Generación (2019) works as a metaphor of the cultural and aesthetic deaths that have occurred cyclically in Cuba and – possibly – in other countries around the world. The characters in the film are artists, photographers, writers, architects and curators of today´s Cuban intellectual scene who embody the state of mind and mood of the generation at the end of the 1970s, thus establishing a time ellipse between the island´s past and present and connecting with the reality and the frustrations that young people in the world experience today.
In some way Castillo wanted to put viewers into the position of those affected, the deep damage that extremist and stigmatizing positions cause to human beings. The song Pólvora Mojada, the soundtrack for the video, was very popular in the 1970s and sung by one of the most prominent of all Cuban music´s voice, Beatriz Márquez.
Marco A. Castillo is a founder of the art collective Los Carpinteros, and his work is permeated by an interest in the history of Cuba and the country’s post-revolutionary, social and cultural changes. Castillo has been extensively investigating architecture, design and sculpture, which are fundamental aspects of his artistic practice in seeking to create installations, drawings and sculptures that engage with space and negotiate between the functional and non-functional, often expressed in a humorous way. Already with the period of his early works Castillo’s oeuvre is one of the most important and internationally influential of the Latin American continent of the past twenty years.
In tandem with a global movement of historical revision, Castillo reflects on Cuba’s modernization in the 1960 and 70s and refers to influential Cuban artists, architects and designers. The sculptures and works on paper pertaining to his most recent project combine elements of Nordic and Scandinavian design and socialist realism of the Soviet period with traditional Cuban techniques and materials—including mahogany wood and rattan fabric, as well as with graphic designs of the time.
Lately the artist has been focused on reinterpreting the works of key figures from what he calls a ‘forgotten generation’, such as Gonzalo Córdoba, María Victoria Caignet, Rodolfo Fernández Suárez (Fofi), Joaquín Galvá n and Walter Betancourt. From a political standpoint, Castillo seeks to follow these artists’ historic trail, while positioning himself as an advocate and herald for Cuban artistic heritage.
Marco A. Castillo is represented in important national and international public and private collections, such as: Tate Modern, London, Great Britain; Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York, USA; Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA; National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba; Center of Art “Reina Sofia” Museum, Madrid, Spain; Thyssen – Bornemisza Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Daros Foundation, Zürich, Switzerland; Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, USA (LACMA), Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada. etc.
The exhibition is supported in part by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.
