Los Diez Concretos
‚Concrete Cuba‘

London

The David Zwirner gallery on 24 Grafton Street, London is currently dedicating a show to the Cuban artist group Los Diez Concretos (Ten Concrete Painters). From 1959 to 1961 the ten artists from Los Diez, namely Pedro Alvarez, Wilfredo Arcay, Mario Carreno, Salvador Corratge, Sandu Darié, Luis Martinez Pedro, Alberto Menocal, José Mijares, Pedro de Oraa and José Angel Rosabal developed the Cuban geometrical abstraction and marked the origins of concretism.

‘Concrete Cuba’ is the first exhibition in the United Kingdom retracing the origin and development of Cuban Concretism. With its large panel of artists, the show reveals experiments and realizations of a group inspired by nationalist sentiments and international influences. Indeed, the group of painters evolved in a very politically marked period. In between the Batista regime and the Revolution of 1959 many members felt the urge to fly outside of the country, meeting with the European artistic scenes.

Its eclectic cultural background is the base to an intellectual aesthetic formulation. The form found in nature is the leading thread linking every work in an often very abstract, geometrical way. The ten artists incorporate and deconstruct this cornerstone revealing a peculiar and innovative visual reinforced by its cultural setting.

Sandú Darié, Estructura Transformable (Transformable Structure), c. 1950s. Oil on wood, assemblage, dimensions variable. Courtesy of Francisco Arevalo

Pedro de Oraá, Sin Título (Untitled), 1960. Plaka on cardboard, 23 5/8 x 15 3/4 inches. Private Collection

David Zwirner

September 5 – October 3, 2015

24 Grafton Street
London W1S 4EZ

Calendar