MIAMI.- His brush has drawn the Cuban, that essence of his native island that, reflected in his paintings, speaks to the viewer of joy and longing. And if there is an artist in Miami who has known how to capture the Cuban soul through the palette, it is Humberto Bentez.
Commemorative posters for other editions of Cuba Nostalgia, which this year brings to its 25th anniversary.
Precisely, his work dialogues with the feelings of the Cuban and that constant longing for his land.
And although Bentez considers the task of preserving traditions difficult, he recognizes that art and music are essential to achieve it.
It’s very difficult. The new generation of Cubans is going to unite with the old generation of Cubans with music, because the only escape that I see in the new Cuban generation is that they have maintained music and art. Art for me is everything. If there were no art, there would be no history, there would be no documentation. In Cuba, today’s artists, who are very good, some are here and others there, document the sadness, their dreams, and what they long for: their freedom, Humberto Bentez expressed, during an interview he gave to DIARIO LAS AMRICAS from his galley in Coral Gables.
Sitting in a chair where he leaves colored traces of his work, the artist explained how he lets himself go when creating using a technique that seems to be weaving on top of the canvas.
I use the brush on some pieces, not on others. I like the spatula because of the movement I can give it. I remember my mother when she knitted, she was always very close to the piece. And I think that’s why I do the same. I like to work close to the piece. I did not study, I did not go to famous art schools like San Alejandro (in Cuba), or others like there are in this country. What I do comes from my soul. I don’t pick up a pencil to draw what I plan to do. I let the canvas dictate to me at the right moment. I don’t know to what extent other artists who studied admire him. And of course I believe in study, but for me the most important thing is that if you pour your soul into a piece of art, you are going to touch the souls of some people. And that’s what I’m trying to communicate, she said.
It’s very interesting because up to a month can go by and I don’t paint, but when I sit down, the canvas calls me and it’s time to paint. And when I start I can’t stop. I can be painting for 72 straight hours. I can’t get away from this study. In this five-foot space I have between walls, there is no room to get up. And I don’t need it. If I am doing one of the troupes, I start with four women, who dictate the moment and movement of what I am going to create. Then, depending on the positions in which they appear while I am creating the piece, the movement of the rest of the components arises. When I have that squared away, I can relax a little, because I already know what is going to continue. I already know where the conga comes from, if it comes from the right, the left or from above, he added about the creative process.
Inspired by Cuban themes, from the countryside, tobacco, the extinct carnivals, the sea that surrounds the island or its patron saint, the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, their pieces transmit that joy that characterizes the Cuban even in the midst of adversity. .
Yesterday we delivered a piece and the first thing that came out was joy. And that’s what I try to convey. Since I was a child I have been fascinated with music. I pipe when I paint, I usually pipe old songs because my father changed the records on the Victrolas. And those were the songs that I listened to, old songs from Cuba, he recorded.
Regarding the fascination with the island’s landscapes and how it is usually represented, he recognizes that it is the countryside that inspires the most.
Each Cuban carries his Cuba inside. If you analyze Cuban painters, few paint the water, all of us paint the land. And it is an island surrounded by water. The countryside, the palms, the Cuban woman, the colors. I have carried Cuba in my heart for many years, I adore it. I miss my colored land, my field. I miss the smell of my land. I think it happens to many Cubans. And no matter what year you came, the more time passes, the more you will miss that land. And I say it a lot to the new generation that is arriving right now, that they are very fresh, that the more years pass, the more that inheritance will grow in their soul, because it is something that we carry in our blood, he expressed.
One of his paintings hanging in the gallery portrays the pain of the Cuban who has risked his life at sea in an attempt to emigrate. Perhaps that is the reason why many painters prefer to evoke the island’s countryside.
Destination Sails, the original of this piece is on one of the Norwegian Cruise Line ships. And what I wanted to do is show what Cubans have gone through to reach freedom. Those 90 miles from there to the Keys, here in the US. And now they are not only 90 miles, now they go throughout Central America, because how many have not had to make the journey and come around completely, he explained.
He also keeps his most emblematic work in his gallery, but that one is so special that it is not for sale. It is a painting inspired by Cachita, which he dedicates to his mother.
My most emblematic work is that of Caridad del Cobre, which I made thinking of my mother. And it’s the only one I’m not selling, she revealed as she pointed in the direction of the painting, located at the back of the gallery, but strategically facing forward, as if receiving the viewer from afar.
