For the painter, who emigrated as a nine-year-old boy, time has only strengthened his identity and feeling as a Cuban. And that is, precisely, the essence that his work captures.
“Brought to Cuba “I miss my land, my countryside. I think it doesn’t matter how many years ago you came, the more years pass, the more you will miss that land,” said Humberto Benítez in an interview with DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS.
“That fantastic smell of the countryside in the mornings, it cannot be compared. The beach is enchanting, but that land of ours, that land of mine, even though I cannot touch it…” added the artist, who describes himself as a Cuban peasant.
Remembering the anniversary of May 20th Since 1902, when the mambises, after three emancipatory feats, achieved independence from Spain and the Republic emerged, Benítez reflected on what that country dreamed of by so many Cubans, both on and off the island, should be like.
The artist believes that the basis of this new longed-for republic must be religion, precisely what Castroism tried to destroy by closing churches and prohibiting a right as universal as belonging to a creed and clinging to faith.
“That would be the most important thing for me: faith. And I know that Cubans have faith, that faith has been awakened in young people. Religion is such an important factor for human beings. And I think that would be the main thing, because for me that is everything, as it is in a marriage, in family relationships. I think that it is something that each person needs to evolve. And if there is a change in Cuba one day, God willing it will be a radical change, but without crime. And I see it as difficult, but one must always have faith and hope,” said Benítez.
The Cuba he yearns for is one where there is freedom of expression and space to create without censorship or restrictions.
“There is so much talent in Cuba, but it is oppressed. There are artists who want to paint things that they cannot or who want to make a film that they cannot, due to political problems. Art should not be censored.”
The painter also recalled how he acquired the chair on which he leaves small samples of his work.
“It is very interesting, because we came in the 70s, we arrived in this country with nothing, like everyone who comes from Cuba. And at that time, Americans threw away many things, from furniture. And my father, who was able to buy my mother’s house six months after arriving here, collected the furniture, even the lawn mower was collected from the street. And it is something that sometimes stays with us as children. We are very blessed to have lived here in Coral Gables for more than 40 years,” he said.
“And one of my neighbors throws away the chair that he had in the office. And I come home from work, I see the chair and I say: this is a nice chair to sit on and paint. That’s how the story of the famous chair began. I don’t clean the brush, I don’t clean the spatula, I just drop it here. And when I’m done, I throw the brush on the floor. For the last 22 years, when the year is over, I pick up this part of the chair, I tear it off and I put it away. So I have 22 pieces of this size with the paint from the chair,” he explained about how he dismantles a piece of wood that he uses as a kind of palette.
Benítez lives between South and Central Florida, where he opens the doors of his home to art lovers who admire his work.
“We have a house in central Florida, a historic house, which our clients love to visit, because it is very spacious, has several acres of land and is close to the water. I love being there, working there, receiving clients in an environment different from the gallery, because it is more relaxed, calmer. And there are pieces that are for seeing, not necessarily for buying. The most important thing is to share that personal moment with the client as we did in France,” she said.
On where art can be seen, he commented:
“My paintings, almost all of them, are here in the Coral Gables gallery, on Aragón Ave, next to the Books & Books bookstore. But we also have new pieces in the house over there. When a client wants to see a piece, I tell them: come over there or stop by for the weekend, then they stay with us for a weekend and see the piece,” she said.
“On two ships in Oceania, the Marina and the Riviera, they have a private collection. I think there are about six or seven pieces of mine on each ship. Also, Norwegian Cruise Line acquired many of my pieces for the collection they have on seven ships.”
These days he is creating a painting inspired by the island’s carnivals, a recurring theme in his work.
“I am always working. One of the commissions I have is from an American family in Colorado. It is a piece based on the comparsa, the carnival, something that is well known from my work and collectors like it and ask for it.”
