Jock McDonald

May 3 - June 14, 2013

Opening reception on Friday May 3 from 6 - 9pm

Gallery 16 is pleased to present a body of photographic work by Jock McDonald Havana: The Longview that explores the contradictions and symbols of Cuban life. This collection of images represents the artists work in the region dating from the mid 1990’s.

McDonald’s interest in Cuba has spanned two decades. During this time he has photographed the island and it’s people in depth. In this body of work McDonald set out to capture all 8 kilometers of Havana’s Malecon, the famous sea-clinging boulevard, site of the Gran Prix and iconic speeches of Castro and Che Guevara. El Malecon, Spanish for breakwater, took 50 years to build, beginning in 1901 under military
rule by the United States and was completed in 1952.

McDonald photographed the complete boulevard facing both the city and seaside. It was captured over a three year period and contains 288 photographic frames. With homage to Ed Ruscha’s famed 1966 book, Every Building on the Sunset Strip, McDonald presents El Malecon a epic book over 100 feet in length which records every inch of the famous boulevard in Havana. The book documents the decay and renewal of this dynamic stretch of road on the Cuban north shoreline. It stands as the only document of it’s kind and photographically preserves this historic place for all time.

McDonald also presents a series of large format prints, some assembled from hand cu
strips and woven together. The images reference the iconography of Cuban existence and the ever present Sea, which is both life sustaining and a dramatic symbol of Cuban isolation.

Jocks photographs are in the collections of The Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, The di Rosa Art and Preserve and have been exhibited worldwide.