movimiento. La pieza representa al

of perfume with the movement. The piece represents at the

mismo tiempo la copula de dos mariposas y cuatro piernas de

same time a copula of two butterflies and four female legs. It

mujer. Esta explora la experiencia ertica y la interaccin del

explores the erotic experience and the publics interactions

pblico en un tipo de percepcin multisensorial.

in a multi-sensorial perception.

127
Feromona/Pheromone, 1999
Metal niquelado, madera laqueada,
esencia de perfume, esponja
Nickel metal, wood, enamel,
perfume essence, sponge
215 x 145 x 145 cm

La obra analiza y llama la atencin sobre la imagen de la

mujer frente a fenmenos sociales como la prostitucin y a
estereotipos culturales. Esta pieza fue parte de un proyecto
conceptual para espacio pblico. La misma fue diseada
para emplazarse en diferentes locaciones de la Ciudad de la
Habana que se convirtieron en lugares de prostitucin ilegal.
La escultura es un hibrido entre un antiguo mueble colonial
y la representacin del cuerpo de una mujer arrodillada. Los
elementos de madera dibujan la curva de la columna vertebral,
soportando el peso de las personas que se sientan en ella.
The work analyzes and calls attention to a womans
image regarding social phenomenons like prostitution and
cultural stereotypes. That piece was part of a conceptual
project for public space; it was designed to be placed at
different locations of Havana that turned into sites of illegal
prostitution. The sculpture is a hybrid between old colonial
furniture and the representation of a womans body on her
knees. The elements of wood draw the curve of the vertebral
column, supporting the weight of people seated on it.

Parque Prohibido/Forbidden Park, 1999

Aluminio fundido, madera y cobre
Cast aluminum, wood and copper
100 x 120 x 300 cm
Edicin/Edition 1/2

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Carne/Flesh, 1998
Metal, esmalte, jamn o salami y cuchillos
Metal, enamel, ham or salami, knifes
210 x 85 x 25 cm
Momento interactivo
en la inauguracin de la exposicin
Interactive moment
at the opening of the exhibit

Esta pieza fue parte del brindis de la exhibicin desde la

This piece was part of the shows vernissage from the

interaccin con el pblico. Los espectadores podan comer

interaction with the public. Spectators could eat ham and

jamn y salami que se encontraban en los pechos de la pieza,

salami from the breast of the piece, participating in an

haciendo un performance inconsciente de representacin

unconscious performance of symbolic representation of

simblica del deseo y la violencia. De este modo la obra se

desire and violence. In this way, the piece was interested

interesaba en cuestionar el comportamiento frente a la

in calling attention to behavior in relation to the female

representacin del cuerpo femenino y fenmenos sociales

bodys representation and a social phenomenon like

como la prostitucin.

prostitution.

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Me interesa la poesa de traducir en experiencia fsica un estado psicolgico.

Yoan Capote
Pinar del Ro, Cuba, 1977

Estudios/Studies

2001 / 2003

Profesor de Artes Visuales en el Instituto Superior de Arte

Professor of Visual Art at the Higher Institute of Art, Havana, Cuba

1996 / 2001

Instituto Superior de Arte

Higher Institute of Art (ISA) La Habana, Cuba

1991 / 1995

Escuela Nacional de Arte

National School of Art (ENA), La Habana, Cuba

1988 / 1991

Escuela Provincial de Arte

Provincial School of Art, Pinar del Ro, Cuba

Principales exposiciones personales/Selected Solo Exhibitions

2008

Psicomorfosis. Galera Habana, La Habana, Cuba

2006

Parallel Thought. Havana Galerie, Zrich, Suiza

2004

Animica. George Adams Gallery, N.Y., EUA

2003

Drawings and Projects. Brownstone Foundation, Paris, Francia

2001

El diseo de lo hbrido/The design of the hybrid. Galera Habana, La Habana, Cuba.

Principales exposiciones colectivas/Selected Group Exhibitions

2009

Muestra Central X Bienal de La Habana. Cuba

Glamour de Occidente (algunos homenajes a Michel Foucault).

Colateral X Bienal de La Habana. Casa de Mxico.

Feria ARCO. Madrid, Espaa

Pulse Fair. N.Y., EUA

2008

Ertica. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba

State of Exchange. INIVA- Institute of International Visual Art, London, UK

Contemporary Cuban Art. New Jersey, EUA

Surrounded by Water. Boston University Art Gallery, Boston, EUA

Palm Beach3 Art Fair. Miami, EUA

Scope Art Fair. Londres, Gran Bretaa.

2007

Cero. Saln Blanco del Convento San Francisco de Ass, La Habana, Cuba

2006

Case Studies: Art in a Valise. Katonah Museum of Art, N.Y., EUA

Art Forum Berlin. Art Fair. Berlin, Alemania

2005

Body Language. George Adams Gallery, N.Y., EUA

2004

The Art Show. Art Dealer Association of America-Art Fair, N.Y., EUA

New Installations, Artists in Residence Cuba. MATTRESS FACTORY, Pittsburgh, PA. EUA

Benchmark. Longhouse Foundation, East Hampton, N.Y., EUA

2003

Muestra Central VIII Bienal de La Habana. Exposicin en la Fortaleza La Cabaa, Habana, Cuba

Multiple City. Exposicin internacional en espacios pblicos, Ciudad Panam, Panam

2002

International Show. Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, EUA

2001

Cuba Contempornea (Contemporary Cuba).

Museo de Arte Contemporneo de Gois, Con (with) DUPP, Gois, Brasil

Hello Cuba, Breaking Barriers: Contemporary Cuban Art.

The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science (with DUPP) Tallahassee, Florida, EUA

2000

Muestra Central VII Bienal de La Habana. Con/with Galera DUPP. Habana, Cuba

Principales becas y premios/Selected Fellowships and Awards

2006

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. N.Y., EUA

2005

Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award. N.Y., EUA

2004

Mattress Factory Residence. (MF 200405 New Installations,\

Artists in Residence Cuba) Pittsburgh, PA.EUA.

Cuban Artists Fund Grant and fellowship. N.Y., EUA

2003

Residency Brownstone Foundation. Paris, Francia

2002

Fellowship VERMONT STUDIO CENTER, Vermont, EUA

2000

UNESCO PRIZE, VII Bienal de La Habana (con Galera DUPP). Habana, Cuba.

Colecciones/Collections

Museum Beelden aan Zee, Holanda/Arizona State University Art Museum, EUA/ Agnes Gund and Daniel
Shapiro, N.Y., EUA/Schnewald Fine Arts GmbH, Dusseldorf, Alemania/ Beth DeWoody, N.Y., EUA/Karen
and Robert Duncan, Lincoln, Nebraska, EUA/Gilbert Brownstone, Paris, Francia/Alex and Carole Rosenberg,
N.Y., EUA.

Agradecimientos
Acknowledgments

Carole y Alex Rosenberg

Galera Habana
Ute Mller