The Cervantes Institute, in Rome, exhibited in February this year Instinto básico: Papeles desde Cuba Basic Instinct: Papers from Cuba),organized by the National Council of Visual Arts (CNAP, Cuba) andthe Cuban Embassy in Italy, with the curatorship of Isabel Pérez and Shirley Moreira. The show, which included more than 100 works chosen from the Council’s Collection, corresponding to 60 Cuban artistsof various generations, had as leit motiv the use of paper assupport or material. Fabelo took part in this exhibition with the piece Fragmentos vitales (Vital Fragments), a set of four drawings on Kraft paperwhich reminds his series with the same title, made in 1984, for which he was granted the first prize during the inaugural edition of the Havana Biennial. Other artists included in the show were Belkis Ayón,Ricardo Brey, Roberto Diago, José Manuel Fors, René Francisco, Julio Girona, Raúl Martínez, Manuel Mendive, Ibrahim Miranda, Pedro Pablo Oliva, Sandra Ramos, Lázaro Saavedra and Antonio Vidal.
Vital Fragments, 1984
On the work by Fabelo, particularly on his sculpture, an extensive article was published this summer in Sculpture Review magazine. The author, Dr. Danielle Knafo, studied Literature and Psychology in the Tel Aviv University, where she also obtained a Master in Clinical Psychology and, later, a Ph.D. in the University of New York.Knafo, with a wide experience in psychology of art, has offered lectures and extensively published on the connections between both universes.
And in subjects linked to the unavoidable art market, it is worth to highlight that during these months, specifically in May, Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction houses include four pieces by Fabelo in their catalogues. They were all auctioned and, one of them, entitled Arte culinario IV (Culinary Art IV), reached a hammer price of 125 000 USD. Subsequently, from July 7 to 10, Fabelo participated with Galería Habana in the ArtHamptons fair, which is defined as the summer event for contemporary art in the United States. In this case, Galería Habana exhibited drawings on metal and silk. And in a few days, from September 22 to 25, a new edition of EXPO CHICAGO will take place, in which Fabelo will again participate with CernudaArte, showing drawings, oils, silks with a great format and sculptures. EXPO CHICAGO, a fair of modern and contemporary art which reaches its fifth edition, this time presents a selection of 140 galleries of the entire world and includes the section EXPOSURE, for emerging projects, where galleries with little experience may show their work.
Culinary Art IV, 2015
Ovo, 2015
Recently, on August 19, we attended the reopening of the exhibition entitled Fuerza y sangre: imaginarios de la bandera en el arte cubano in the Gran Teatro de La Habana, first seen on Pabellón Cuba, also in Havana. Among the 100 artists of different generations and expressions selected by Isabel Perez and Virginia Alberdi is Roberto Fabelo, with a drawing on metal. Sponsored by the National Council of Visual Arts the Ministry of Culture and the Hermanos Saiz Association, the exhibition advisor is Gilbert Bronwstone.
Suyu with flag, 2015
Somewhat later, on October 25, an exhibition in which Fabelo also takes part will be inaugurated. It will be in the Museum of Europeanand Mediterranean Civilizations in Marseilles, France, curated by Jean Michel Djian. The show Exposition Cafe IN, which will be open until January 2017, will be welcome by this institution which has more than a million works in its collection and exclusi vely devotes itself to Mediterranean cultures. Fabelo will be part of it with a version of the work Cafedral which is on the permanent collectionof the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana. It is a well heterogeneous exhibition in which first level artists join forces: Reza, a famous and prizewinning photographer, author of seventeen books, who has made reports throughout the world for the National Geographic magazine and was the creative director ofthe most seen documentary film among those produced by NG, title Inside Mecca; the also prestigious and awarded Brazilian photographer and writer Sebastian Salgado; pieces of the deceased French painter and sculptor, nationalized in the United States, Armand Pierre, worldwide known as Arman and because of his Accumulations; William Kentridge, known from his collages, drawings, engravings and animated films; Janis Kounellis, one of the most outstanding exponents of the Arte Povera, among others.
All this exhibitions, all the success in auctions, does not stop the work in the studio. Fabelo does not resta minute creating from his fantasies and obsessions. Right now he is focused in a silver and ebony humidor to accommodate 50 Cohiba Habanos of the Behike brand, which will be auctioned in the next edition of the Feria del Habano, in the Cuban capital. For this piece, Fabelo reformulates the bronze Sueño de navegantes, taking it to smaller dimensions. And, finally, he is working on five feminine busts,approximately 3 meters high, which will be located in the Avenida del Puerto, Havana.
