Under the Cuban Sun at Throckmorton Fine Art | Spencer Throckmorton talks with Victoria Amador

Under the Cuban Sun at Throckmorton Fine Art

Spencer Throckmorton always offers remarkable exhibitions to viewers who visit his gallery in New York City. From June 16 to September 17, 2016, Throckmorton Fine Art will be showing Under the Cuban Sun, an extremely timely collection of photographs highlighting Cuban life, art, politics and culture from the early 1930s through the revolution of the 1950s to the present day. Spencer was kind enough to answer a few questions for SxSE Magazine about the impetus and inspiration behind this photographic tour of Cuba. -Victoria Amador

The Wall 2009 Gelatin silver print 12 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. ©Susan S. Bank

Cigar Factory, San Juan Y Martinez, Pinar del Río 1956 Gelatin silver print 16 x 20 in. ©Jesse A. Fernandez

Havana, Cuba 2000 Gelatin Silver Print 14 1/4 x 11 in. ©Christophe Von Hohenberg

Victoria Amador: Your timing for this show is amazing.  How long has it been in the planning?

Spencer Throckmorton: I have collected images of Cuba, either images taken by Cuban photographers or images of Cuba – especially of Fidel Castro – for over 30 years. Concerning the show, it took about a year of narrowing down my collection for the exhibition.

Ernest Hemingway, Casino Hotel Nacional, Havana 1957 Gelatin silver print 16 x 20 in. ©Jesse A. Fernandez

Che Guevara, Heroic Guerrilla 1960 Gelatin silver print 11 x 14 in. ©Alberto Korda

Havana 2015 Ink on paper 13 x 19 in. ©Jane Cytryn

VA: What was your response to Obama’s opening of our relationship with Cuba?

ST: I felt that it was about time, that we needed to start communicating and move forward. However one might feel about the subject, the key is to open the dialogue.

Havana Cuba 1993 Gelatin silver print, Vintage 11 x 14 in. ©Michael Scalisi

Child with Hutia 2001 Gelatin silver print 16 x 20 in. ©Raúl Cañibano

Peddling mangoes in street, Santiago, Cuba 1963 Gelatin silver print, Vintage 8 x 10 in. ©Henri Cartier-Bresson

VA: Have you been there before?  When and where?  Any plans to go again soon?

ST: I have never been to Cuba; I feel that I have been however since I know and collected works of Cuba for so many years.  I have no plans in the near future but if the opportunity comes, I will surely go.

VA: Your press release mentions the approach you’re taking to the variety of photographs depicting Cuba. Can you speak more to that for us?

ST: Our show will highlight the good and the real relating to the daily lives of Cubans, the iconic and the new mixed with the old; there are so many contrasts which reflect the cross-section of works I want to show.

Los Romanticos Angeles de la Tierra, La Habana, Cuba 1992 Gelatin silver print, Vintage 10 1/2 x 16 in. ©Joseph Ney

Men with Machetes 2002 Gelatin silver print 16 x 20 in. ©Raúl Cañibano

El Prado, La Habana, Cuba 2000 Selenium toned gelatin silver print 16 x 20 in. ©Mario Algae

VA: What were the criteria you had for the photographs in this exhibition?

ST: All the photographs are black and white. We are featuring many vintage works, all by important Cuban photographers dating from the early part of the 20th century to the present. The photographs variously depict the political, cultural and emerging landscapes of Cuba.

Havana, Cuba 2000 Gelatin Silver Print 14 1/4 x 11 in. ©Christophe Von Hohenberg

Santa Clara Market 2015 Ink on paper 13 x 19 in. ©Jane Cytryn

“Stick Ball” Havana Cuba 1993 Gelatin silver print, Vintage 11 x 14 in. ©Michael Scalasi

VA: What hopes do you have for the future of Cuba?

ST: I hope that the future of Cuba is more open, that they can finally become a part and player in the global world…especially when it comes to the art world.