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Martha beyond the pottery

The Thousand and one Martha is the name that takes the new delivery of one of the most important Camagueyan artists of our country: Martha Jimenez. Recognized as one of the most prolific and talented creatives of the last decades in Cuba, this Camagueyan occupies a seat of honor in the context of the Cuban ceramists. However, on this occasion the artist surprises us with her first exhibition of engraving, although certainly the engraving is not an unexplored way for her. The Cuban Fund of Cultural Goods of Camaguey serves as the venue for the new exhibition.

In the voice of Maidelin Leiva Delgado, curator of the exhibition, it is not a ceramist or painter that now also engraves, but is a creative that in its natural search expressive, warns the pertinent request of her work to look for new expressive languages. Among the benefits offered by the engraving to Martha is distinguished as a preferential feature, the possibility of obtaining multiple copies of the same image, as infinite prints that defy the debated correlation of the originality of a work of art. With the same loyalty to her subjects, Martha reaches to complement this incursion with a deep reflection about the feminine and the society from an intimate perspective, sometimes domestic. Her images continue to have the virtue of transmitting intact the freshness of the everyday, elevating each scene to the quality of a ceremony of exquisite popular imagery.

Two artistic events of special importance have marked, in recent times, the life of this illustrious Camagueyan: her participation in the Second Biennial and International Exhibition of Contemporary Artistic Teapots 2010 in Shanghai; and her personal exhibition at Emerson University in the North American city of Boston.

In the case of the Biennial of the city of Shanghai, two of the vessels of Martha Jimenez were awarded. The event included an exhibition of 100 vessels from 100 countries (from all five continents). The purpose of this event was to contribute to cultural harmony and tolerance in the world through ceramics. On the other hand, the library of Emerson College, in the city of Boston, attracted large audiences to enjoy her work. Her sculpture of small format and the seven canvases of the series "Longing" received the praise of the American specialized critic for the creative solutions, the humor, the reflection on the contradictions of human beings and the depth to claim the woman.

For a long time this artist and her workshop constitute one of the main epicenters of the artistic creation in the city of Camaguey. The workshop of Martha Jimenez is located in the colonial area of the city, in the vicinity of the Church of Carmen, space declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.


HostelTur Magazine
April 2012