Bosch Lynette M. F. - Life Streams: Alberto Reys Cuban and American Art

LIFE STREAMS

SUNY series in Latin American and Iberian Thought and Culture

Jorge J. E. Gracia and Rosemary Geisdorfer Feal, editors

ALBERTO REYS
CUBAN AND AMERICAN ART

Edited by

Lynette M. F. Bosch

and

Mark Denaci

Cover image courtesy of Alberto Rey.

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

2014 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu

Production by Eileen Nizer
Marketing by Michael Campochiaro

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Life streams : Alberto Rey's Cuban and American art / edited by Lynette M.F. Bosch and Mark Denaci.

pages cm. (SUNY series in Latin American and Iberian thought and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5056-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Rey, Alberto, 1960Criticism and interpretation. I. Bosch, Lynette M. F., editor of compilation. II. Denaci, Mark, 1969 editor of compilation. III. Rey, Alberto, 1960 Works. Selections.
N6537.R44L54 2014
709.2dc23

2013019603

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To all those who made their way here to build lives,
to those who will come,
and to the ones who have gone

Lynette M. F. Bosch

In Memoriam: Mayda Rey

S COTT P ROPEACK

L YNETTE M. F. B OSCH

L YNETTE M. F. B OSCH

J ORGE J. E. G RACIA

I SABEL A LVAREZ B ORLAND

M ARK D ENACI

L YNETTE M. F. B OSCH

J OHN O RLOCK

A LBERTO R EY

S ANDRA F IRMIN

B ENJAMIN M. H ICKEY

L YNETTE M. F. B OSCH AND M ARK D ENACI

This book would not have been possible without the support of the following:

SPONSORS

State University of New York, Fredonia, New York

The Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, New York

State University of New York, Geneseo, New York

The Geneseo Foundation, Geneseo, New York

Will Kelly, CFP, Managing Director, United Capital Financial Advisors, Buffalo, New York

St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York

REPRODUCTIONS SPONSOR

The color reproductions were funded by a generous subsidy, courtesy of Professor Jorge Gracia, holder of the Samuel P. Capen Chair in Philosophy and Comparative Literature, University of Buffalo, New York.

The formation of an artist is the product of inborn talent, hard work, ambition, and support that comes in many forms and from many sources. Alberto Rey would like to thank the following for their unstinting support over the years: Janeil Strong Rey, Graciela Rey, Diego Rey, Mayda Rey, Enrique Rey, and Olga Rey.

Alberto Rey, Lynette M. F. Bosch, and Mark Denaci are grateful to the director and the curatorial staff of the Burchfield Penney Art Center for the support they have given to this project. We thank: Anthony Bannon, executive director of the Burchfield Penney Art Center; Scott Propeack, associate director and chief curator; Tullis Johnson, associate curator and manager of Archives; Don Metz, associate director of Public Programs.

We especially thank for additional support: Dennis Hefner, president, State University of New York at Fredonia; Virginia Horvath, president, State University of New York at Fredonia; John Kijinski, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; David Tiffany, vice president for University Advancement and executive director of Fredonia College Foundation; Anne Baldwin, director, Sponsored Research, State University of New York at Geneseo; Savi V. Iyer, dean of Curriculum and Academic Services and chair of Art History; and Dorothy Limouze, professor of Art History, St. Lawrence University.

We also thank contributors to this volume: Jorge Gracia, Isabel Alvarz Borland, John Orlock, Sandra Firmin, and Benjamin Hickey.

A special thank you from Alberto goes to those special individuals who have knowingly or unknowingly supported and inspired him through their work, their friendship, and their lives: Johanna Drucker, Robert and Elizabeth Booth, James and Andy Hurtgen, John Straight, Jim Wilcox, Mirta, Pepe, and Joel Alvarez, Mirta and Greg Rice, Omar and Leysa Alvarez, Jorge Santis, Doug and Ann Manly, Chuck McKinney, Mike and Fran Filkens, Jason Dilworth, Mike and Ethel Suchar, Tim Frerichs, and Matt Dorn. For friendship and support the editors of this volume thank: Dorothy Limouze, Larry Silver, Annette Bosch, and Arielle Marcus.

For personal support, the editors of this book thank Charles E. Burroughs, Elsie B. Smith Professor and Chair of Classics, Case Western Reserve University, whose observations about Alberto Reys work made us think more and better; and Paul Dwaine Fournier, whose continued personal help and support has been valuable toward the completion of this project.

SCOTT PROPEACK

The Burchfield Penney is committed to recognizing cultural integrity and to celebrating the excellence of our artistic community.

Mission Statement, Burchfield Penney Art Center

Science asks us to test and retest hypotheses and learn, over time, whether our original ideas hold true. Alberto Rey is a scientist who communicates in visual terms, which is undeniable in his most recent series of works in Biological Regionalism. While the essays in this bookcontributed by Lynette M. F. Bosch, Mark Denaci, Jorge Gracia, Isabel Alvarez Borland, John Orlock, Sandra Firmin, and Benjamin Hickeyallow the artist to take precedent, flipping this alignment from artist/scientist to scientist/artist is necessary when introducing the artist.

Rey visually documents circumstances over time, and reconsiders the motivations that started processesevolutions that initiate and complete works of art, or movements of individuals from location to location, or biological realities and their transformations over time. With Reys paintings, videos, installations, and sculpture, we gain visually stimulating information that becomes part of our shared record. But what remains is greater than a data set or a pie chartits a compelling visual statement that helps us find the artist, our community, and ourselves in the world.

The premise of examining change is also the perfect way to understand the relationship between Rey and the Burchfield Penney Art Center. In addition to the series, Biological Regionalism: Scajaquada Creek, Erie County, New York, USA exhibited in conjunction with the publication of this book, Reys work has been in several exhibitions at the Center over more than two decades. So, too, have Rey and his work become subjects of study at the Center: with the acquisition of Holy Angels Church and Chair, 1987, the Center was the first museum to collect his work. The museum has made four additional acquisitions since, and each of theseBinary Forms: Floating Between, 1991; Appropriated Memories: Vinales, Cuba, 199697; Waters of Caibarien, Cayo, Brujas, Cuba, June 14, 2004;