Dominican Art, a Success at the Cervantes Institute

Dominican Art, a Success at the Cervantes Institute
Madrid, Spain, November 26 2015

The Foundation for Cultural Heritage of the General Directorate of Customs (DGA), in collaboration with the Cervantes Institute and the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in Madrid, Spain, presented the exhibit “Modernidad y Contemporaneidad en el Arte Dominicano: Obras de la Colección de la Dirección General de Aduanas”.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition, which took place at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid, Spain, was chaired by Víctor García de la Concha, Director of the Institute, accompanied by Fernando Fernández, Director General of Customs; Aníbal de Castro, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic in Spain; Cayo Claudio Espinal, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture (MINC) and representative of the DGA’s Cultural Heritage Foundation.

Addressing the national and international guests, García de la Concha said: “For the Cervantes Institute it is a great honor to once again host an activity that has to do with the Latin American culture. And, in this case with the Dominican Republic, a country rich in a history that we share, as well as in artistic and literary creations of international prestige.”

He added: “I would like to highlight and acknowledge the role that the Dominican government has played in the creation of this valuable collection of art, since the Cultural Heritage Foundation was created with the purpose of preserving and disseminating the funds of the General Directorate of Customs, making this legacy of extraordinary historical and artistic value available to all. This is a collection in which the great figures of the Dominican visual arts are present.”

Then, Fernández, General Director of Customs, thanked the Embassy and the Cervantes Institute in particular for welcoming so enthusiastically and for hosting such a significant pictorial display in their facilities, which covers the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries, and for supporting and disseminating the work carried out by the Dominican government to advance the arts and culture.

Addressing those present, De Castro, the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the Kingdom of Spain, emphasized that “despite being a small country, the Dominican Republic has a surprising number of fine artists, as this impressive collection of the General Directorate of Customs art gallery confirms it. The inventory of our pictorial richness displays a finished aesthetic and innovative technology, but also genuine illustrations from classical schools.”

In turn, Espinal said that “with this collection, the Spanish public has the opportunity to get to know and enjoy some of the features that characterize the modern and contemporary Dominican painting; appreciate its capacity for inclusion and ownership, and contemplate the aesthetic diversity of its production, in which the neoclassical sobriety of Celeste Wossy Gil and George Hausdorf stands out, as well as the early Cubist work of Jaime Colson; the geometric and Taíno figuration of Paul Giudicelli; the impressionist genre painting of Yoryi Morel; the expressionism of Gilberto Hernández Ortega and Antonio Guadalupe; the metaphysical humor of Ramón Oviedo; the social criticism of José Ramírez Conde; the smart dismantling of form by José Rincón Mora and Domingo Liz; the West Indian splendor of Fernando Peña Defilló, and the geometric surrealism of Iván Tovar.”

Finally, the hosts and guests, accompanied by the curator of the exhibition, María del Carmen Ossaye, toured the exhibition, which includes a selection of artists such as: Josep Gausachs, Eugenio Fernández Granell, José Vela Zanetti, Antonio Prats Ventós, Yoryi Morel, Paul Giudicelli, José Rincón Mora, Eridania Mir, Julio Valdéz, Ramón Oviedo, Radhamés Mejía, Ada Balcácer, Elsa Núñez and Rosa Tavárez.

Also included in this traveling exhibit are the works of Jaime Colson, Dario Suro, Antonio Guadalupe, Clara Ledesma, Domingo Liz, Fernando Peña Defilló, Fernando Varela, Iván Tovar, Sasha Tebó and Tony Capellán, among other established and contemporary artists, who are well known at the national and international levels.

Photos

Cayo Claudio Espinal, Aníbal de Castro, Víctor García de la Concha and Fernando Fernández

Photo of the guests attending the opening ceremony of the exhibition in Madrid, Spain.

María del Carmen Ossaye, Katherine Cocco, Aníbal de Castro, Minerva Cocco and Fernando Fernández

Ito Bisonó, Freddy Ginebra, Aníbal de Castro, Fernando Fernández and Cayo Claudio Espinal.

Pieces by artists Iván Tovar, José Rincón Mora, Paul Giudicelli and José Ramírez Conde