Impressive in scale, Octavio Guinart’s oil on canvas neo-landscapes unite the frankness of Socialist Realism with the Pop-suffused commentary of a seasoned global visionary. Symbols abound along a horizon of geographical optic fusion – nostalgic palms, ancient totems, bucolic cattle, political ephemera and money in cash – all images ripe for the imagination of Cuban-born and educated artist Guinart. Influenced heavily by the work of distinguished Madrilenian philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset, these paintings frame the doublespeak of the socio-politically exiled within a pleasing pastiche of classic and contemporary figuration. Guinart’s studio work shares a dialectical relationship with “Grupo Lam,” an independent artists collective in his home country of which he is a cofounder and which is named for the renowned Cuban artist Wilfredo Lam.

Press release by Agora Art Gallery, New York, NY. 2012.