Coming Attraction: Cuban Movie Posters From the Collection of Merrill C. Berman

April 5 - May 12, 2012

I N T E R N AT I O N A L P R I N T C E N T E R N E W Y O R K508 West 26th Street 5th Floor NYC 10001 • 212-989-5090 • www.ipcny.org

Coming Attraction: Cuban Movie Postersfrom the Collection of Merrill C. Berman

Artists’ List:

Eduardo Muñoz Bachs, Raúl Oliva Baluja, Réne Azcuy Cárdenas, Luis Vega De Castro, Fors, Antonio Pérez (Niko) González, Nestor, Julio Eloy Pérez Mesa, Antonio Fernández Reboiro, Alfredo Gonzålez Rostgaard.

The Exhibition

The Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro’s ascent to power in 1959 overturned the art world of Havana, ushering in a revolution in the world of graphic design. Prior to the Castro years, Cuban film posters were very similar to their Hollywood counterparts, with star-studded imagery and action-packed compositions designed to market a particular film. With the revolution and the departure of many established artists from Cuba, a new generation of graphic designers emerged. Coming Attraction: Cuban Movie Posters from the Collection of Merrill C. Berman documents this new movement in Cuban graphic design, presenting a selection of posters commissioned by the newly formed Cuban government from these innovative young artists, most of whom were under thirty. Transcending a purely commercial purpose, these designers turned the film poster into an art form in itself.

One of the first institutions founded by the new Cuban government, the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematografico, or Cuban Institute on Cinematic Arts and Industry (ICAIC), launched in March of 1959, only eighty-three days af-ter the Revolution. Its purpose was to foster the use of art in the service of social improvement through the production and promotion of films; to that end it sponsored the creation of a unique poster for each film that it promoted—whether made or, in the case of a foreign film, distributed in Cuba. The ICAIC program was part of a broader state effort in which a remarkable

10,000 posters were commissioned addressing various cultural, social and po-litical themes. The pace of production was so fast that at one point, some of the more prominent artists were designing a poster every week.

In contrast to the mass-produced posters used to advertise films in the United States, their Cuban counterparts are hand-printed silkscreens. They are essentially uniform in size so that they could be mounted on special kiosks on the streets of Havana. Varying in subject matter, they are colorful and playful, with eye-catching graphics and symbolic imagery-- now described as “Revolutionary Cuban Style.” The production of posters continues today, and film posters are offered for sale at various venues around Havana.

This exhibition highlights the unique character of Cuban graphic design from the 1960s to the 1980s. Rarely exhibited, this group of prints stands in cheerful contrast to other better-known bodies of work, such as Polish posters of the same period. Coming Attraction represents the first exhibition organized by IPCNY that focuses on the rich graphic art tradition of this island nation.

The Collection

IPCNY is grateful to Merrill C. Berman, who generously loaned all of the works on view in this exhibition. The Merrill C. Berman Collection (www.mcbcollection.com) contains 125 Cuban movie posters among the many thousands of examples of graphic design and modernist art collected by Mr. Berman over a period of forty years. In the words of design specialist and author Steven Heller, Berman’s collection “has grown into one of the foremost troves of late 19th and 20th century posters and ephemera — essentially the roots and routes of commercial design as art and profession.”

Left Page: Fors. El Aire No Cuesta (Air is Free), 1984. Reboiro, Antonio Fernández, Nhung, Una Muchacha de Saigon (Nhung, a Young Girl From Saigon), 1975. Right Page: Antonio Fernández Reboiro, Rodeo, 1972. Jorge Dimas González Linares, Sacco y Vanzetti, 1972. All Silkscreen on paper, 29 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches. All published by the the Cuban Institute of Cinema Art and Industry. All Collection Merrill C. Berman. Photos: Jim Frank.

International Print Center New York is a non-profit institution dedicated to the appreciation and understanding of the fine art print. Through exhibitions, information services and public programs, IPCNY contributes to the expansion of audiences for the

visual arts. IPCNY presents seasonal contemporary juried shows through its New Prints Program, while additional shows examine prints from a cultural, historical or thematic point of view. Coming Attraction is the eighth in the series of international shows.

IPCNY extends special thanks to the following institutions and individuals who have contributed their time and expertise to the presentation of this exhibition: Allison Van Spankeren and Craig Foisy of New York University, Carole Rosenberg and the American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation, Sandra Levinson and the Center for Cuban Studies, Carole Goodman, author of Soy Cuba: Cuban Cinema Posters from after the Revolution, the Havana Film Festival New York, and others.

IPCNY is grateful to Merrill C. Berman for so generously lending his prints to this exhibition, and to collection curator Jim Frank for his assistance throughout.

The following funders have supported IPCNY’s programs this season: National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation, the Consulate General of Finland, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Harsch Investment Properties, Hess Foundation, The Jockey Hollow Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, PECO Foundation, Porter Family Foundation, Thompson Family Foundation and numerous generous individuals.

IPCNY depends upon public and private donations to support its programs. To become a member, or for further information, call (212)989-5090, email Stephanie@ipcny.org, or visit www.ipcny.org.

Front Cover: Raúl Oliva Baluja. Sao Paulo, Sociedade Anônima, 1968. Silkscreen on paper, 29 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches. Edition: unknown. Published by the Cuban Institute of Cinema Art and Industry. Collection Merrill C. Berman. Photo: Jim Frank. Back Cover: Nestor, Semana de Cine Cubano en Puerto Rico, 1984. Silkscreen on paper. 19 3/4 x 27 7/8 inches. Published by the Cuban Institute of Cinema Art and Indus-try. Collection Merrill C. Berman. Photo: Jim Frank.

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