Yoan Capote's 'Elegy' at Galleria Continua Rome

Galleria Continua in Rome presents 'Elegy', the first solo exhibition in the city by Cuban artist Yoan Capote (born 1977 in Pinar del Río). The show features works from his renowned 'Isla' series, where seascapes are built from illusionistic rows of fishing hooks in relief on oil paint, alongside newer pieces. Capote's art reflects on Cuba as both paradise and prison, drawing from his childhood near tobacco plantations and his first encounter with the ocean. The 'Isla' series evokes the island's dual nature: water as enclosure, surveillance, and escape route. The title 'Elegy' mourns those lost at sea, including 'balseros' who risked the journey to Florida. The 'Requiem' series incorporates gold leaf reminiscent of 14th-century altarpieces, while also referencing migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. The installation 'Deriva' features a wooden rudder on two marble blocks at different heights, suggesting a listing boat or an executioner's axe. Another room includes 'Presagio', a sickle evoking the apocalyptic horseman rather than communist symbolism. Newer works from the 'Purificazione' series use metal from barbed wire and handcuffs embedded in plaster to create iridescent seascapes. Capote's work is linked to Ernest Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea', with Santiago the Cuban fisherman as a metaphor for struggle and illusion. The exhibition runs at Galleria Continua Rome.