For Zenen Vizcaíno, Cuban visual artist, having left mechanical design for painting does not constitute a change, but switching from the functional to the dreamlike. The industry, however, “left me the ability to preconceive planning methods and dynamics which are ways of deconstructing painting into a functional form and then adding the entire discourse to it.” Vizcaíno graduated from mechanical and die design in 1986 and a few years later he finished the specialty of Engraving at the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro, with the logical transition to painting, his greatest challenge. In an interview with CubaPlus magazine, Vizcaíno made an extensive account of his work as a visual artist for the last three decades, which has given him great satisfaction because, through painting, he has been able to weave together the history of his life and those of people around him, and create work with more than one reason to feel fulfilled. “Painting for me is vertigo, imagination, creativity, as well as an enormous battle. It has become increasingly intimate and demanding, but within the enormous warp that is life, I paint and I am happy”, he added.
When answering a question about his work, Vizcaíno considered that his work in the visual arts has been fun: “I made a path of small challenges that I have been achieving, at the same time as gaining experience and discipline while having fun along the way.” Resident in Mexico for a few years now, this artist has never lost the link with the land where he was born, hence his works have been exhibited in countless salons, galleries and museums in Cuba, including Gallery 23 and 12, Villa Manuela, Luz y Oficios, Concha Ferrant, La Acacia, in the Casa de las Américas and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. His painting has also been featured in numerous exhibitions in various countries, including the United States, Switzerland, Spain, Yugoslavia, Italy and Argentina, while his works are also in public and private collections in Cuba, Mexico, Spain, and the United States, Germany and Italy, among others.
For this multiple award winning artist, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a fruitful prison because, for the next year, he intends to continue painting the Backstage series in large format, and some altarpieces and small paintings. “Paint calmly, continue the course that I teach at the Autonomous University of Coahuila, exhibit in Cuba, are among my most desired future plans,” he said finally.
AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS 1985 - Commendation for Engraving, event ‘25 years of the movement of amateur artists’, Galería Galiano, La Habana, Cuba. 1987 - Casa Las Américas award “La Joven Estampa”, best young engraver under 35 in Latin America. 1990 - Award “La Joven Estampa”, Casa de las Américas, La Habana, Cuba. 1991- Award “Salón 13 de Marzo”, La Habana, Cuba. 1995 - Commendation - Premio Nacional de Pintura Contemporánea “Juan F. Elso”, the first exhibition of art and contemporary painting in Cuba. La Habana. 1999 - Commendation II, “Salón de Arte Erótico”, La Habana, Cuba. 2000 - Commendation I, “Salón de Arte Erótico”, La Habana, Cuba. 2009 - Distinction “La Gitana Tropical”, Provincial Department of Culture of La Habana, Cuba. 2009 -Distinction “La Giraldilla de La Habana”, city government of La Habana, Cuba.
Taken from Cubaplus Magazine Vol. 54
Painting: from the functional to the dreamlike By Mercy Ramo
