Amelia Peláez (1896-1968) was arguably one of the most pivotal artists of the Cuban avant-garde, widely recognized as having ushered in the vanguard’s second “baroque” generation in the 1940s. Her groundbreaking cubist-style still lifes are set in Spanish colonial domestic interiors which pulsate with color and the movement of a black arabesque. The exhibition features still lifes (1940s-1960s) and ceramics (1950s) by Peláez, which exemplify the way in which color and line go beyond their representational duties and begin to serve abstract purposes in her oeuvre. These works also demonstrate the careful geometric planning underpinning the construction of her paintings.
