Recent works by Yovani Bauta
June 7 – August 10, 2013
The current exhibition of paintings and drawings by Cuban-born American Artist Yovani Bauta, Invisible Presence, explores resilience in the face of daunting obstacles. The artworks depict intimate portraits of immigrants, homeless, the elderly and even a stray dog, in a heavy impasto of varying degrees of emotion. Politically irreverent in nature and often considered marginal or “outsiders” by society, the subjects in the work render themselves invisible. In an unassuming portrayal, their suffering and misfortune is far too real for the everyday person to comprehend, thus paralyzing any form of helpful action; falling upon empathy and pity.
Bauta’s project, Head in the Bathroom is a project that focuses on the so-called privacy of public restrooms and challenges the traditional means of public exhibition installation. A series of portraits are placed at eye level on the bathroom walls of the Museum, creating an unnerving sense of being watched. The uncertainty creates a false sense of security and challenges the promise of privacy that a bathroom typically offers.
Yovani Bauta holds a Law Degree from the University Of Matanzas, Cuba. After shifting careers and focusing his life’s passion as an artist, Bauta has presented over 26 solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions across North America and Europe. His artwork has manifested in many forms including traditional painting, drawing and sculpture; as well as installation, performance and interactive art. Bauta is a frequent lecturer and author on artists of the Cuban Diaspora. Spanning a career of over 25 years, Invisible Presence is Bauta’s first solo exhibition at the MDC Museum of Art + Design.
Invisible Presence & Head in the Bathroom was organized by the MDC Museum of Art + Design
Head in the Bathroom
In Part I of The Godfather, Mike Corleone, Vito's son, enters a restaurant bathroom to get the gun hidden behind the toilet tank. In All the President's Men, Robert Redford is a presidential candidate who gets slapped around in the privacy of a public bathroom. Society understands that things happen behind the closed doors of bathrooms and not only in movies: secret deals, murders, drugs, sex, voyeurism, police arrests, secret service surveillance, etc. The intimate space meant to accommodate our most personal needs is also a place for a multitude of other actions and events that have little or nothing to do with le toilette.
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His best and most original concept to date. Congrats to Y. B.!
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