TAMPA, FLA.- Climate Change: Cuba/USA invites Cuban and Cuban-American artists to reflect on the consequences of the recent fluctuations in the relationship between Cuba and the United States. Artists Glexis Novoa, Celia y Yunior, Antonio Eligio Fernández "Tonel" and Javier Castro produced new works, in sculpture, painting, drawing, installation and video, that consider the changes, or "no changes," that the political and diplomatic developments have wrought in their personal lives and in Cuban society.

Javier Castro presents Cinco Cosas Básicas/Five Basic Things, five richly chromatic and visually mesmerizing interrelated videos that reflect on basic aspects of human behavior, desires and struggles. The five-minute videos, filmed in Castro’s marginal Old Havana neighborhood, have been arranged in the gallery for simultaneous viewing. Through single metaphorical images and repetitive actions, the works speak compellingly of life in Cuba while addressing issues of concern shared by individuals in contemporary societies.

Celia y Yunior’s structure Varaentierra, a variation on the rustic storm refuge common in rural Cuba, has been built on site and incorporates tobacco leaves and stems as well as historical research in the form of text. The work investigates the rise and fall of the cigar industry in Tampa/Ybor City over almost a century and a half, mirroring a similar process in Cuba: what was once a thriving, important industry that supported many thousands of families is now a tourist-oriented, boutique attraction.

Glexis Novoa proposes a multimedia installation that examines the development of his work from his native Cuba to his life in the United States and finally to the recent reestablishment of his studio in Havana. Included are exquisite graphite drawings on reclaimed marble slabs that speak of the political power of architecture, colorful paintings that reflect on the new Cuban “wordscape” he encountered, and vintage flags and ephemera which focus on aspects of the Cuban Revolution and their influence on his art.

Antonio Eligio Fernández “Tonel” presents multimedia installations with sculpture and drawing created in the artist-critic-curator-art historian’s deceptively simple, and often satiric, style that enfolds a rigorous intellectual content. Hacer arte no debería ser caro (Art Shouldn’t be Expensive to Make) discusses the massive infusion of capital invested in the global production of art and its effect on artistic values, while (Elogio del) darwinismo/(In Praise of) Darwinism comments on social Darwinism and the conquest of Cuban society by money and market forces.

Climate Change: Cuba/USA is curated by Noel Smith; organized by USF Contemporary Art Museum.