René Peña González
Untitled

Untitled

© 1995 René Peña

Untitled
Untitled
CultureCuban
Titles
  • Untitled
Date1995
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 17 7/8 × 11 7/8 in. (45.4 × 30.1 cm)
Frame (outer): 24 5/16 × 17 3/8 × 1 1/4 in. (61.8 × 44.2 × 3.2 cm)
Credit LineThe Madeleine P. Plonsker Collection, Gift of Madeleine and Harvey Plonsker
Object number2024.266
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 314
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

In 2000 René Peña began a series that depicted “white things”—a letter, underwear, a string of beads, a cigarette—against his black skin. With the elimination of racism officially claimed as among the achievements of the revolution, discussion of race necessarily took the form of allusion and metaphor. The predominant blackness in Peña’s photographs, like the concerns of Cuba’s Black community, is relegated to the background, while pleasant, superficial, conflict- free items are foregrounded, revealing an unavoidable truth by contrast. “They are not self-portraits,” Peña insisted. “I use my body as a vehicle for my rumination about society.”

 

En el año 2000, René Peña comenzó una serie en la que mostraba “cosas blancas” (una carta, ropa interior, un collar de cuentas, un cigarro) sobre su piel negra. La revolución declaraba oficialmente el racismo como erradicado, relegando su discusión al terreno de la alusión y la metáfora. En estas fotos la negrura queda en segundo plano —como las preocupaciones de la comunidad negra en Cuba—, mientras los objetos estéticos e inocuos destacan. En ese contrapeso se expresa una realidad ineludible. “No son autorretratos, utilizo mi cuerpo como un vehículo para reflexionar sobre la sociedad”, aclara Peña.


ProvenanceMadeleine and Harvey Plonsker, Glencoe, Illinois; given to MFAH, 2024.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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