Print Send Add Share. Notes General Note: My dissertation challenges essentialist readings of the identity and politics of Cuban American artists, and locates their work at the vanguard of American art. Artists born in Cuba, but formed artistically in the United States, have been viewed as bicultural, displaced subjects either grappling with the legacy of Castros communism and the loss of country, or staking a claim in the new socio-cultural and political landscape of the United States.
This study traces the formation of that framework, beginning with the founding of the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture in Miami in Subsequent chapters examine the work of four Cuban American artists Fernando Garcia, Ana Mendieta, Felix Gonzalez Torres, and Glexis Novoa both in the context of distinct moments in the history of the Cuban diaspora and in dialogue with broader artistic trends relevant to global socio-cultural concerns.
Although these artists transcended reductive notions of cultural identity, the cultural specificity that nonetheless informed their work intentionally served to disrupt mainstream tenets of American contemporary art; their engagement in these aesthetic and discursive areas thus significantly contributed to renewed readings of performance art, site-specificity and the intersection between art and politics.
Lastly, the "where" in the title makes reference to the central role that geography has played in locating, defining, and differentiating Cuban from Cuban American art; at stake are claims to cultural legitimacy. From the institutionalization of Cuban exile art and culture in the early s to the increased demand for Cuban art in the Obama years, my work highlights the complicated relationship between discourse formation, political ideology, and the art market as these factors relate to the circulation, consumption, and construction of Cuban American art.
I do not have the words to express the depth of my love for you, nor the gratitude to the Universe for bringing you into my life. A ye ar into the doctoral program I faced a very challenging medical diagnosis. I am especially grateful to Maya, Joyce, Laura Robertson and Patrick Grisby for being so accommodating during this very difficult time. Their unwavering support not only lifted me but gave me the peace of mind to continue on this journey.
