José Àngel Vincench lives and works in Havana, Cuba. Exile is Vincench’s presentation for the 2012 Biennial: a series of five mobile trailer homes, each of which takes the form of a letter, and together spell the word ‘exile’.
2012 Biennial Year Find out more
Presented for the first time on the occasion of the 11th Havana Biennale, this mobile installation visualises the status of those who had to flee their home country for political reasons, living in a state of geographical and psychological suspension.
The work alludes to the sense of displacement that political refugees experience throughout their forcible journey towards new and unfamiliar destinations, where their living conditions might be as harsh as those they have endured in their countries of origin, although for different reasons. It also references the socio-political condition of the nomadic populations who refuse to take a permanent address, but who are not willing to give up the right to have a political voice or representation.
The artist playfully addresses important issues such as freedom of speech, authority and control, acceptance and tolerance, as well as at whose cost co-habitation happens.
Recent exhibitions include 11th Havana Biennial (Havana, Cuba, 2012), Light and Darkness (Havana Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland, 2011) and Cuban Visions (Metropolitan Pavilion Gallery, New York, U.S.A., 2011).
Exile, 2012
Trailer cabins, dimensions variable
Exhibited at various locations