Since his first exhibition in 2000, the artist Edgar González assumed art as a commitment to society thanks to his profound transformative work; henceforth his work has been a constant invitation to look within ourselves.
Edgar González Era (Cuba, 1971) entered the world of visual arts taken from the most magical hands that a child can know: the warm hands of a grandmother. Gloria González, his grandmother and his first teacher, led him to discover from a very young age a world full of sensations, colors and feelings. "Painting with my grandmother and seeing her paint was one of the great pleasures of my childhood and youth, I keep those moments in my mind with great nostalgia."
However, he decided on an aesthetic trend opposite to the realistic work of Grandmother Gloria, marked by landscape and portraiture. At the time of capturing his art on canvas, Edgar opted for cubism, sometimes synthetic, sometimes abstract, but always with a marked humanistic value, in a constant search for the betterment of the human being.
“Painting, and the arts in general, are transformative, they help man in his progress as a social being, they nourish his spirit and develop his sensitivity. This is precisely what I tried to convey in my works: the importance of human values and virtues. I always try to approach issues of everyday life, I observe them, I am inspired and I capture their essence ”.
To his artistic vocation is added his love for education. Graduated in 1999 from the Higher Pedagogical Institute of Santa Clara as Professor of Plastic Arts, Edgar González feels the same passion for the art of teaching. For a decade he taught at the Cienfuegos School of Art Instructors and simultaneously worked as a teacher at the Higher Pedagogical Institute, specializing in Plastic Arts. He currently offers vocational training workshops for young people interested in entering the Art School of the central province.
“The classroom is for me a laboratory, where we are constantly experimenting, in which one learns and tests his abilities. Today's young Cuban artists present great knowledge about this artistic manifestation by having almost infinite access to information. This feature makes it easier for them to break away from established canons and not be afraid to find their own style, as well as to present new ways of doing things. They are freer. "
With the aim of creating a socio-cultural space within the city of Cienfuegos, Industria Cultural Creativa Comunitaria (ICCC) arises, a project where all artistic manifestations converge. Such has been the impact of this initiative on children, adolescents and young art fans in the town, as well as its work to promote new talents that has drawn the attention of important organizations such as the European Union.
In this magical project, the work of Edgar González is remarkable, as he is part of Trazos Libres, a series of plastic arts workshops aimed at infants and adolescents. “Working with children is a gift because through them we can regain that lost innocence, shed our prejudices, and let the senses take over our soul. It does not matter if in the future they do not take the plastic route, I know that what they have learned in the workshops will help them to be better people”.
When talking with our artist it is easy to capture his shy personality, with few words, but with great meanings. He prefers to observe, ponder and reflect before offering a judgment. The mere presence of him is capable of radiating tranquility. The same peace that his paintings give us, almost always featuring blue, gray, green and brown tones, although at times warmer colors appropriate the fabric, as if seeking to highlight the message. In them he tries to give each line the strength of a word, each spot a reflection, even the white spaces of the canvas represent a thought.
“In my work I frequently work on the interpersonal relationship of human beings and the relationships of couples, but the correspondence between body and spirit attracts me to a great extent. It captivates me to show how human beings are capable of turning their weaknesses into strength ”. With this theme we find Resilience (2019), which is a call to overcome traumatic circumstances, or Project # 1 (2020), which invites us to take that first step that leaves immobility behind.
Edgar González recently concluded the third exhibition of a trilogy inspired by a colloquium on mental health given by the psychiatrist Doctor Raúl Gil Sánchez in 2019. the human being to allow them to affect him or not ”. This is how IS ONE, NO STRESS was born, a play on words that draws viewers' attention to the importance of knowing how to find calm within ourselves, but accompanied by art because as Edgar says “what is art but a medicine for the soul?
More about Edgar's artwork.