We proudly welcome Alejandro Sainz Alfonso, (b.1965), to the Grenning Gallery fold. Alfonsos hugely colorful and at times, comedic take on his life in Cuba is expressed in this series of silkscreen prints. From “Fried Potatoes” to “Review of History” we see a world from the perspective of a population living under the sea inside of the 100 year old divers suits. When I asked him if this is what it is like to live in Cuba under the current political regime – he said “no – that this is what its like to be a human on planet earth”. We were intrigued to see Cuba, from an artistic perspective. Like Darwin’s Galapagos Islands, we were able to see a vibrant artistic community that has had very few outside influences since 1959. The visual and literary diet seems to have been limited to 1950s movie stars, Albrecht Durers prints, propaganda posters of the leaders, and interestingly – Andy Warhol.

Alfonsos prints were discovered in the government-sponsored print shop that we saw with our government assigned tour guide -(the government sponsors EVERYTHING). We met some serious professional artists that were working in the print shop, which also had several large tables with prints for sale. Alfonsos work stood out. I wasn’t the first to notice Alfonso’s work, as you will see that most of the prints are towards the end of the edition.