Tetkowski-Cuba       NEIL TETKOWSKI

TETKOWSKI - CUBA…a solo exhibition of photographs, collage and sculpture by Neil Tetkowski at hpgrp gallery. Opening Thursday, May 11th, 6:00 - 8:00 PM, showing through June 18, 2006, located at 32-36 Little West 12th Street in the Meatpacking District.

Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11:00 AM to 6:00PM / Sunday 12:00 to 6:00PM

TETKOWSKI - CUBA

Tetkowski - Cuba is an exhibition of all new works inspired by the artist’s recent trip to Cuba. Tetkowski stayed in Santiago de Cuba, located in the eastern most part of the island nation, and Havana, the capital city. There he photographed and collected objects that make up the source material for these new works; four sculptures, twelve photographs and six collages which are in part made of his photographs. Tetkowski - Cuba confirms the artist’s continued interest in artworks reflecting cultural, ecological and geo-political exploration.

“Cuba is a country of paradoxes,” says Tetkowski. “Everything you’ve ever heard is probably true and not true at the same time.” Each collage includes a front page headline from the national newspaper called Granma, named after the boat that Fidel used during his heroic 1956 invasion from Mexico into Oriente province marking the start of the Revolution. (Now housed in a shrine-like museum in Havana, the boat was purchased by Fidel from an American who had named the leisure yacht after his own grandmother.) One such Granma headline reads “Millions of Cubans Exercise their Democracy”. Like layers of irony the layered paper making up the collage transform contradictory elements of life into art. Titles such as “Ration Book”, “Pink Truck” and “The Battle of Ideas” make reference to the photos, newspaper clippings and found objects included in the collage work. A shiny yellow scrap of paper is actually an M & M  candy wrapper - the Cuban UPC sticker from the national store reads “ la victoria” a common slogan of the Revolution - up close you can read “Made in USA.”  “So much for the embargo,” says Tetkowski. Portraits of school children make up a series of photographs included in the show. An image of each child holding a drawing is contrasted with an image of the same child’s worn out shoes.

There are four 3D works in the show. “222”  sits elegantly on a pedestal and is made of three glass bottles with numbers sand-blasted, clearly marking the nation of origin of the dirt contained. Number 179 is the United States, and 43 is Cuba, following the official United Nations list of Member States. Add up 179 and 43 and voile‡, you have a potent hybrid titled “222”. “Rice Producer”  is a mixed-media work comprised of an empty sack that had contained 50 kg of rice recently imported from Vietnam. The sack hangs from the wall and is supported at the bottom with a horizontal shelf holding two bottles numbered 43 and 184, containing the earth of Cuba and Vietnam. “Breadbasket” is a silver basket containing a single slice of marbleized bread. A closer look reveals that it is not bread but fired clay from two nations that cannot get along peacefully, i.e. Cuba and the United States. “Hour Glass” is an entirely ceramic wall sculpture and clearly more typical of Tetkowski’s work. This relief contains the artist’s trademark image i.e. the handprint of a small child and the handprint of an adult.

All of the sculptures directly relate to The Common Ground World Project  which kept the artist busy for the better part of five years. In 1998 he set out to connect with people in every country of the world. Each person was asked to dig raw earth material from their country and send it to the artist in New York. Clay and sand from 188 countries was combined at the United Nations in New York to create the “World Mandala Monument”. The hand print of a 100 year-old woman graces the center of this 10’ work. Also from the Common Ground World Project, “Installation 188” is a 24’ work that has traveled to 10 museums. It is made of 188 bottles with raw earth from each UN country.

Neil Tetkowski’s artwork is well represented in private collections, and permanent collections of 35 museums including the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the Smithsonian Institution and the Victoria and Albert in London. He has received many awards including a grant from the Ford Foundation. During the past year, Neil Tetkowski’s work has been exhibited in Korea at the World Ceramic Biennale and in China at the Beijing Art Biennale 2005.

http://www.tetkowski.com/

http://www.desbrossesgallery.com/