The Rice Collection of Cuban Art, presented at two Florida museums. Lavoy's work hangs among 54 artists spanning a century of Cuban art, from Wifredo Lam and René Portocarrero to Belkis Ayón, Tania Bruguera and the concrete painters of 1950s Havana.
A braid of hair falls through the frame like water, rendered in saturated pink against a field of violet blue. The figure dissolves into color; what remains is the line of the braid, a current running from shoulder to edge.
Drawn exclusively from the collection of Susie and Mitchell Rice, the exhibition brings together 79 works — paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, art books and sculpture — by 54 artists working in Cuba and across the diaspora. Guest curators Gabriela Azcuy and David Horta organized it with the Harn's curatorial team; it later traveled to the Tampa Museum of Art.
Artists in the exhibition include Wifredo Lam, Cundo Bermúdez, René Portocarrero, Mario Carreño, Pedro de Oraá, Salvador Corratgé, José Rosabal, Rafael Soriano, Belkis Ayón, José Bedia, Tania Bruguera, Carlos Garaicoa, Roberto Fabelo, Sandra Ramos and Mabel Poblet.
Under the Spell of the Palm Tree: The Rice Collection of Cuban Art. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, 2023. Full-color hardcover, 279 pages. Essays by Gabriela Azcuy and David Horta; edited by Dulce Román. Includes The River.