On looking at the paintings of Viredo Espinosa I feel compelled to break into a dance...to the Cuban beat! The first impact is one of color. Here is where the strong emotional content lies. It is balanced, lyrical and... composed. The elements of the composition are skillfully counterpointed, exuding a playful musicality. The eye can move around and explore the many references to the land, the sky, the sea and the human presence within...and fish. There are almost always fish.

Within flat, fragmented, map-like divisions of space can be found map-like symbols and patterns. Often, a body of water in the form of a river divides one section of the painting from another. Could this be a subliminal reflection of his split career as a fine artist and a commercial artist and the recurring conflict incumbent with that situation...but more importantly of his split allegiances and life as an exiled Cuban/American?

Sometimes derivative of Picasso's Guernica ( admittedly a strong influence! ), Viredo's work carries the elements of a storyteller and of an identity rooted in particular circumstances: the colorful people of his childhood with their African roots, the political upheaval and eventual exile from his homeland and the theatricality of his adopted city, Los Angeles, home of movie stars and make-believe.

A member of "Los Once", a group of dissident Cuban painters, Viredo did not completely abandon representation as was the general ideology of the group, but chose to remain "accessible". His art has grown from life, is a part of life and certainly for him, is the very best part of life

DONNA WESTERNMAN
Art Professor Orange Coast College
Costa Mesa, CA