Focused on the decades immediately following the Cuban Revolution (1959), A Modernist Regime: Cuban Mid-Century Modern Design presents a small but prolific cohort of artists, designers, and architects who responded to the demands of a newly centralized economy, including the material constraints imposed by ensuing embargoes, popular demands for more equitable access to goods, and initial excitement about the role modern design could play in shaping a new society. This exhibition is the first museum presentation on Cuban mid-century design anchored by an under-acknowledged collection of furniture and furnishings, examples of which have not been exhibited off the island.
A Modernist Regime: The Cuban Contemporary Lens
Dujo Muebles, showroom at the Salon International du Mueble de Paris, 1967. Collection Laura Córdoba
Gonzalo Córdoba, Habana Lounge Chair, 1964, for Dujo Muebles. Mahogany and leather. Collection Cuban Modern. Photo: David Avilés
Gonzalo Córdoba, Armchair for Empresa de Producciones Varias (EMPROVA), 1970s. Mahogany and rattan. Collection Cuban Modern. Photo: Denis Guerra.
Clara Porset, Miguelito Armchair, 1960. Linden tree wood and leather. Collection Cuban Modern. Photo: David Avilés
Heriberto Duverger, María Teresa Muñiz Riva, and Reinaldo N. Togores, exhibition view of MueblePared (Furniture Wall), 1971. Collection Reinaldo N. Togores and María Teresa Muñiz Riva
Eva Björklund, Monster Chair, c. 1970. Plywood, foam, and fabric. Collection Cuban Modern. Photo: Claudia Monteagudo
Elana Serrano, Day of the heroic guerilla fighter, October 8, 1968. Color offset print, 21 ½ x 13 ¼ inches.
Sergio Baroni, Huge D’Acosta, and Vittorio Garatti, the Cuba Pavilion at the 1967 International and Universal Exposition (Expo 67), Montréal, Canada, 1967. Collection Archives de la Ville de Montréal, VM94. Photo: Armour Landry
“It is an honor to be part of The Warhol Foundation’s mission to support the visual arts coupled with its commitment to specifically support the voices of women, POC, Native Americans, and LGBTQ. It is simply thrilling to be part of an organization where we get to see these values writ large and implement real change in real life ways in the visual arts community that still so needs to move forward in terms of social justice, equality, and diversity. We put our money where our mouth is. How many institutions actually do that?”
Deborah Kass, Artist