José Ángel Vincench

Looking at the geometric abstractions of Jose Angel Vincench (Cuba, 1973), one cannot help but be surprised by their luminosity and their innovative geometry. Gold is universally considered a sacred material, a symbol of transcendence, like the sun rising over the earth. Vincench works with gold leaf to subdue light for its expressive and aesthetic purpose. This light represents his idealism —the idealism of Cuba, of socialism, the glory of his communist Revolution; despite the fact that capitalism hoards gold presumably for the benefit of all. As Vincench writes: "gold represents the obsessions of power and the economy." This is its paradoxical duplicity: gold represents Cuban socialist idealism—with its ideal climate, vibrant flourishing nature, and tropical light—and capitalist idealism, embodied in its search for gold.