COURTESY: MILLYWESTART.COM
Part of Milly West’s Cuba porfolio which she will present at the Powerhouse Thursday.
Vox Press will host “Cuba for Keeps: An Evening with Milly West” Thursday night at the Powerhouse Community Arts Center. The event comprises a lecture from West on her much-admired Cuban photography and her recently released book on the subject.
West is an acclaimed artist whose works have been featured in galleries spanning from the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson to the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.
West is a traveler, photographer and collector of art, and she has a particular fascination with Cuban art and culture.
West owned Southside Gallery on the Oxford Square in the mid-90s and began collecting and curating art from Cuba in 1996. Around this time is when Louis Bourgeois, executive director of Vox Press, met West and fell in love with her work at Southside Gallery as well as with West’s own photos.
“Her displays were divine,” Bourgeois said. “I’ve loved Milly’s work for years, especially her Cuban photography. Her work is both captivating and educational, all in the same breath.”
West’s book, “Cuba for Keeps: A Journey of Love Through Art,” features photography from her trips to Cuba. Her colorful photos capture the aspects of the country with which West is so connected. Her passion for displaying this often-misunderstood country comes through in her distinctive and frequently visceral photographs.
In the description of her Cuban portfolio, West wrote, “I have visited Cuba more than 30 times over the past 18 years. Over these extended trips, I have felt my soul come alive with the place and the spirit of the Cubans who have become among my closest friends.”
In the recent past, the United States enforced an embargo on all Cuban goods – except art, luckily for West, who has collected pieces from many Cuban artists over time. She still visits quite a few of these artists now. West keeps this art on display in a gallery adjacent to her home in Oxford called Tres Puertas Gallery. She hopes to present to other collectors in the United States the splendor of Cuban art.
Some pieces in her gallery display a country of people undertaking a revolution and watching the rise of political power. Many of West’s own pieces and others, however, offset this interpretation of Cuba with culture-rich, lively places and people.
“I was particularly mesmerized by the almost ancient yet modern beauty of Cuban women; they have a story to tell that reaches far beyond the lens,” Bourgeois said.
West’s photos encompass the love and familiarity that she feels for the country and her subjects within it. Her photos are not those of a tourist, but of a woman who feels a deep connection with what lies beyond her camera.
“I want people to come away with the true spirit of contemporary Cuba, a rich country in landscape and politics,” Bourgeois said.
“Cuba for Keeps: An Evening with Milly West” will begin at 7 p.m. at the Powerhouse Community Arts Center. The event is free, but a donation of $5 is suggested. West’s book will be available for purchase at the event.
