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What a Wonderful World Luis Cruz Azaceta

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What a Wonderful World Luis Cruz Azaceta


Luis Cruz Azaceta, I Can’t Breathe, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 96 inches, Collection of the artist, courtesy Arthur Roger Gallery


February 12 - July 24, 2022

Contributing Sponsor
David B. Workman

Host Committee
Arthur Roger Gallery
Jeanette and Benjamin Jaffe
Sharon and Gus Kopriva
Marilyn Oshman
Christopher Puleo
Holly & Geoffrey Snodgrass
Carla & Cleophus Thomas
Sherry Owens

 

SUPPORT LUIS CRUZ AZACETA: WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
VER MÁS EN ESPAÑOL

Luis Cruz Azaceta: What a Wonderful World brings together painting, drawing, collage and sculptural works spanning over 4 decades to illustrate the prolific career of Luis Cruz Azaceta, a Cuban American visual artist based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Often working in large scale, his artworks are known for their highly-charged color and narrative depth.

For over fifty years, Luis Cruz Azaceta has created art, not for art’s sake, but to confront the most pressing issues of his time. Moving deftly between raw figurative expressionism and narrative abstraction, Azaceta conveys his own anxiety and fear about the state of the world through his paintings and sculptures. By bringing attention to current critical issues – violence, war, racism, environmental collapse, natural disasters, tyranny, oppression, pandemic – Azaceta confronts harsh realities with the pictorial force of his work, tempered with his own brand of compassion and self-awareness. He views his work as his voice, and also as a weapon for change.

Born in Havana in 1942, Azaceta experienced the violence and turmoil leading to the Cuban Revolution in 1959. As the executions began in the Revolution’s aftermath, he emigrated from his home in 1960 to the United States at the age of 18. In New York he began using painting and drawing as a form of expression, finding his voice and identity through art. After graduating from the School of Visual Arts New York City, he began his professional career in 1975 with his first solo exhibition at Allan Frumpkin Gallery in Midtown New York.

His early works were figurative and expressionistic. They conveyed the isolation inherent to the immigrant experience, and confronted the critical issues of the time – most notably urban violence and the AIDS pandemic. His figurative paintings captured the zeitgeist of 1970s New York City, boldly engaging the contemporary narrative through imagery both comical and violently emotional.

Azaceta moved to New Orleans in 1992. In the years that followed, his work moved gradually toward abstraction. Formally, he began a deeper exploration of visual tensions in his work, wrestling discord into harmony through color, line and material. His works continued to face harsh realities and to explore the human condition. Yet his process and style was (and is) ever-evolving, resisting mannerist repetition and predictability, and allowing for his own discovery through paint.

Luis Cruz Azaceta: What a Wonderful World brings together works from 1975-2021 to show an artist who has consistently pushed himself and his practice into new territory, both formally and conceptually. It illustrates one man’s unrelenting examination of the human condition through drawing, painting and sculpture. It reveals an artist who believes it is his duty to work for the betterment of humanity. It is that belief in the power of beauty over tyranny, of truth over fear, and in the potential of art to affect change that drives Azaceta’s studio practice. This timely exhibition offers a glimpse into the full scope of that worthy endeavor.

Bradley Sumrall
Curator of the Collection
Ogden Museum of Southern Art


Artist Statement

“I paint what I see around me, and I look with an accusing eye at what man has created … I am just a filter, a many-colored voice … I paint to kill La Muerte, and also to kill Cruelty, Injustice, Violence, Ignorance and Hypocrisy.” – Luis Cruz Azaceta

As an artist you use your experiences dealing with your surroundings and your conditions. The condition of being in exile is of being in two places simultaneously – physically in your place of exile, emotionally and spiritually in the place you left behind, your roots. This experience allowed me as an artist to address the condition of violence, racism, isolation separation and oppression and identity through my work. It gave me an eye to understanding that this experience goes beyond my personal journey to a perspective of a more global condition that many live within. The rapid state of change in the world at large – the environment, collapsing economies, greed, war, revolution, terrorism – a point where individual citizens are rising against political, economic and social injustices at hand.


About the artist

Luis Cruz Azaceta, Self Portrait with Mickey Mouse Hat, 1978, Prismacolor, 18 x 24 inches

Luis Cruz Azaceta is a Cuban American artist. He lived in New York, graduated from The School of Visual Arts and began his long career as an artist.

Azaceta develops parallel series in several media at once, combining materials in unexpected ways. He works constantly and is extremely prolific. For Azaceta, art is a way of facing the world and addressing the human condition.

He has over 100 solo exhibitions and more than 400 group exhibitions. He’s been awarded The National Endowment for the Arts (3 time recipient), The Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Grant, The Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant among others. His work is part of major museum collections such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Smithsonian Museum, Artium Museo De Arte Contemporaneo, Spain, Museo De Arte Contemporaneo De Monterrey, Kerry Stokes Art Collection, Australia, among many others.


Catalog


Gallery

Luis Cruz Azaceta, What a Wonderful World, 1992, Acrylic on canvas, 120 x 120 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Real Fiction, 1995, Mixed media on wood and metal, 105 x 108 x 4.75 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, The Wall, 2017, Acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 96 x 96 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Corona, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 70.25 x 70.25 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Measure of Equality, 2019, Acrylic, yarn and wooden frame on canvas, 73 x 97 x 5 inches, Collection of Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Gift of David B. Workman
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Orlando, 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 96 x 96 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Remembering 9/11, 2011, Acrylic, shellac and graphite on canvas, 12 x 12 inches each, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Dirt, 2007, Mixed media and photo collage, 80 x 14 x 9 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Hands Up, Don’t Shoot / Tulsa, 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Melting, 2018, Toy, wood and acrylic on canvas, 67 x 60 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, New Orleans Pool (Katrina), 2006, Acrylic, pencil on paper, 30 x 83.5 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Shit! My Head is Burning but My Heart is Filled with Love, 1981, Acrylic on canvas, 66 x 66 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, The Gun’s Parade, 1979, Acrylic on canvas, 66 x 66 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Head Sweeper 2008, Acrylic, ink markers, pencil on paper, 42 x 30 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Watching You, 2012, Acrylic, ink markers, pencil on paper, 30 x 42 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Captiva A, 1997, Acrylic, charcoal and shellac on paper, 48 x 42 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, BOOM, BOOM Dead or Alive, 1976, Oil on canvas, 75 x 84 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Caged Man, 1987, Wood construction, 15 x 17 x 13 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, AIDS / Blood Sample III, 1990, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Shifting States: Syria, 2011, Acrylic, charcoal, oil stick and shellac on canvas, 80 x 76 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Gaza 38, 2014, Acrylic, ink on paper, 39 x 42 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Swimming to Havana 777, 2016, Acrylic, ink marker, pencil on paper, 30 x 30 inches, Collection of Mariana and Emile Cruz
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Hope in the Age of COVID 3-4-5 (triptych), 2021, Acrylic, ink markers on paper, 39.5 x 29.75 inches each, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Monument to the Unknown ALIEN Worker that Helped Rebuild the City of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, 2011, Acrylic, ink markers, nails on wood, mounted to wood, 48 x 21 inches, Collection of Sharon Jacques
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Man Holding His Country, 1993, Acrylic, shellac, pencil on paper, 42 x 30 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Evacuees, 2009, Acrylic on canvas, 56 x 56 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Smoking by the Sea, 1985, Charcoal, pencil on paper, 22 x 30 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, I Can’t Breathe, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 96 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Fear, 2009, Acrylic, enamel and oil stick on canvas, 72 x 72 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, El Emigrante, 1986, Oil stick on paper, 40 x 26 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Gun Parade, 1980, Ink and pencil on paper, 22 x 30 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Los Misterios (triptych), 1986, Oil stick on paper, 40 x 26 inches each, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Tres Tumbas para un Poeta, 1978, Prismacolor on paper, 18 x 24 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, The Artist and his Labyrinth, 1981, Watercolor, artist hair, a match on canvas, 30 x 22 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Enmascarado / Desenmascarado, 2021, Acrylic, colored pencil on canvas, 48 x 96 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Fire, 2020, Mixed media on canvas, 56 x 42.5 x 5.5 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Game of Horrors, 1978, Prismacolor on paper, 31 x 25 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Captiva 1, 1996, Mixed media construction, 21 x 23 x 15 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Bloody Day, 1981, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, First Aid, 2017-2020, Mixed media construction, 59.75 x 23 x 9 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Ark, 1994, Acrylic, charcoal, Polaroids and shellac on canvas, 110 x 119 inches, Private collection
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Self-Portrait with Mickey Mouse Hat, 1978, Prismacolor, 18 x 24 inches, Collection of Dylan Cruz Azaceta
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Tchoupitoulas Shoot-Out, 1992, Acrylic and Polaroids on canvas, 120 x 120 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Aleppo’s Ashes, 2017, Mixed media construction, 21.5 x 29 x 9.25 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, AIDS Patient / Cross, 1990, Acrylic, oil stick on paper, 22.25 x 22.5 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Luis Cruz Azaceta, Surge II (Hurricane Sandy), 2012, Ink markers on paper, 30 x 42 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
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