Luis Cruz Azaceta

December 2018

Poems. Paintings.

The Artist, 1987, Acrylic on canvas, 122 x 120 in., image courtesy of the artist

ALIEN

IN’69 WITH MY ART CERTIFICATE
FROM THE SCHOOL OF VISUAL ART
IN NEW YORK IN MY BACK POCKET
AND A PAIR OF NEW SNEAKERS
I VISITED EUROPE
MONA AT THE LOUVRE
REMBRANDT & VINCENT IN AMSTERDAM
BACON IN LONDON
MICHELANGELO IN ROME
GOYA’S BLACK PAINTINGS IN MADRID
WAKE ME UP
FROM MY GEO-ABSTRACT WORLD
OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
AND PUT ME IN TOUCH
WITH MY ALIEN REALITY
OF THE STREETS OF NEW YORK

LOOKING LIKE TERRORISTS

FRANKFURT
TRAIN STATION
SITTING DOWN
WAITING
TWO GERMAN POLICE & DOGS
POINTING GUNS AT US
ME LOOKING LIKE AN ARAB
MY WIFE A LONG-HAIRED BLONDE GERMAN
BOTH CARRYING
SUSPICIOUS BLACK TUBES
LIKE BAZOOKAS
JUST ART
WE’RE NOT TERRORISTS
ANARCHISTS OR RELIGIOUS FREAKS
JUST ARTISTS
WAITING FOR GODOT
TO GO TO BERLIN
TO SEE OTTO DIX
MAX BECKMANN
MONUMENTS TO THE REPUBLIC
& FIZCARALDO 

THE VISIT

I REMEMBER
A MOMA VIST
WITH MY WIFE SHARON
UP & DOWN THE ESCALATORS
SEEING THE NEW ACQUISITIONS
A JASPER JOHN’S
EXCLAMATION
“ANOTHER JOHN’S PAINTING?
WHAT, NO MORE ARTISTS IN THIS COUNTRY?”
I TURN AROUND
BEHIND US
JASPER JOHNS & KIRK VARNEDOE
OOPS!

Untitled (Self-Portrait), 1987, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 144 in., image courtesy of the artist

WAKING UP

WAKING UP
FROM A BAD DREAM
REALIZING I’M 62
EYES OPEN
EAR SHOT
MY MOTHER WITH ALZHEIMER’S
FORGETTING WHO SHE IS
MY FATHER RECENTLY DEAD
AFFIRMING WHO HE WAS
I’M IN THE STUDIO
PRETENDING TO PAINT
MOURNING MY FATHER’S DEATH
AND MY MOTHER’S WANDERINGS IN HER HEAD
PUT THE RADIO ON
TERRORIST ALERT
MORE SOLDIERS DEAD
A CHILD’S LEG DISMEMBERED
A MOTHER’S CRY
HUSSEIN IN A HOLE
A ROACH ON THE WALL
TOMORROW IS YESTERDAY
AND TODAY ANOTHER DAY

IN TRANSIT

IMMIGRANTS
EXILES
UPROOTED
TRANSPLANTED
NOT HERE
NOT THERE
LIMBO
&
FEAR
LABYRINTH
TOYS
NO EXIT
ONE
TWO
THRESS
INCONGRUITIES
UPSIDE
DOWN
INNOCENCE
&
PLAYFULNESS
IN A WORLD
OF FEAR
&
UNCERTAINTY

DREAMING

 SHOT DISSENT, 2011, acrylic, pencil & shellac on canvas, 36 X36 in.,image courtesy of the artist

DISSENT

counting the hours
counting the days
memory fields
one, two, three
let me see
order-disorder
reality-fiction
encroachment
ideals
upside down
balseros
endless journeys
smiles & toxic waters
starving child
floods & hurricanes
in the studio
spinning ideas
structuring fear
light
color
space
order
beauty
nothingness
exiled with my thoughts
of freedom
going back
swimming to Havana
reading kafka & cabrera infante
ladies in white
armed with flowers
dying dissents
on hunger strikes
life is precious
past, present & future
on a rainy day
life is somewhere else
kundera says
frida’s eyebrows
like bat wings
oil spills & politicians
at the edge of hope

The Plague: AIDS Epidemic,1987, acrylic on canvas, 120 x144 in., image courtesy of the artist

BANG, BANG YOU ARE DEAD

One
Two
Three
An aids victim died
A B C
Cuban refuges
Alien across the fence
City bombers planning their
Next hit
A child cries for his mother
A crack-head breaks a glass
Window
A man builds a box –  O.J. runs
In his bronco –  The Menendez cried in court
A lawyer points his finger
A mother drowned her kid – a cop chased
A mugger – a woman holds a sign – Jesus
Saves – the air is polluted – my friend hates his Father
His Father hates his Mother
His Mother is leaving his Father
The children are running away
The student carries a gun
The drug addict stops a car
The blind subway music man kicks his dog
A teenager drinks a beer
A preacher stands in a corner
A soldier shoots his rifle
A wedding takes place in the park
A rich man counts his money
A thirsty man asks for water
A clown smiles
A sinner prays
A dog barks
The train runs late
The light switch don’t work
The Museum of Modern Art is free on Thursday
I look at my watch
I stretch a canvas
I mix some colors
I use a 2 ½ inch brush
I listen to Gregorian Chants and
Cuban music
I change my style
I use acrylic paint
I nail plywood into the canvas
I look at myself in the mirror
I kill a roach
I make a painting of a barricade
I let it drip
I change the color
I don’t like it
I answer the phone
I change the color again
I flip the CD
Tom Waits sings
Goya can’t hear
Vincent cuts his ear
Picasso goes to Spain
Mondrian goes to Broadway
Beckman smokes a cigarette
Frida cut her hair
Baselitz upside down
Saul’s Day-Glo
Arneson picks his nose
Tomorrow is coming
Tomorrow is today
Today is now
Now is present

PLAQ, 2001, acrylic, charcoal & enamel on canvas, 72 x 72 in., image courtesy of the artist

FENCES

For more information on the work of Luis Cruz Azaceta, click here for his website

“Cuban-American artist Luis Cruz Azaceta dares to face some of society’s most difficult tragedies head on, addressing the moral and ethical pulse of this country through a career spanning over 40 years. His current works relate to the rapid state of change in the world at large – war, terrorism, displacement, identity, and collapsing economies.”