"Since she was little she had a compact camera and when she had to escape from reality it was what she took to do it," recalls Alejandra González (aka Alejandra Glez), one of the Cuban visual artists with the most projection of the moment, who on June 3 will show her work in the inaugural exhibition of PhotoSpain 2021, in Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid.
“From the age of 16, when I started studying at a private school (because in Cuba there is no photography career as such), I have worked with photography, then I went into the performance, video art and digital art”, explains the creator, that she won the fourth edition of the Enaire Foundation Young Photography Award with the JUSTMAD fair. Her work will also be present, in fact, at this satellite art fair in BOW, from July 8 to 11, in the Neptune Palace.
"S/T", series “Callao” (2018), by Alejandra Glez.
“My work is very personal, it talks about my fears, experiences and traumas, and I try to give voice to other women. I look for myself in other women while trying to get their stories told.” Alejandra did internships in Spain –with the photographer José María Mellado, for example, from whom she learned a lot– and, In fact, she plans to stay here for a while "to create a bridge between Cuba and Spain."
“I think this exhibition is going to work very well in Spain, It is about the biblical passage in which Lilith, the first woman of paradise, left. She could be considered the first feminist”. Starting June 24, you can also see her work in the Gallery Aurora-Vigil Staircase, with Semíramis González as curator.
"Absence", series "Mar de fondo" (2018), by Alejandra Glez.
In general, Alejandra tells us, she tries to be quite explicit about the message of her work so that it reaches the viewer directly. One of her best-known works, Sea in the background, presence, shows many women floating naked in the sea. “It alludes to deaths from domestic violence, and the trafficking of immigrant women across the ocean. There really is a natural phenomenon whereby the sea brings some elements to the surface. These bodies, in my work, come to light again. It is a diptych, first the naked corpses appear and then their spirits, their silhouettes with light”.
Are we facing a social, political work...? “If I had to give it an adjective it would be feminist, because what it tries to do is enhance the voice of women, equalize it and make people aware that something has to change”
"Warmi", series: "Collaboration" (2018), by Alejandra Glez.
Given the good reception that her work is having –in addition to the large number of online samples that she makes, a couple of weeks ago put several NFTs up for sale and in nine minutes they were all sold (9 tokens in total from 4 different works)–, she says maybe it's because of the ID. “I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks and I transmit it in my works, perhaps giving visibility to the problem make others feel identified. I am also young (24 years old) and I think that attracts attention”.
Beyond the obvious negative repercussions of the pandemic, the artist points out a positive point: “This crisis has given us the opportunity to reflect. We are always running, doing things outside. For me it was a meditative process, to see myself more inward, to cure things that I dragged since I was a child. Interesting works came out,” she comments.
Self-Portrait Series, by Alejandra Glez (2017).
On the other hand, she tells us about a terrible reality that, unfortunately, was aggravated by the months of confinement. “It was a difficult moment for many women who live with their aggressors. People see that my work is feminist and sometimes, because they are afraid to go to the police, they call me. It has been hard for me because I talk about these problems but I have no political or social power. Although I did achieve some small progress, such as opening a telephone for emergencies of this nature.
Personal photo taken by Alejandra Glez. In the Habana.
MAKING LOVE… TO A CITY
Alejandra lives seasonally in Spain and, since she was 19 years old, she has traveled a lot. When she was discovered by the art collector Luciano Méndez, it was she who began her adventure. "I had terrible conditions in the studio, but he was very interested in my speech and he financed a project in Europe about what feminism is like outside of Cuba." Thanks to this, she was able to travel to Spain, France, Germany, Holland, Portugal… "She held calls in which the women talked about her experiences and everything ended with a performance which was registered in photo. Sometimes, the photographs were taken directly”.
One of the trips that marked him the most was to New York. “There, instead of wanting to work with women, I felt that the city was making love to me, and I to her, it was a crazy thing. I took photos with my mobile, very intimate, I made a series that records all that trip. It was very nice,” she tells us.
The Forest of Havana.
We would like Alejandra to guide us through her magical places in Havana, her hometown, and she is clear about it: “First of all, if you are interested in the creative world, it is essential to Cuban Art Factory, the place that welcomes artists, visitors and tourists. For inspiration, I always go to the sea, for example to the coast of the Miramar neighborhood, to watch the sunset or talk to the sea. I am also inspired by the forest of Havana, where I ride a bicycle”.
And, since you love to eat, we also take note of Her four favorite restaurants in the Cuban capital: Yarini (San Isidro 214, between Picota and Compostela), El Cook (Calle 26), El de Frente (O'Reilly) and the Italian La corte y el Príncipe (Pjea).
"Self-portrait", series "Life is immortal when it ends" (2020), by Alejandra Glez.
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