Alejandro González
1973

1973

© 2015 Alejandro González Méndez

1973
1973
CultureCuban
Titles
  • 1973
  • from the series Quinquenio gris
  • from the series Grey Five Years
Date2015
MediumInkjet print
DimensionsImage: 11 3/4 × 20 13/16 in. (29.8 × 52.9 cm)
Sheet: 14 7/16 × 23 9/16 in. (36.7 × 59.8 cm)
Credit LineThe Madeleine P. Plonsker Collection, museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund
Object number2022.528.3
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 314
On view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

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. In 1973, a billboard touting Cuba’s membership in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON, an organization of economic cooperation among socialist states under the leadership of the Soviet Union) appears at the entrance to Alamar, an ambitious new housing community built with Soviet-style prefabricated techniques, now in a decrepit state.

 

 

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. En 1973, una valla que destaca la membresía de Cuba en el Consejo de Ayuda Mutua Económica (CAME) — una organización de cooperación económica entre estados socialistas bajo el liderazgo de la Unión Soviética— aparece a la entrada de Alamar. Esta ambiciosa comunidad de viviendas, construida poco antes con técnicas prefabricadas al estilo soviético, se encuentra actualmente en un lamentable estado

de deterioro.


ProvenanceThe artist, Havana, Cuba; purchased by Madeleine P. Plonsker, Glencoe, Illinois, 2017; purchased by MFAH, 2022.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
.3: Inscribed in pencil, verso, bottom edge: 1/1 de la serie "Quinquenio Gris": 1973 Ale Glez [signed] // 2015

Signed in pencil, verso, bottom right: Ale Grez

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

1975
Alejandro González
2015
Inkjet print
2022.528.5
1971
Alejandro González
2015
Inkjet print
2022.528.1
1974
Alejandro González
2015
Inkjet print
2022.528.4
1972
Alejandro González
2015
Inkjet print
2022.528.2
9 de noviembre de 1989
Alejandro González
2012
Inkjet print
2022.529
Quinquenio gris
Alejandro González
2015
Inkjet prints, cardboard handmade box
2022.528.1-.5
2:57 am, 24 de dic de 2005, Vedado, La Habana, Cuba
Alejandro González
2005
Inkjet print
2022.525
10:09pm, 21 de abril del 2005, Playa, La Habana, Cuba
Alejandro González
2005
Inkjet print
2022.524
from the series Conducta impropia
Alejandro González
2008
Chromogenic print
2022.527
Untitled
Alejandro González
2008
Chromogenic print
2022.526
10:09pm, 21 de abril del 2005, Playa, La Habana, Cuba
Alejandro González
2005
Chromogenic print
2024.159
2024.254
Alejandro González
2008
Chromogenic print
2024.254