Artist
René Peña González(Cuban, born 1957)Cuban, born 1957
CultureCuban
Titles
- from the series Ritos I
- from the series Rites I
Date1992
PlaceCuba
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 5/8 × 14 1/16 in. (24.4 × 35.7 cm)
Sheet: 11 7/16 × 15 7/8 in. (29.1 × 40.3 cm)
Sheet: 11 7/16 × 15 7/8 in. (29.1 × 40.3 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Clinton T. Willour in honor of Martha Skow
Object number94.778
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 314
Exposé
Explore Further
Department
PhotographySpecial Collections
Object Type
Since the early 1990s, René Peña has used the nude male body,
often his own, to address issues of sexuality, machismo, spirituality, and his
role as an Afro-Cuban man in society. The simply composed close-ups of his Rites series translate rituals and icons
into a personal, erotic system of meaning. Animal motifs imitate religious
sacrifices as they speak to a time in Cuba when the private breeding of small
animals was legalized to counter the island’s food crisis.
ProvenanceThe artist; purchased by MFAH, 1994.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Lower left corner, verso in pencil: "Nitas 1992"
Signed in pencil, lower right corner, verso: "René Peña"
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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