- 1974
- from the series Quinquenio gris
- from the series Grey Five Years
Sheet: 14 7/16 × 23 9/16 in. (36.7 × 59.8 cm)
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With archival photographs or written historical accounts as his source and corrugated cardboard and lead figures as his materials, Alejandro González created dioramas that revisit one telling moment in each of the five years, 1971 to 1975, that marked Cuba’s increased reliance on the USSR and the adoption of Soviet economic, educational, military, and political models. 1975 depicts the culminating event of Cuba’s transformation, the first Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba at the Karl Marx Theater, with attendees meeting below portraits of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin; José Martí, Antonio Maceo, and Máximo Gómez, heroes of Cuban independence; and the 20th-century heroes Julio Antonio Mella, Camilo Cienfuego, and Che Guevara. González’s dioramas portray the adoption of Soviet orthodoxy in five easy steps.
Alejandro González construyó modelos de cartón corrugado y figuras de plomo que recrean hechos significativos ocurridos entre 1971 y 1975, para ello se basó en fotografías de archivo y relatos históricos. Cada una corresponde a un año de esta etapa, marcada por el aumento de la dependencia de Cuba de la URSS y la adopción de modelos económicos, educativos, militares y políticos soviéticos. 1975 representa el hito final de la transformación de Cuba: el Primer Congreso del Partido Comunista de Cuba en el Teatro Karl Marx. Los asistentes se reúnen bajo retratos de Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels y Vladimir Lenin; José Martí, Antonio Maceo y Máximo Gómez (héroes de la independencia cubana); y los héroes del siglo XX Julio Antonio Mella, Camilo Cienfuegos y Che Guevara. Las maquetas de González ilustran la adopción de la ortodoxia soviética en cinco pasos.
ProvenanceThe artist, Havana, Cuba; purchased by Madeleine P. Plonsker, Glencoe, Illinois, 2017; purchased by MFAH, 2022.
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