From the beaches of Montauk, to the VIP rooms of Cuban nightclubs, American photographer Michael Dweck shines a unique perspective on the who’s who of communities hidden in plain sight. His newest body of work has just opened in Cuba in a landmark exhibition at the Fototeca de Cuba Museum in Havana. Several thousand guests attended the opening on Friday, Feburary 24, according to the museum’s director, making it the single largest event in the institution’s history. Alongside a slew of Cuban Cultural Ministers and foreign ambassadors from Sweden, Spain, and France, at least two offspring of Cuban revolutionary politicos, Alex Castro and Camilio Guevara — both artists depicted in Dweck’s photos — were also in attendance.
Dweck’s series trains its eye on an unexpected facet of the communist nation, its glamorous creative elite — the so-called “farandula.” It has been touring San Francisco, Tokyo, New York, Toronto, and Art Basel Miami Beach before finally making its way to Havana. He’s donating the 90 photographs from the show, valued at over $500,000, to the museum and the Cuban people. By any standard, the art event was a major event for Cuban society. The artist spoke recently with ARTINFO about his immersion in Cuban society, the politics surrounding the work, and what he is planning next.
For Michael’s full interview with Art Info click here.