Sosabravo Travels to Indochina

Alfredo Sosabravo: Returning from Indochina (detail), 1971. 153.5 x 107 cm. Collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts.

This is, by all accounts, a Sosabravo. The Cuban artist has consolidated a poetics that identifies him at first glance. And in this work, the marriage of pop art and art brut is embodied in a stark satire, in a political denunciation.

It's worth looking at the title and the year: Returning from Indochina, 1971. Airs of war stir this monster on wheels. From its terrible mouth emanate violent and unintelligible screams. The arrows trace the offensive line. And the palette reinforces the aggressiveness of the push.

The Vietnam War impacted many artists around the world. Sosabravo offered his vision, which in some way caricatured the vicissitudes of the conflict.

For the record: caricaturing is not trivializing. This figuration does not leave the viewer at peace. It provokes him. It’s like a dream vision. Nightmare reasons.