José Rodeiro. The Spirit of Cuba Favoring José Marti. oil-on-canvas, 2’ x 3.’ 1997.
This work historically and philosophically examines the plight of Castro’s Cuba through the lens of Amnesis, utilizing symbols of two distinct chess-games. One is being played by Marcel Duchamp against himself, which is being contrasted with the disregarded game in the background between two great revolutionaries José Marti (The Cuban Poet) and Vladimir Lenin (The Marxist Bolshevik), implying the following three contrasts: 1). Duchamp the master of indifference generally despised politics, patriotism, and nationalism as silly things (notice that in his biography, he abandoned his French citizenship, as well as abandoning art-making, etc). Hence, he is the complete opposite of Lenin or Marti. On the other hand, 2). both Marti and Lenin, as revolutionary-leaders, are extremely passionate about politics, patriotism, and nationalism. Hence, 3). the twin-Duchamp’s larger and prominent game signifies global indifference to Cuba’s enormous struggles and problems. Notice that the map of Cuba floats above the scene as an emblem of Duchamp’s “cinimatic-blossoming of the bride“ from his masterpiece The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, even (“The Large Glass”)(1924). All of this game-playing occurs as Hesiod’s three graces of the ancient three-season lunar-calendar (Euphrosyne who gives, Thalia who takes, and Aglaia who returns) focus their tri-part attention on the indifferent and unconcerned Duchampian game in the foreground, while completely ignoring the dire game between the pro-Thomas Paine revoltionary José Marti’s intellectually and poetically fighting against the Bolshevik and ruthless Lenin, both are attempting philosophically to decide the fate of Cuba. Notwithstanding, in the painting, the spirit of Cuba is favoring Martí.