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The Unconventional Drawing. Volume I Yamel Molerio: Dichos (Sayings) June 10th – July 29th, 2006. Opening Reception: Saturday, June 10 th , 2006. From 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. 181 NW 36 St. Miami, Fl 33127. Ph: 305-576-4142. The Unconventional Drawing. Volume I: Tomas Esson & Yamel Moleiro.
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The Unconventional Drawing. Volume I Yamel Molerio: Dichos (Sayings) June 10th – July 29th, 2006 Opening Reception: Saturday, June 10th, 2006. From 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. 181 NW 36 St. Miami, Fl 33127. Ph: 305-576-4142.
The Unconventional Drawing. Volume I: Tomas Esson & Yamel Moleiro This is the first installment of a series of exhibitions featuring, as its title indicates, new, innovative approaches to the art form known as drawing. In an era when unconventional Medias have been encroaching upon the traditional realm of the fine arts, we believe it important to show how contemporary artists have been expanding the boundaries of even the most traditional art forms. Volume I features the work of Tomás Esson and Yamel Moleiro, two artists who, through very conventional drawing techniques, create highly original, thought provoking work. In the series Flags, Banderas and Wet Drawings, Tomás Esson (Cuba, 1963) line draws American flags and Cuban flags. What sets him apart is the uniqueness of his line, consisting of two set forms that have been a presence in Esson’s work for quite a while; Talisman and Talis. Talisman, defined by Esson as “a tiny red object with black horns resembling the head of a bull” was devised by him at age 15 as a sort of lucky charm and can be found in many of his paintings and drawings. Talis was devised by Esson a few years back as a sort of androgynous beings whose coupling with each other create the images in many of his drawings, like for example the bars of his Flags and Banderas. Through etching on scratch paper, Yamel Molerio (Cuba, 1971) has created his series Dichos (Sayings or Proverbs), a collection of 200 small format works on Cuban sayings. Molerio, dealing with the issue of being an immigrant or “alien” in the United States and with the danger of loosing his native tongue, records the sayings, words and phrases of his parents, the slang of Cubans and Cuban-Americans, to pass it on to the next generations. The drawings are literal interpretations of the “sayings”, thus showing the difficulties and complexities of an unfamiliar language. Jose Alonso
Yamel Molerio Dichos (Sayings)
Statement In my most recent work, I deal with being an immigrant living in the United States and its effect on my culture. I record everyday words, phrases and slang used by Cubans and Cuban-Americans. To those unfamiliar with the Cuban slang, it is an alien language; a secret Cuban Morse code that could only be decoded by those of Cuban descent. This type of language used by Cubans can be referred to as Cubanish (a blend of Cuban and Spanish). A few years ago, I started writing "sayings" or "dichos" that are known to Cubans. These sayings then became drawings. The drawings are literal interpretations of the sayings. In the drawing "el es un pedazo de pan", translates into English as "he is a piece of bread". The actual meaning in Cuban slang is "he is a nice guy". The drawings show the difficulties and complexities of an unfamiliar language. It is also my way to preserve and remember these sayings. Immigrants living in the United States face the threat of forgetting their culture, roots and language. A lot of the Cuban-Americans that have been born or brought up in the U.S. are not familiar with lingo used by Cubans. The most recent arrivals also bring new words and phrases that are unfamiliar to those Cubans that have been in the U.S. for a long time. In this body of work, I have mainly utilized scratch paper as my media. The material is used by school children in the U.S.. Some of the pieces do not have any text accompanying the images. This will bring out a dialogue with the viewers. The viewers will be guessing the meaning of the drawing. They will also wonder if they have forgotten that saying or if they knew it at all. The work's raw and immediate quality is influenced by "tagging" (graffiti) or a carved "Johnny was here" on a school desk. Yamel Molerio
