- Entramado
- Tangle
Image (at open, approximately): 19 9/16 × 13 7/8 in. (49.7 × 35.2 cm)
Sheet (at open, approximately): 19 9/16 × 13 7/8 in. (49.7 × 35.2 cm)
Frame: 26 3/16 × 20 11/16 × 1 3/4 in. (66.5 × 52.5 × 4.5 cm)
Explore Further
The tenuous nature of life in 21st-century Cuba and the country’s crumbling infrastructure are suggested by the electrical boxes screwed haphazardly to the wall and the spiderweb of electrical wires crisscrossing the scene as if connecting each light bulb individually to the antiquated power grid. Electrical service in Cuba is as erratic as Sarabia’s photograph indicates. Large sectors of the island frequently experience blackouts, interrupting both domestic life and commercial activity, the result of poorly maintained power plants and a shortage of fossil fuels once supplied and subsidized by the USSR and, later, Venezuela, all exacerbated by the American embargo.
Las cajas eléctricas precariamente fijadas a la pared y la maraña de cables que atraviesa la escena —como si conectaran cada bombilla a una red eléctrica obsoleta— aluden a lo paupérrimo de la vida en la Cuba del siglo XXI y a la insuficiencia de sus infraestructuras. El servicio eléctrico en la isla es tan errático como muestra la fotografía de Sarabia. Las actividades domésticas y comerciales se ven interrum- pidas por apagones frecuentes, causados por el escaso mantenimiento a las plantas de energía y la falta de combustibles —antes suministrados por la URSS y Venezuela—, todo agravado por el embargo estadounidense.
ProvenanceThe artist, Havana, Cuba; purchased by Madeleine P. Plonsker, Glencoe, Illinois; purchased by MFAH, 2022.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Label in black printed ink, frame verso, at lower right: "Entramado" 2014 / 3/7 + 2 P/A / inkjet Process / Archival Pigment Ink / Impresa en el 2015 / Alfredo Sarabia
Label in black marker, frame verso, lower right: A. Sarabia [cursive]
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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