The Arte Calle
treet Art'' Group (El Grupo Arte Calle) was a Cuban art collective founded by
Aldo Menéndez Lopez(Aldito) and
Ofill Echevarria in 1986. The group, as first was documented by a documentary of the Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión (EICTV) de San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba (International School of Cinema and Television of San Antonio de los Baños), directed by Pablo Dotta as his thesis work and copyrighted, 1988, Entitled: "Viva la Revolu", consisted of eight students of visual art in ages between 16 and 23 years old, most of them from the legendary
Academy Of San Alejandro, who staged a series of "
Murals
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...
", "
Graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
s", “
Happening
A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events.
History
Origins
Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...
s” and "
Performances
A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.
Management science
In the work place ...
" between 1986 and 1988. The group transformed icons from
pop culture
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* Pop (Gas al ...
to make ideological metaphors.
The group, which in the beginning was "non officially" led by Aldito Menéndez and that after his voluntary separation from it in 1987, continued its work equally successfully until its break-up one year after, consisted of: Aldito Menéndez, Ofill Echevarria,
Eric Gómez Galán,
Ernesto Leal Basilio,
Iván Alvarez,
Ariel Serrano,
Leandro Martínez Cubela and
Pedro Vizcaíno
Pedro A. Vizcaíno Martínez (born October 11, 1966), sometimes known by the nickname "Cafetero", is a Cuban-born American artist. He was one of the members of Arte Calle "Street Art" group, between 1985 and 1987. He works in the mediums of paint ...
.
Arte Calle was also well known by including friends and all kind of young artists in its actions. Some of them achieved a name as well, as part of the famous Havanan group, such as: Hugo Azcui, Nilo Castillo, Ernesto Benítez, Alan Manuel González, Max Delgado, among others.
One of the emblematic works of the group was the street performance, nearer to a street demonstration, where Menéndez painted on a canvas the phrase "Relive the Revolu" and stood next to a container with a sign asking the public for their donations to finish the work.
[Pablo Oyarzún, Nelly Richard, Claudia Zaldívar Arte y política- 2005 p15 "Pero ya en el segundo lustro la plástica devino la tribuna más osada, y algunos street performances de los 80, como los del Grupo Arte Calle, fueron verdaderas manifestaciones callejeras. Aldito Menéndez, miembro del grupo, pintó sobre un lienzo la frase «Reviva la Revolu» y puso al lado un recipiente con un cartel pidiendo al público su contribución para terminar la obra."]
References
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Cuban artist groups and collectives