Cuban Artist Denied Entry Visa to Attend her Washington Debut

Cuban artist Sandra Ramos, considered by many to be the leading Cuban visual artist of her generation, has been working feverishly for the last year to finish off a series of new works which will be showcased in her Washington, DC debut show opening at our Fraser Gallery in Georgetown this coming May 21 for a month-long exhibition.

Since she has visited the US many times, both for previous shows in other American cities and for museum art conferences (as invited speaker), and since her work is in the permanent collection of many prestigious American museums, such as The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston, it came to her as a shock when her visa to attend her Washington, DC opening was denied.

“This is an artist with a worldwide following and reputation,” said Catriona Fraser, Director and co-owner of our two Fraser Galleries in Georgetown and Bethesda. “It came to us as an unexpected shock as well when Sandra told us that she would not be able to travel to Washington for her opening reception.”

“To make it more irritating,” continues Fraser, “this is without a doubt our most important exhibition of the year, and artists of Ramos’ caliber and reputation are not only good for our gallery but for the Washington art scene in general.”

Just last year Ramos attended art conferences hosted by the Lowe Art Museum in Florida as well as visits to New York, Boston and Provincetown in Massachusetts, all related to art exhibitions or conferences.

Her work, which often delivers visceral commentaries dealing with taboo issues in Cuban society such as racism, mass migration, freedoms and liberties and the impact of Communism on the Cuban psyche, has placed Ramos at the very leading edge of a group of young Cuban artists who use their art as a narrative medium to describe, criticize and export the world in which they live and work.

Following nearly twenty highly successful solo exhibitions in Cuba, Japan, Mexico, Germany and Holland, Ramos had her first solo American show in Miami last year to high critical acclaim. The solo at Fraser Gallery will be her second American solo show as well as her Washington, DC debut.

Recent articles discussing her work in the ARTNews Newsletter, Art & Antiques Magazine, Art Business News, The Art Newspaper, as well as reviews in many national and international art magazines all led to a spectacular year for Ramos, who saw all of her entire production of 2003 paintings sell during the last months of the year as American art collectors made their way to Havana before the tightening of US policy on travel to Cuba.

“Sandra has been saving her most recent work for this solo,” says Fraser, “and we expect to have about a dozen new works in this show – all new important works dealing with her recurring issue of Cuba as a prison whose walls are made of water.”

One of Ramos’ most poignant works, in the collection of MOMA in New York best exemplifies the work that has made her famous. Titled in Spanish “The Damned Circumstance of Being Surrounded by Water,” Ramos transforms her image (as a little girl) onto the shape of Cuba, her body pinned to the island by bright red Royal Palms (the national tree of Cuba) changed from its natural color to the color of the Cuban Revolution.

“We will go ahead with the show,” declares Fraser. “And I intend to write to the Department of State to protest this visa denial to an artist with a proven history of not being a flight risk.”