Daily Stories
Eduin Fraga was born in Havana, Cuba in 1974. He began painting over twenty years ago, blending newspaper collage and paint on canvas in order to capture dynamic fragments of society within the piece. Fraga considers his technique of painting and newspaper collage to be a unique mechanism through which to add complexity and richness to the work while simultaneously transforming it into a form of historical register of social experience. Fraga formally studied painting and drawing at the Experimental Center of Visual Arts in Havana and graduated in 2012. He has been invited to present his work in galleries and universities within the US and in Cuba. Some of his works are part of the Northwestern Mutual Insurance’s Giving Gallery, a 2018 exhibit that focuses on philanthropic partnerships in Milwaukee, WI. Fraga currently divides his time between Cuba and the United States.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Within my work, I strive continually to represent the complex and subtle realities of daily experience in Cuba and the U.S. My work focuses on everyday lives to excavate themes such as the Special Period in Cuba, workers’ struggles for economic survival, aging infrastructure and related challenges to transportation and sanitation, emigration, and familial separation or loss. I use collage mixed with oil, acrylic, charcoal and other media on canvas – a mixed media technique I call “collage painting“. Collage painting is a technique that includes excerpts and images from various Cuban and American newspapers as a means of capturing dynamic fragments of the societies in which I live. Through this approach, my intention is to not only display objective images of daily life in Cuba and the U.S., but also to create within each piece an historical register of events and institutional processes that have shaped our societies and the people within them.
Starting March 15, 2022 all Covid-19 restrictions will end for all events and classes at the Monroe Arts Center. Masks will be optional.
This Exhibit has been supported by MAC Corporate Underwriter Colony Brands, Inc. and Season Media Underwriter Big Radio, with additional support from Mike & Shelley Muranyi, Lee & Chris Knuteson, Paul & Sue Barrett, David & Julie Buchanan, Kevin & Chris Callahan, and Don Amphlett & Jan Johnson.
