Caribbean excellences was at the studio of the Cuban painter Juan Moreira, sharing one of these special moments of creativity and mistery.

For over forty years painting, Moreira has stated that the act of artistic creation continues being so mysterious for him as the very first day he determined painting was his raison d’être. The celebrated artist states this is the reason by which he regards his paintings as children who are born, grow and develop who later follow their own way and destination, children that he sees once in a while. They all have their own life that have gone beyond the artist’s interior expectations when he painted them. Common experiences as a ride on the street or on a public transportation vehicle inspire him, then he paints with the intention of never deliver his works. His desire will be that they all remain with him at a short distance, but like children, at the end, they finally leave and in this case, the paintings go to the hands of collectors or to some cultural institutions. The Cuban painter considers that on drawing the lines or curves before painting he does not require of any Academy at all, just the artist’s ability to express what he has inside. "I was commenting with some friends that I didn’t like Wifredo Lam’s style," he stated "but one day a friend of mine invited me to see one of his paintings, getting up the stairs I saw Lam’s work which made me stop. I felt virtually knocked-out. I was very much impressed with this painting." These experiences made Moreira to start thinking about the mysteries of art that even for those who are not so acquainted with the subject, feel the impact of an essence that only true artists are able to catch, process and express. Critics have divided it into three fundamental stages: one of search, many years ago that he hardly recalls, he describes it as "Magic Realism," another termed as "Organic Eroticism" and the most recent one, that can be considered as "African and Aboriginal Roots". In the first stage, he believes that he was very young and in search of a path, his own style, and when he finally found it, painted many political and historic figures as Martí, Maceo, Camilo, Che, Fidel, Ignacio Agramonte, Máximo Gómez; then recreated the man’s and woman’s sexual genitals merged with the flora and vegetation and it’s being six years that his paintings have dealt with African and aboriginal roots, after the review of the codes and legends of these cultures so extremely linked to our America. "The fact is that throughout life," Moreira says "one changes on the philosophy of life, of things, and in a given moment, one thinks more on sex, and now, I’m more motivated by history and the culture of Cuba, the Afro-Cuban roots with santería, the myths and the Cuban legends of pre-Columbian and Sub-Saharan origins that form part of my personal culture". "In all stages -he added- a fils conducteur is kept. Features as lines, drawings or colors remain." In an account of his personal life, the Cuban painter said that his first years of existence when poverty was so hard he barely studied the fifth grade and worked in the most exhausting works He started drawing as any child, but he immediately realized that the route toward his future was very close to that field. He became a designer of advertisement signs, studied and became a professor of Havana’s San Alejandro Art School. Moreira has now reached the heights of a renowned artist in Cuba and the world. "I never think that if I do this nicer, I will sell it soon. No, I paint because I like it. Of course, I have to sell it, I need to make a living, but for many years I taught and didn’t sell. I made a living with my salary, and my paintings were either exhibited or given as a present. Then the commercialization of paintings for institutions began, for collectors, though true artists never work with the idea of raising money to live better."

Calle 8 No. 262 e/ 11 y 13 Vedado. Ciudad de la Habana. Cuba. Telefax: (53 7) 31 3511. E-mail: aljm@artsoft.cult.cu