Abel Barroso at The Studios of Key West

January 4-25, 2018

Abel Barroso is among the leading voices of a generation of Cuban artists who came of age during the island’s “Special Period,” the era of deprivation following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Like many of his peers, he inherited an ironic worldview and a knack for invention.

At the 2000 Havana Bienale, visitors to Abel Barroso’s 3rd World Internet Cafe could grab a cup of coffee and browse on one of his handmade wooden “computers,” scrolling through digitally printed images using a hand crank. In a country where scarcity of internet access is both a sign of dysfunction and a tool for control, it was a blunt if charming critique, and later spawned a complete line of “digital” devices from Barroso’s invented “Mango Technologies” company: laptops, flip phones, tablets, and wireless speakers.

The hugely popular exhibition not only established Barroso’s prominence; it set the tone and laid out themes for a career that is still unfolding: wry (and often genuinely funny) commentary on political and economic systems; inventiveness with materials in the service of ideas; and a universal world view, cheerfully embracing the role of “3rd World” spokesperson.

If technology permits the collapsing of boundaries, its absence reinforces them. In this vein, Barroso directs his satire towards an array of systems that restrict the flow of information, people, and resources. As ever, Barroso turns these isolating systems into toys: obtaining a visa is rendered as a pinball game; developed and developing nations face off on a foosball table.

With luck, and a bit of skill, the player may navigate the system, but the game is always rigged.

Abel Barroso’s work is on view at The Studios of Key West, January 4-25, 2018, with a gallery talk Thursday January 11 at 4pm. Barroso’s work has been exhibited

extensively around the world, and is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MOMA); the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba among others.

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