Graciela, 2004

James Sparshatt   Emerging artists New & remarkable Artists

Graciela was an icon of Havana Vieja. Always dressed beautifully, with flowers in her hair, festooned with jewellery, a smile on her face and a cigar firmly clamped between her teeth. No guidebook was complete without her image and no visit without some time spent with her on the steps of a colonial-era building.

Spirit of the revolution

James Sparshatt went to Cuba in 1999 and was so taken with the island and its people that he returned 15 times in the following 7 years. His images are largely of the music and dance and innate rhythm of the island but he also found himself drawn to an older generation that had been old enough to understand the revolution in 1959, that lived through 40 years of tumultuous and often difficult times and who now watch with some bemusement the return of the outside world in wave upon wave of tourists.

His series “the Spirit of the Revolution” captures the pride and humour of these ordinary people that in their youth embodied the spirit of change sweeping the world in the 50s and 60s and with whose passing goes the memory of why it all happened in the first place.

Printed directly on to a brushed aluminium dibond the portraits reflect the strength and durability of the subjects.

They are waterproof and suitable for sheltered outdoor areas with a sub-frame to allow for easy hanging. The prints are cured with ultraviolet light, protecting them from light damage, dust particles, and moisture.