Josuhe Pagliery and Noel Serrano studied painting at San Alejandro Fine Arts Academy, and completed their MFA at ISA (Higher Arts Institute) in Havana. In 2003, they founded the performance collective “La Teoría Dorada de Popeye” (Popeye’s Golden Theory) together with David Beltrán Domínguez. The group’s aim was to infiltrate the island’s popular music industry as visual artists. Since then, PGT has performed at numerous music festivals, at times in collaboration with well-known contemporary Cuban rock musicians. Pagliery’s training in animation at the ICAIC (Cuban Cinema Institute) lead to the production of several award-winning music videos. Hiding behind the anonymity of their cartoon character façades, the artists directly refer to Chesterton and the paradox of the mask in revealing more of the wearer’s identity than it conceals; moreover, they occupy the space between critiquing and assuming the status of rock/art star, youth idol and infiltrator.
In the context of contemporary Cuban artists’ survival strategies, the impersonation of what PGT considers the “amoral model of objectified and alienated youth” resonates with the global trend of commodified emerging artists. The international art market demands not only youth, but also ‘rebel chic’ from Cuban artists. To the curatorial framework of ReMix Institute, the paradox of the ‘nueva camada’ (new litter), an ‘alternative’ which at a given moment assumes a position of power, is central to the artists’ public persona. Music audiences accept PGT as a rock band. The fact that none of the group’s members is a trained musician may be ironic, but speaks to the public admiration for outsider art, and responds to behaviorist performance goals (they recently participated in Tania Bruguera’s Masa Crítica). To the authorities in Cuba, and to seekers of the ‘authentic’ Cuban culture abroad, rock is considered too North American, at the same time as PGT has been chastised for its hard core lyrics, “giving rock a bad name. “
PGT’s artistic identity is that of a multi-disciplinary post-medium practice. Applying Popeye the sailor man’s motto, “I yam what I yam” PGT is more than they pretend to be.--
Funded in part by OAC (Visual Arts Projects, International Touring and Exhibition Assistance Grants), Canada Council (Visiting Foreign Artists and Visual Arts Travel Grants)
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contact: Hamilton
