The exhibition Beauty as Protest: The Pattern and Decoration Movement opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas (MoCAA), welcoming a magnificent turnout of visitors.
Curated by artist Miguel Rodez, the exhibition explores how the Pattern and Decoration (P&D) movement, which emerged in the 1970s, embraced a vibrant aesthetic, textiles, and craft traditions to challenge the hierarchies of an art world historically dominated by men. It also examines how ornamentation directly challenged the austerity of Minimalism and anticipated contemporary movements focused on inclusion and global artistic traditions.
As the curator states: “Today, countless artists demonstrate traces of this influence in their work. However, due to a historical lack of documentation, many of these artists are unaware of the precise lineage that originally legitimized the materials and methodologies once rejected by the most influential galleries of the time.”
The exhibition also proposes that “the Pattern and Decoration movement catalyzed a vast wave of artistic experimentation, permanently expanding the boundaries of pattern and ornamentation within the fine arts worldwide, ultimately leaving its mark on Cuban art.”
Beauty as Protest… seeks to bring together a group of Cuban artists whose work engages in a dialogue with the same decorative elements that the P&D movement championed in its time. The participating artists are David Anasagasti, Mabelín Castellanos, Esteban Leyva, Luisa Mesa, Julio Neira, Juan Manuel Rivero, Miguel Rodez, and Henry Rodríguez.
