The Ironic Wit of Cuban Painter Juan Carlos Muñoz

A One-Man Exhibition

¡CABEZAS CALIENTES! (HOT HEADS!)
The Ironic Wit of Cuban Painter Juan Carlos Muñoz

  The mixing and the making.

An interpretation of important issues of individual human existence on the still-forbidden island of Cuba.

This 28-image body of oil paintings represents one year of work created for this exhibition by Juan Carlos Muñoz who lives and works in Melena, a town on the outskirts of Havana. Before the exhibition, he and his wife/agent Alicia Cabrera will cross the Florida Straits and deliver the paintings themselves.

After months of navigating US and Cuban government regulations, Cuba! Gallery of Fine Art has secured permission for the Muñoz’s hosted, nonimmigrant travel to the U.S. This is a first for Brevard County, and in all of Florida north of Miami, as Muñoz will be the first Cuban fine artist in at least 50 years, to attend his own exhibition here.

On what might be the eve of opening for US travel to Cuba, Juan Carlos Muñoz, with a stroke of his expressionist brush, has given us a window through which we can view a society still not open to us.

The Eau Gallie Art District was honored with a night with Juan Carlos Muñoz. A WORKSHOP FOR ARTISTS AND COLLEGE ART STUDENTS involved a collaborative acrylics project with attending artists. It was truly enjoyable and educationable.

JUAN CARLOS MUÑOZ is a lovable character who started painting back in 1974. He married a farm girl in Melena in 1979 and felt a deep need for self-expression. He’s an expressionist, a realist, and sometimes surrealistic. It is out of a little room in his wooden house, no more than 100-square feet, that he creates masterful works of art.

Says Muñoz with a pensive look, “I enjoy reflecting on the environment here and the problems of my generation. I represent this country and am their voice. My works will, no doubt, reflect facts of life. I don’t distort or twist things of life. I paint it the way it is. You might say I’m an artist of truth.”

One series that reflects Muñoz’ great talent is The Chronicles. He painted this Trilogy when, for the first time in Cuban history, U.S. currency was accepted in the country. This created a frenzy and now everything revolves around getting and accumulating U.S. dollars. The painting depicts all the various products you can purchase with U.S. dollars that would be extremely difficult to buy with a devalued peso. In Chronicles 2, there’s a tombstone depicting the death of a popular folk hero, Pa Pa Montero when he died. “Montero was a great legend and a good person,” says Muñoz. “He was flamboyant and like the Godfather. He died in 1930 and it was the most famous burial in Cuba. Pa Pa had so many women, there’s even a pregnant nun in the picture.

In Chronicles 3 Muñoz depicts the timing of the Millennium. The Old World passes away and the New World commences. “I was seeking to depict the vast changes from the Old World and the New World. In essence, the 3 Chronicles in Juan Muñoz’ view are of the three most momentous events in Cuban history.

Look above for a sample of  Juan Carlos’ Art.