The Color of Memory

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• H. Benitez Fine

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The thick molasses of memory and the pulsing beat of conga drums are the essence of Cuban artist Humberto Benitez’s energetic, flamboyantly hued work. The painter creates canvases rich with imagery of his homeland’s music, landscape, people, and customs in exuberant, jazzy compositions that reflect his soulful yearning for a paradise lost. The tropical palette of his youth, the artist explains, is vivid in his mind. “I close my eyes and can still smell the burned sugar cane being milled,” he muses.

The vibrant greens that infuse his work “reflect the tobacco fields [he] ran through as a boy.” As for his bold use of yellows, he says, “They are the stained fingers of my mother’s hands working endlessly in the cigar plant.” Tonight at 7:00 Benitez will unveil “Sketching the Past,” a selection of his recent works, at H. Benitez Fine Arts as part of the monthly Gables Gallery Stroll. “The texture of my paintings parallel the waves of a savage sea bashing thousands to the depths of the Florida Straits. They are the scars of many broken families lost for the sake of freedom,” he says. Call 786-877-1045, or visit www.pintorcubano.com.
Fri., Aug. 3