A New Horizon: The Cuban Art Space Interview Series with Marlys Fuego

By Alexander Nixon, MA

The interview with twenty-two year-old Cuban artists Marlys Fuego is much shorter than the others from the Cuban Art Space Interview Series, but in few words gives us an interesting glimpse.

Marlys Fuego doesn’t convey the sense of struggle and determination that defines many of the other Cuban artists who were interviewed for the Interview Series (e.g. Rocío García, Sandra Ceballos).

Her older colleagues had direct experience during two tumultuous decades of economic disaster. The lives of this older group were marked by crisis, and the art they created was both a response to and a refuge from those difficult times.

Younger artists like Marlys Fuego came of age at the tail end of Cuba's “Special Period” of economic crisis, which began in the 90s after the Soviet Union's collapse. She and other artist colleagues are taking full advantage of the new possibilities afforded by Cuba's flourishing art scene.

These young artists look beyond Cuba for inspiration, and now that the US is offering to travel opportunities Cubans, artists are among those most sought after for travel to the US and Europe.

Ms. Fuego’s work combines erotic forms with whimsical colors and fabrics. The result is quirky and coy. When interviewed, Ms. Fuego described her fascination with the life and work of French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois, the pop art technique of Andy Warhol, and her admiration for Charlie Chaplin.  These are not the kinds of icons normally associated with the Cuban trinity of Che, Fidel, and José Martí!

Havana is the metropolis of Cuba art and draws talented young artists like Marlys from far-flung provinces (Las Tunas, in her case) who hope to find artistic recognition in the capital and beyond while working with like-minded artists. 

The creative collaboration between Marlys Fuego and Cuban artist William Pérez (with whom she moved to Havana from Cienfuegos) exemplify this trend in Cuba, but with a romantic twist: they have become artist couple/collaborators.

(Note that Mr. Pérez is another artist from the Cuban Art Space interview series).

We will want to follow these two and so many other talented artists on collaborative journeys into the future...

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Alexander Nixon is the Organizational Development Coordinator for the Center for Cuban Studies. He has a BA from Stanford University in Latin American Studies and an MA from NYU in Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

Marlys Fuego González was born in Las Tunas in 1988. She lives and works in Havana, Cuba. She will be showing her new works in September 2011 at The Center for Cuban Studies/The Cuban Art Space.