Jose Manuel Fors Mixed Media - "Los Retratos II" (2000)

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By Artemis Gallery

Jun 27, 2024

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• Lot Description
  Jose Manuel Fors (Cuban, b. 1956). "Los Retratos II" toned gelatin silver print, paper and twine, 2000. Signed "J.M. Fors Los Retratos, 2000" at lower right. A unique work by contemporary Cuban artist Jose Manuel Fors who was a leading force in "The Renaissance of Cuban Art" beginning in the late twentieth century. "Los Retratos II" is comprised of a myriad of family photographs arranged in a mosaic-like composition with a photo album wrapped in twine mounted in the center. Fors is inspired by family history and memories when creating his pieces. In the artist's words, "It is very important. Not just family history, but throughout my work, historically all my work, I've discovered is created on the foundations of memories." A unique piece by Jose Manuel Fors, mounted behind plexiglass in a custom frame. Size: 47.25" L x 57.5" W (120 cm x 146 cm)
  
  During an interview for the Darrel Couturier Gallery, asked Fors about the references to his grandfather to which he replied, "Yes, my father's side was rather intellectual. My great grandfather was a famous doctor, my grandfather a famous botanist - my father, my uncles are all very studious...I'm the only black sheep that studied art. (laughs) This creates an ambience of learning and scholarship. But, my family has a very marked division. My mother's side is less scholastically inclined, subsequently they were less preoccupied with documenting and conserving. That's why the majority of images I use, the family portraits in particular, are from my father's side. This is the material I use in my work. Really, I would have loved to have used documents from my entire family."
  
  His technique was based on the idea of "making do" and recycling materials, "The method I have of working with mosaics and including many small photos was initially a technical solution to this problem. I love to make large pictures, but I had no access to large sheets of film, so I started using smaller pieces. I used this dilemma to my advantage and really felt that I succeeded, to the point that, now that I have access to materials, I still use this visual language. Necessity makes you find creative solutions...no matter what you're working with." (Source: Bill Kelley Jr. interview with the artist at Couturier Gallery in Los Angeles, CA April 12, 2001 - transcript excerpt from LatinArt.com an online journal of art and culture)
  
  About the artist: "Jose Manuel Fors is a photographer and painter. He graduated from the San Alejandro School of Fine Arts in 1976 and the Havana Institute of Museum Studies in 1986. He has worked at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana. He participated in Volumen Uno, the groundbreaking exhibition in 1981 that changed the Cuban art scene alongside Jose Bedia, Juan Francisco Elso and Ruben Torres Llorca, among others. His work has been shown in various solo and group exhibitions in Cuba, Venezuela, Japan, France, Belgium, Mexico, Spain and the United States. He was an artist in residence at the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada, and won the Gold Medal at the 49th International Photographic Salon of Japan in 1989. He has received numerous awards and prizes, including an honorable mention at the First National Salon of Ecological Art in 1996, the Distinction for the National Culture in 1999, and the Alejo Carpentier Medal in 2002. His works are part of the collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba; the Houston Museum of Fine Arts; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; the Museum of Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; the Museum of the Americas, Nicaragua; the Photographic Library of Pachuca, Mexico; the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Los Angeles, California, among other important institutions." (Source: Cuban Art Resources website)
  
  Provenance: Private Los Angeles, California, USA collection
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #186368

  Condition

  Overall excellent. Signed "J.M. Fors Los Retratos, 2000" at lower right. Mounted behind plexiglass in a custom, museum-quality wooden frame. Not examined outside the frame. Exhibition label from Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA on the verso.
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