SKU: 93616778855

Archie Torres - Taino Fantasia

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Description

Archie Torres - Taino FantasiaThis is a large original work on paper, by a very talented artist. This work is watercolor and ink, and measures around 29 x 22" (73 x 55cm). The artist is Archie Torres. He moves back and forth between Cuba and Puerto Rico. Cuba is a goldmine of talent. From the Russian influences, to the classical European artists, that many of the Cuban Masters studied with. Despite a series of repressive governments the art scene has historically thrived in Cuba,

This is a large original work on paper, by a very talented artist. This work is watercolor and ink, and measures around 29 x 22" (73 x 55cm). The artist is Archie Torres. He moves back and forth between Cuba and Puerto Rico.

 

Cuba is a goldmine of talent. From the Russian influences, to the classical European artists, that many of the Cuban Masters studied with. 

 

Despite a series of repressive governments the art scene has historically thrived in Cuba, where culture occupies a prominent place. Art played a key role in the Cuban revolution and there are currently about 14 art schools, a University of Fine Arts, as well as 13,000 ‘registered artists’ on the island, as Rene Duquesne of the National Council of Visual Arts points out.


The African presence in Cuba is undeniable, incredibly strong and visible but because of the practice of whitening in the US, it is possible to shed, deny, or simply omit one's blackness in order to melt into the dominant, acceptable identity group in Miami. Here it is both possible and common to refer to being Cuban, refer to one's self as “white” while showing pictures of generations of family that include a Black abuelo or abuelita. So when we talk of Afro-Cuban art, we have several distinctions – art that pays homage to African heritage and culture, art by Black Cubans, art that makes reference to Afro-Cuban culture, and none of these are mutually exclusive. As a “movement,” Afro-Cuban Art involves bringing what is Black about Cuba to the forefront and an important linking with Black diaspora arts as a much larger field or landscape. It is one in which Black/ Afro-Cuban lives matter.

 

Afro-Cuban art has given the world, and the African diaspora in particular, a symbolic language with which to speak to and about African spiritual systems, specifically with regard to the orishas. The iconography of spiritual African systems from many nations – Yoruba, Fon, Dahomey, Congo, Ketu, Ijesha, Egbado, Oyo, Nago, Jeje are all a part of what has become Afro-Cuban art. Here there are so many points of reference that people from throughout the African Diaspora will feel and see a “familiar” energy in a variety of artistic mediums in Cuba and the Cuban diaspora.

By using this symbolic language, embedding it in painting, music, sculpture, textiles, and other mediums the narrative histories of West and Southern Africa (specifically Yoruba and Congo) that didn’t exist visually as art for art sake in Africa have significantly contributed to the globalization of Lucumi/orisa culture and positive associations with Cuban culture worldwide. The Lucumi tradition also understood as Afro-Cuban religion, has given us a new world lens on ancient African traditional spiritual systems by creating visible representations that offer a new and necessary lingua franca that we recognize as part of Cuba, bringing together African aesthetics from many different nations.

 

As such Afro-Cuban religion has travelled extensively and influenced the world. It is possible now to see certain images and identify them as representations of Oshun, Oggun, Exu, Obatala, Shango, Oya, Ochossi and their tools as both overt and imbedded in artistic forms. This is a major specific contribution Afro-Cuban art has made to the world – it has in this way made visible narratives which only existed orally and in the minds and hearts of practitioners for many generations. Now, because of Afro-Cuban art, students reading African American novelist Ntozake Shange or viewing international pop sensation Beyonce’s “Lemonade,” can quickly pick up on the Osun imagery because we have a context for a yellow wearing, mirror having, beautiful, brown skinned woman in touch with her own sensuality.

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SKU: 93616778855

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4.0 ★★★★★
Based on 27 reviews
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Patti M
Grantham, US
★★★★★ 4
Feeling The Holiday inspiration
Format: Kindle, Format: Kindle
Tatum needs a quick escape from her small town life and the week of events planned to introduce her (and the rest of the family) to a surprise half brother, so she joins customer-who-she-won’t-let-herself-love June on a business trip to NYC Tatum is swapping homes with Eleanor, who needs an escape of her own from The City after of PR nightmare of a job - and situationship - loss throws her life into chaos. While she’s staying at Tatum’s, she meets her younger sibling and her attraction to them is both immediate and required. But are there feelings too? I think with any story that involves multiple relationships, you’re going to be interested in one over the other. For me, I was invested more in Eleanor and Carson. Their spontaneity and artistic sides of their jobs seemed to mesh well from the start. I’m still not sold on why Tatum and June shouldn’t have been together from the start, so it felt like I was waiting for them to catch up. My favorite side character would have to be aging former movie star Dawn, from Tatum and June’s storyline. I was cheering for her to get a second chance at the spotlight. I was happy for HEAs all around, especially when the couples have to overcome the issues of having existing lives in different places. I enjoy books like this when there’s an epilogue set later too, assuring those HEAs stick the landing!
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2025
M
Momlovestoread reviews
Grantham, US
★★★★★ 5
Entertaining
Format: Kindle
This is a fun book that includes a house swap such as you have seen in the movie Holiday. Tatum and Eleanor both go through things personally and need a change so they switch houses which are in different towns. One goes to a small town, whereas one is in the Hollywood area. It’s really fun to see how both characters adjust to being in different places and how it really makes them think about their own lives while they each by themselves falling for someone. There is wonderful banter throughout the book and all of the side characters are entertaining as well. It’s a fun book.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2025
V
ValeriS29
Louisville, US
★★★★★ 3
Not for me
Format: Paperback
I’ll start off by saying I’m definitely not the target audience for this book yet I tried not to let that color my review any. The dual main characters are interesting in their own ways yet I didn’t find myself invested in the outcome.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2025
S
Scrappy Rat Reviews
New York, US
★★★★★ 4
The Holliday but make it sapphic
Format: Paperback
Ok, sapphic twist on The Holiday was just what I needed. I loved all the sweet little details between the couples and all the family drama. June and Tatum swap homes with Eleanor and leave their small town for a big adventure in New York, hoping to sell June's perfume business. Tatum needs to escape her family, and wouldn't you know it, she has always had a huge crush on June. Eleanor needs to get out of New York stat when she finds out her fling is actually engaged, she gets fired from her job, and she is just an all-around mess. She jumps at the chance to swap homes and for a girl with a lot of romantic issues, meeting Tatum's sibling Carson is quite the distraction. In New York, Eleanor's neighbor Dawn is an old famous actress, and she was one of my favorite characters. She was full of life but needed to be reminded how much of a badass she is. June and Tatum are able to get her to be social while she forces them to evaluate what is holding them back. My second favorite character is Carson. The romance between them and Eleanor was so swoony, and I felt like they are the kind of person you want to orbit because being near them would make you happy. I think them as a couple was the best part of the book, and the way Eleanor gets to join in on the crazy family reunion Tatum has to skip out on. Tatum was probably the hardest character for me to love. They felt extremely juvenile for their age, and I kept thinking she was 18-20, only to be reminded she was an adult almost in their 30s. I also felt a little less invested in her love story with June and while I liked them both fine, Carson and Eleanor were top tier for me. If you are looking for a romcom with heart, this one will check those boxes.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2025
A
Ann S
Alexandria, US
★★★★★ 5
this book made a "graphic novel" fan of me
Format: Hardcover
I'm not generally a fan of "graphic novels" (what do you call a graphic biography?), but I purchased this one after attending a bookstore talk with author Guy Delisle. Wow! The visual format is an ideal medium to provide the technological context for Muybridge's story. I was already well familiar with his work and contributions, thanks to Rebecca Solnit's, "River of Shadows." But Delisle does a brilliant and charming job of rendering the evolution of photography and its impact on society. I hope Delisle takes on more historic subjects in the future.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2025

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