AIMÉE GARCÍA (b. 1972)

García found early acclaim at the Fifth Havana Biennial in 1994 and has since exhibited internationally, notably with an installation in New York’s Times Square (2016) and in the Cuban Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale (2017). “The portrait has been a constant in my work,” García recently reflected. “I’m interested in talking about the universal feminine experience. The work is an invitation to reflect on life, history, gender contradictions, memories, and the political and social environment by means of an existential discourse with multiple implications” (“Artist Statement,” Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, https://secca.org, 2022).

A very early work, Untitled incorporates lines from the Magnificat, an extended song of praise in which Mary rejoices over the impending birth of Christ, into its frame: “For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). García here casts herself as Mary, draping her body in resplendent blue scarves; ribbons wrapped around the frame extend the decorative, allegorical space of the painting outward into the real space of the viewer. Nodding to Renaissance masters from Bellini to Titian, García contemplates her reflection—her identity, her role—in a looking glass. “She knows in great detail her own anatomy, to the point of representing it almost obsessively from different points of view,” observes critic Susana Benko. “The act of repeated self-portraiture resembles the act of looking at oneself in a mirror day after day. It is said that the mirror reflects the soul. In front of a mirror, we confront our truth” (“Aimee García,” Art Nexus 59, December 2005-February 2006, p. 160).

Abby McEwen, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, College Park