From Cuba to the Portland Art Gallery: Artist Carlos Gamez de Francisco

Although your weather today where you are is definitely not as nice as where we are here in Maine. Thank you for joining us today. Carlos Gamez de Oh, thank you, Lisa. It's a pleasure to speak with you. I know you and I have spoken several times before and I've interviewed you before. And one of the things that I find interesting is that you are one of a handful of artists that are outside of the state of Maine, but are affiliated with the Portland Art Gallery. So refresh our memory as to how you became connected with the Portland Art Gallery here in Portland, Maine. Carlos Gamez de It was during Covid, I spent too much time in the studio by myself and I was painting out of control. So I produced so much work at the point I said I need to find another gallery to work with. And I started doing that research and that's when I finally saw the gallery. And I love the reviews. I also checked the artists and I said, okay, I need to send in an email. And I did it and I started working with them. So we have been working together since 2019. So for four years and a half, I believe One of the things that I've always admired about you is that you understand the importance of creating art, but also you understand the importance of the business of art, and you've gotten very good at putting your own business out there and understanding that as an artist you need to actually sell your work. How have you been so successful at actually selling your work? Because not every artist has the same understanding you do. Carlos Gamez de So I want to tell you my story. So I always being obsessed with history. So I would like to tell you to share the story of my country based on my family experience. So then you could know a little bit about myself and about me and why I'm also focused on business. So my family has a legacy of hard work and resilience. For example, one of my grandparents, his mother passed away when he was nine years old and he was born the countryside. He came from a very poor family and had limited access to education and healthcare. So my grandfather, he started working at the age of 11 and he was working in the sugar cane fields. So he went to elementary school only, but he was amazing at math and business. So when he was 13, he moved to the city and he started his own business and he was able to open three markets and he called his brother to come from the countryside and helping in the business. But then in 1959, there was the Cuban Revolution because it was a communist revolution. There were private business, were not allowed. So the government came and told my grandfather that he needed to give the business to them, to the government. My grandfather, he protest and he went to jail. Carlos Gamez de So he was in jail for five years. But because jails were full of people because everybody, people who protest or religious people or artists or gays, they were considered them the enemy of the government. So they were sent to jail. So they were packed with people. So my grandfather, he managed the way to escape almost every night to go home, sleep at night, at home, and then come back to jail at five in the morning. So that's one of the stories. So that's what I say, that Cuba is a surreal country. When you listen to these stories, people ask me, why are you so creative? So it's because my normal life in Cuba was like that was something out of this world. So my other grandfather, he was born in Spain and he moved to Cuban during the Spanish civil War. His father was a sergeant in the Spanish army and he ran to protect his family during the war. Carlos Gamez de So my grandfather, he came to Cuba when he was about three years old and he became an engineer because of his position, I think he was traveling too much and he had 13 different children with in three different marriages. So my grandmother, she only saw my grandfather when he was in town and she has to find a way to take care of her children. And she had four daughters. So at that time in the 1950s, it was very difficult for a woman to have the right to go to school. So she found a way to become a teacher, and that's how she supported her family. So I think because of my family history is why I would like to create a legacy for the new generations. So then there was my parents' generation. So it was a generation born and raised during the best years of the Cuban Revolution, and it was supported by the Soviet. Carlos Gamez de So my parents completed their master degree in the Soviet Union. My mother is studying Bulgaria, and when she completed her education, she got a very good position in my hometown. She became the director of tourism in my province. So we had a very good life. We had a chauffeur, we had it maid because of her position, because in communist countries you don't make money, but everything is about building a reputation. So we had a privileged life, but we have to follow the government rules. So for example, when I was a kid, it was illegal to listen to English music. So my parents listened to the Beatles and the Bet, and they did it with the low volume. And they always told me, don't say it in a school that we listen to this music or we'll be in trouble. And then also it was illegal to have an American dollar. Carlos Gamez de And my dad, because of his work, he received a lot of tips in American dollars. But it was if the government caught you with $1, you could be in jail for five years. So what the solution he found, he built a wall full of bottles with dollars, and every time he need to change the dollars in the black market, he has to break the wall, take a bottle, and then take the money. And so we have to find creative way to survive in a country like that. So in the states, we have all these rights, we have the freedom of speech, we have the freedom of travel, and we said, okay, this is normal. Well, it's normal for a country like this, but it means some other place that is almost impossible. So for example, I remember in 2012 I had a solo exhibition in Cuba, and I almost go to jail just for exhibiting my work because I needed the right permits from the government to have an exhibition. They make me sign a document that says, if you do it with our permit again, you won't be able to come back to the country. Carlos Gamez de So it's a very interesting story because I was told since my youth that the United States was the enemy and then all the news from the states were the bad one. So we only heard that in the US these events happened, but always were negative. And then when I came here, I noticed I have all the opportunities that I never had in my country. So for example, the good things about my childhood is that I, education was very good. It was very competitive also because for example, to apply to an art school, 300 children took the test, but only when I was studying before being an artist, I started to be a dancer and 300 children took the test and only 26 pass and were able to come to school. It was so competitive that we have to train six to seven hours per day and after. Carlos Gamez de And so we didn't have a normal childhood, but I learned the discipline from that school. So once that I switched to fine arts, I had the discipline to be in front of a canvas for eight hours. And I felt that that was the normal, normal life. And that's why I noticed a lot of improvement in my career. I started painting when I was 15 and when I was 17, I had my first solo exhibition. So my mother, she wanted to go to Spain because we have the Spanish citizenship because of my grandfather, but then she didn't have the money. So I learned at 17 to sell my art so I could make the money for her to go to Spain. That's how I learned that art is 50% the creative side when you have to be in your studio by yourself painting, and the other 50% is the business side, and you have to learn the business side because if you would like to keep painting all your life, you need to sell that work in order to keep painting. So that's why I think I have learned the business side. Well, that is a great story. I love that it's come down from the generations in your family, but then also you have continued it in your everyday life as a business. And now you and your wife, Anna, are yourselves parents to Charlie who is a year and a half at this point. So as you've become parents, how do you think that you are going to share this information with your son? Carlos Gamez de So I noticed I have learned something that says after a generation that has been in difficult times, there is one generation that if everything is so easy for them that they don't try hard enough. But I don't want that for Charlie. I want him to be able. So for example, I was talking to Anna and I said, we should have an account, a Retirement account for Charlie so he could have his retirement. And he's only 1-year-old, so he can be retired when he's 60, his life will be okay. And Anna says, no, no, no, this, he has to do it by himself. We will help him with education, we will teach him everything, hard work, and then he will have to find the way by himself. And Anna, she comes from the countryside. She was raised most of the time with her grandparents because the parents were working in the city. So the grandparents were always working in the field with animals. So they have cattle and then she knows hard work is. So I think for him, we want him to have access to the best education, but also teach him that he has to do that. He has to help in everything at home and also in my work. And I love that. I think that will be the best way. Carlos, one of the things that I've enjoyed seeing is how you've continued some themes in your work, but you've also introduced new themes into your work. Most recently, it was interesting to see pieces that had a very renaissance sense about them. In particular, the animal heads that were dressed up and had collars, and they looked essentially like people. So that was very creative. And I'm wondering if you can talk to me about the decisions you made to take a slightly different path with some of your most recent work. Carlos Gamez de So I've been painting for 22 years, almost five days per week. So I paint too much. And if I always paint the same, I will be bored. So after 20 or 30 pieces with the same concept and also the same technique, I just need to switch and find a different way to communicate to the audience to say what is in my mind. So then I start looking at reference. So I find reference everywhere. I find when I'm walking and I listen to a conversation by accident or when I'm watching a movie or then I love history. So I go to history book and I try to combine the past with the present. And I think that's why my work is always finding a different way to express. So for example, now I've been looking at a lot of Renaissance reference, and I love the way how Renaissance at that time was a moment where the men start becoming the most important figure, the presence in the paintings. Carlos Gamez de And the previous time was more the depiction of Bible stories or God, but then in Renaissance there was a change and also in the way they paint, but I don't want to copy the past, so I want to add that contemporary idea that make it unique. And I love animals. Now I have four dogs. So we have here, yesterday I saw in the backyard Iana, and two months ago there was an alligator, like a block from here. So we live in the country and we're surrounded by nature. So we found a rabbit in the garden, and the rabbit came home and spent a couple of days with us inside the house. So being surrounded by animals, that was when the idea came to my mind and I said, okay, so maybe I should make a whole series and I will combine this with the portraits of renaissance sense. Were the main figure, he is the human, but in this case will be the animal. Another series that I particularly enjoy has been women with flowers and sometimes women with flowers and often insects. And I like the combination of this and often the fact that their eyes maybe are not present, you can't actually see their eyes so that the women themselves are not necessarily the focus, but it's kind of an equal balance. Talk to me about why you made that artistic decision. Carlos Gamez de So I started that series after Covid when I was living in Louisville, Kentucky. And I remember we have to wear the face mask. And then I was having a conversation with someone for about an hour, but I never saw her face. So to be talking to someone and without seeing the whole face there is a mystery. And then I never knew how this person was, so I said, how can I make a series of painting where I hide the eyes and the eyes are the window to the soul? So how can I communicate the personality of the main character without depicting the eyes? So that's when I started covering some parts of the face. And then I had a garden in front of the studio, and I spent a lot of time doing gardening, and I started seeing the beauty of flowers, the beauty of nature, and I included that in my paintings. My paintings before that didn't have that, so many colors. And then I saw the flowers as the balloon of ideas, the creation of ideas. So I really enjoyed that series because it was adding a mystery to those pieces. And so I think that's one of my favorite ones. One of your influences as an artist has been Russian art. Talk to me about why that is true and where people can see it in the art that you create. Carlos Gamez de One of my professors, he went to study at the Soviet Union, so he spent five years of his life learning from the classic masters. And then when he came back to Cuba, he was teaching us the techniques that he learned in Russia. So there was a big influence. Also. Everything that arrived to Cuba in the nineties was, for example, the oils. All the art suppliers were from Russia, so they were in Russia by both of my parents speak the language in their generation. It was mandatory to learn the language in a school then. So it was good in a way because when we see in our history Russians, they have an amazing talent for painting, chess, playing, or ballet. And those influence came to Cuba. And that's why there are so many good dancers, like modern dancers in Cuba, or even when it's a small island, there are good chess players. And I believe it's also the same for fine artists. Carlos Gamez de And the education was so strict. I remember I took the test to go to an art school a couple of times, and I didn't pass the test, so I have to come back again a third time. And my mother, she always let me choose the school and the career. She always said, okay, you can do whatever you want, but you have to be the best doing what you love. So it was some pressure, but I didn't see it as a pressure, but I saw it as a goal that I have to do it, that I have to try by myself and accomplish what I love. So I remember I was painting for two years and she said my paintings were not good enough to be on the living in the living room. So after two years, I made my first watercolor and she said, this is good. Carlos Gamez de She placed it, she hang it in the living room. And then I said, okay, this is good enough. And I went to a gallery with the painting, and I had my first solo exhibition, and that's how everything, so she was right. It was hard because not everybody have the confidence to keep trying. When some people, they lose motivation when they listen to this kind of comment. In my case, it helped me to prove myself. I don't need to prove anybody, but I need to prove myself that I can accomplish something. So I think my life, I try to find goals in short terms and also in long term. And my goal was to paint as good as possible. So I remember I had a list of the best artists in my city, and I said, okay, these are my three favorite artists. And I went to their studios and I asked them if I could be their studio assistant. Carlos Gamez de And they all say no, because I was a teenager. I was only 16 years old. And they said, no, we don't want a teenager in my studio asking questions all day. I'm moving around. And then I came back next day and next day, and I remember I went to see one of my teachers for a couple of weeks and he said, okay, just stay in one side of the studio. Don't talk to me. Just look at the way I paint. And those were the best classes I ever had. I saw him painting for eight to 10 hours per day. And at the time, I didn't have a cell phone. I didn't have a camera, so I have to pay attention to everything he did, the way he moved the brush, the way he makes the colors. And I arrived home and I tried to copy everything that I remember, and next day I came with a painting and I show it to him and he said, he said, okay, this is good for your age, but you need to keep trying and do this and this and make all these changes. Carlos Gamez de So those were the best classes. And then thanks to those three artists, two years later, when I was 19, I had my first solo exhibition in a fine art museum. So having this education in the hard way, it was good. So I learned so much in those years that when I came to the States and I studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, I thought the school was too easy because it was so open. And so they let you choose what you want to paint. And Cuba didn't have that choice. My teacher just said, I want you to do 100 drawings of F essay in different positions. And that was the way they teach. And once that you spend a month drawing 100 phases, you just know where every bone is, where every muscle, all the proportions, and then you're able to paint a face in any possible way. And so that's how the education was there. And then when I came here, the education was more about the concept. So it was a good mix. It was the technique from one country and the concept and the idea from the other one. And I think the mix of both cultures helped me so much in my work. Carlos, what are you working on now and what are you excited about for the future? Carlos Gamez de So now I'm making a series of large paintings and I want to create something that is more detailed, more complex, larger than the usual paintings I have done in the past. So it's like a new goal, I think is that moment in my career where I should try something that is difficult for me, that I don't feel that confident in front of an empty canvas. So I want to be able to make mistakes and stick fit again. And then the other day I was painting and I didn't have a good idea for the background, so I gave Charlie a bro and I let him paint the background. And then I tried to do the same he was doing. And I love the experience. I love to, I remember one of my friends saw a video on Instagram where I was doing this, and my friend says, no, don't let your child to play with one of your painting. I said, well, we are trying to find a new way to do it. So it is, I think it's a moment of experimenting and there are moments where I just want to paint what I already know I have. It comes very clear in my mind, and some others are more about experimenting and thinking outside of the box. Carlos Gamez de Oh, it is my pleasure. Thank you. I've been speaking with our Portland Art Gallery artist, Carlos Gamez De Francisco. He can be found on the Portland Art Gallery website and also you can see him live and in person and our gallery in Portland, Maine. And I'm hoping that we'll be able to encourage Carlos to come up and join us for one of our upcoming openings in the future, maybe during the warmer months, since I know that snow and cold are probably not your thing. But I hope I'll get to see you again in person soon, Carlos. Thank you.