Porcelain plate by Cuban artist Kadir Lopez showcasing his iconic SHELL Girl

Litho of Cuban showgirl on Shell Oil printed on hand painted Japanese porcelain plate by Noritake. 

Much of the work of Kadir Lopez is inspired by a meditation on time: blurring the past, present and future, he criticizes the effects of progress or lack of it, and its spiritual, economic and political effects on society. While exploring the rich visual history of Cuba, he demonstrates that the mixture of realities has a long history in a country that fought for its independence and identity for most of the twentieth century. With the juxtaposition of image, text and artifact Kadir’s work shows a deeper and complex history of Cuba. 

In this series, Lopez overlays “remaindered” 1950’s American signage with translucent images to capture, preserve and convey his take on post 1950’s historical events and anecdotes. The results are multidimensional creations bound in the context of time and influence with a unique blend of homeland relic and memory. The signs are old, battered, and on occasion even have bullet holes. Kadir then paints, draws, or prints historic images of Cuba onto the worn signs, purposely utilizing ceramic paints, resins or enamels to create transparent images that float on top of, instead of concealing, the sign support.

Signed and Numbered. The artwork will be shipped with a Certificate of Authenticity with matching holograms.