Personal exhibition by artist Luis Ángel Rodríguez

The youth bursts into the cultural spaces of the city of Las Tunas to change schemes. Luis Ángel Rodríguez González does just that with his first personal exhibition, in the gallery of the Huellas Cultural Center, which brings together mulatto women, urban landscapes, and some abstract ones; back to a love that has alternated with music but that always refers him to a personal effort to polish the technique.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- "I have given everything for painting because I love how the work of art develops as you work, the reaction of the public when observing it, whether it is abstract or figurative. Everything that you do with the heart has an emotional meaning and you have to give credit to the effort.”

He speaks with conviction, and at his age, it seems incredible to be so confident when he still borders on a lot of experimentation. He assumed the brushes after learning skills as an art instructor at the Rita Longa School, under the influence of Liusan Cabrera Almaguer, whom he considers a mentor and friend, and one of those who proposed to him to face himself in a gallery.

Vibrant colors appear on surfaces that suggest postcards, snapshots of what is most representative of the Cuban culture in the world; the lights that dazzle the casual visitor, or those who already know the spells of the acclaimed city and return to its siren songs to capture the arches and pillars that preserve the imagery of an era frozen in time.

Silhouettes, premeditated and casual forms, are glimpsed; a little distant from the initial approach to plastic in the City of Parks (Holguín). "I come from a town called San Andrés, in Holguín, practically unknown; but I wanted to enter the world of painting because since I was a child I received a very big influence from my father, the driving force behind all this.

"It was a great achievement, a dream, to graduate as an art instructor because I faced many difficulties and indecisions. I spent two years studying music, and I started recording songs and albums, but I have never abandoned painting.

"My passion is in the abstract, you try to make a face and you will never paint it as it is no matter how hard you try; in the figurative, there are always defects. In the abstract universe, it happens differently because it is what you wanted to say and. In the exhibition, there is a painting that surprised me after I saw it in the catalog; I took it in my hands, I turned it, and it suggested me several images; that's magical.

"All the pieces were made in 23 days. I only had four made; so I had to look for the materials, and many friends helped me. I wanted to put the mulatto girls and the urban landscapes in one part and the abstract ones in another, which I want to leave as part of the beginning of the work; the one that people want to know, and that can be identified as something of mine, to look for a label. Right now I'm in an experimental stage.”

Thus, Luis Ángel discovers the path little by little, based on the affections that return him to the geography of Las Tunas and to the people who believed and still believe in him.

"I love this city. This is where I have been trained as an artist and I met many people who support and respect me, and who want the best for me. I have been very welcome since I arrived. I have affection for the province. I have been to Trinidad, Havana, Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, and Guardalavaca; I am 30 years old and I have stayed in each of these places for a minimum of five months. Las Tunas has something special for me, I think there is a lot to do here, to show, to teach, and to enjoy; there is an audience waiting for news.”

His voice sounds enthusiastic; he talks about the music that also moves him, about the impulse that doesn't let him abandon one or another art expression; and I imagine the dance of colors in that abstraction that perhaps he will locate very soon on other walls to the beat of the skillful pupils of the viewer.