Salvador Gonzales Escalona: Revolutionizing Contemporary Art
Salvador Gonzales Escalona (21 October 1948 – 16 April 2021) is a renowned Cuban artist known for his experiments in paintings, sculpture, and murals. He is mononymously known as Salvador, born in Camagüey. He was the cultural promoter Callejón de Hamel Community Sociocultural Project, working around the Cayo Hueso neighborhood.
Salvador Gonzales Escalona Art Style
Born in Havana, Cuba, Salvador Gonzales Escalona is known for his blend of African and Cuban styles, which he engenders as the ‘Afro-Cuban’ style; focusing on Santería — a syncretistic Cuban religion. Along with these geographical traditions, he blends surrealism, cubism, and abstract art. He might as well be called the spiritual successor of José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera.
He had no formal education, despite which he went on to display his artworks at ‘Arte Popular Cubano’ in Museo de Artes Decorativas. Since his first exhibition in 1968, he has displayed his work in Norway, Cuba, Denmark, Mexico, the USA, Puerto Rico, Spain, and more. Salvador González Escalona’s connections with race and class are not predetermined, but it is often interpreted as the marginalization of his community in the US and Puerto Rico. He was also an environmentalist and believed in harmonious architecture.
Salvador Gonzales Escalona’s Callejón de Hamel
Around April 1990, Salvador Gonzales Escalona began painting murals and sculptures in the Callejón de Hamel alleyway. For the sculptures, he used scrap including bathtubs, hand pumps, and pinwheels. For the murals, he used diverse paints, including car enamel. The streets soon changed from a slum to a vibrant Afro-Cuban hub in adoration; in fact, the majority of the murals depict Afro-Cuban gods. At present, there are numerous workshops for young Cuban children, learning to paint.
Salvador Gonzales Escalona revived a street that was forgotten by its city and time; turning it into an art gallery accessible to workers, professionals, children, and the elderly.
Image Courtesy – EcuRed
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