Manuel Mendive (b.1944) was part of the first generation of Cuban artists to emerge from Cuba's national fine arts academy, San Alejandro, after 1959. Regarded as one of the foremost contemporary artists in Cuba and the Caribbean, Mendive incorporates visual elements rooted in West African religious and visual traditions into his painting. This lecture will look at the formative influences on Mendive's early work and will explore his mainstream academic training, the contextual impact of this local community, and the effect of his African consciousness, specifically the strands of Yoruba culture present in his Cuban heritage.
