Nelson Domínguez shows the genius of Alicia Alonso through visual art

October 25, 2019

The Cuban plastic artist Nelson Domínguez stars today in Holguín in the first tribute made from his artistic expression to the legendary dancer Alicia Alonso, who recently passed away.

I always respected her image very much and I have the great satisfaction of having lived in her time, he commented to Prensa Latina.

The exhibition, titled My friend Alicia, contains almost 60 pieces in different techniques and formats that can be seen at the Provincial Center of Plastic Arts in Holguín, a province in eastern Cuba located about 734 kilometers east of the capital.

With this present work, Domínguez celebrated a year ago in La Habana the 70th anniversary of the founding of the National Ballet of Cuba; but after the death of the prima ballerina assoluta of the Caribbean country, last October 17, the collection takes on new meanings and serves as a tribute to Cuba's most universal artist.

In this way, the Ibero-American Culture Festival, inaugurated the day before, joins in the tributes to the mythical dancer.

Several creations attempt to reflect the striking personality of Alonso on and off the stage, where many—like Domínguez himself—had the opportunity to meet a proud and typically Cuban woman.

The exhibition brings together different artistic expressions such as drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and furniture design; it even includes the immense curtain conceived by the artist for a scene of a choreography by the prima ballerina assoluta, Pictures at an Exhibition.

The artist shows a fascination with Alonso's swan and also exposes it in the sensual Carmen and in the imposing Taglioni of the Grand pas de quatre, among other characters in which she left her mark.

At the same time, it shows the dancer's relationships with different identity elements of her people and even presents a pas de deux as a tribute to Alonso and the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, in which he gives the artist and friend a white butterfly, considered the national flower.

Visitors can write in a book any message they wish, and most express double expressions of gratitude.

Nothing more gratifying than a meeting with two masters: Nelson Domínguez and Alicia Alonso, wrote someone identified as Marisela; while Manuel García states: Thanks to Nelson for the accurately multiple perspective he gives us of someone who, like the universe, created a tradition from nothing.

The works of Domínguez can be found in private collections of personalities such as the Queen of Holland, Steven Spielberg, Robert Redford, Liv Ullmann, among others, and in places in Cuba, Japan, Mexico, France, United States, England, Holland, India, Malaysia, Panama, Brazil, Colombia.

The Cuban Ministry of Culture awarded him, in 2009, the National Prize for Plastic Arts, to recognize the body of his work and establish him among the best in the country's plastic arts.