The papers of Uruguayan born Washington, D.C. painter and printmaker Naúl Ojeda measure 5.9 linear feet and date from circa 1960-2004, and circa 2013. The papers document Ojeda's personal and professional life through biographical materials, correspondence, exhibition and gallery files, professional files, financial material, printed and broadcast materials, scrapbooks, artwork and sketchbooks, and a small amount of photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Uruguayan born Washington, D.C. painter and printmaker Naúl Ojeda measure 5.9 linear feet and date from circa 1960-2004, and circa 2013. The papers document Ojeda's personal and professional life through biographical materials, correspondence, exhibition and gallery files, professional files, financial material, printed and broadcast materials, scrapbooks, artwork and sketchbooks, and a small amount of photographic material.
Biographical material includes immigration records, resumes, and a few certifications and credentials. Correspondence is personal and professional, with correspondents including Ojeda's family, and friends, and some general professional correspondents, including Alicia Haber, Moira Bowers, Ernesto Vila, Eduardo Galeano, Enrique Gomez, Armando Caicedo Garzón, Walter Jesus Gonzalez, Azucena Berrutti, and others.
Exhibition and gallery files document Ojeda's relationship with galleries, museums, and civic and cultural organizations, and include records of specific exhibitions as well as general documentation related to sales and commissions of his artwork. They include records of the exhibition In Honor of Franz Bader (1995), with a related video recording. Professional files document other activities including Ojeda's involvement with community organizations, art contests that he entered, work he was commissioned to do for businesses and organizations, and permissions for use of his work for a variety of publications, events, and media outlets. Financial records include a small but detailed number of records of sales with sales books, price lists and receipts.
Printed and broadcast materials provide a fairly comprehensive overview of Ojeda's career from the 1960s on, with announcements and catalogs for multiple exhibitions, news clippings from foreign and domestic newspapers, and posters, flyers, and other publications with illustrations by Ojeda. Three broadcast video recordings about his work and exhibitions can also be found here. This material is supplemented by two scrapbooks documenting Ojeda's exhibitions and news items about his career, from the 1960s to early 1980s.
The collection contains a substantial amount of artwork, including drawings, sketches, poster mockups, prints including woodcut proofs, and sixteen sketchbooks for various projects.
A small amount of photographic material includes three photos of a 1968 exhibition in Uruguay, photocopies of photos of a family group, and negatives including images of Ojeda in the studio.
Arrangement:
The bulk of Ojeda's papers initially combined Ojeda's records of his professional activities, including records of exhibitions and gallery transactions, and financial records in a single alphabetical file. To facilitate access this arrangement has been refined further into three smaller series (Series 3-5).
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1963-1997 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1960s-2002 (Box 1, OV 9; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 3: Exhibition and Gallery Files, 1966-2004 (Boxes 1-2, 6; 0.9 linear feet)
Series 4: Professional Files, 1979-2002 (Boxes 2-3, 6; 0.65 linear feet)
Series 5: Financial Records, circa 1970-2004, circa 2013 (Box 3; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed and Broadcast Materials, 1962-2003 (Boxes 3-4, 6-7, OV 10; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1961-1981 (Box 7; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1960-circa 2000 (Boxes 4, 8, OVs 9, 11-14; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 9: Sketchbooks, circa 1967-2001 (Boxes 4-5, 8; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographic Material, 1968-circa 2000 (Box 5; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Naúl Ojeda (1939-2002) was a painter and printmaker in Washington, D.C.
Ojeda was born in Uruguay and studied fine arts at the University of Uruguay. The political climate of Uruguay in the 1970s led Ojeda to leave the country. He traveled to France, Chile, and Mexico before settling in Washington, D.C. While in Chile, Ojeda covered the presidency of Salvador Allende as a photojournalist. He selected fifty of the photographs of that period for his exhibition Homage to the People of Chile at the Galeria Inti Centro de Arte in Washington, D.C.
Ojeda was best known for his woodblock prints and linocuts, which he printed by hand in small editions, usually of no more than twenty-five prints. He also had some success with decorated furniture, both pieces he designed and painted, and pieces he decorated. Although his images appear whimsical, they often express themes of separation from his homeland and family. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions throughout the United States as well as in Europe and South America including Immigrant Artists/American Experience (1985-1987) and an exhibition in 1995 honoring Franz Bader, the owner of the Franz Bader Gallery in Washington, D.C. Bader and Ojeda bonded over their shared immigrant experiences. Bader represented Ojeda for nearly 20 years and frequently held exhibitions of Ojeda's work at his gallery.
Ojeda's work is represented in private collections as well as the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Art Museum of the Americas, in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Ojeda also produced illustrations for The Washington Post Book World, Washington Review, Curbstone Press, and the Institute for Policy Studies among others.
During his career Ojeda received several awards, including the 2001 Distinguished Immigrant Award from the American Immigration Law Foundation. He was also the recipient of several grants from the D.C. Commission of the Arts and Humanities, including grants to illustrate the poems of Pablo Neruda and Federico Garcia Lorca.
Ojeda died in 2002 in Washington, D.C.
Provenance:
The Naúl Ojeda papers were donated in 2016 by Philomena "Pennie" Ojeda.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Naúl Ojeda papers, circa 1960-2004, circa 2013. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
An interview with Gala Porras-Kim conducted 2020 August 20, by Josh Franco, for the Archives of American Art's Pandemic Oral History Project Porras-Kim's car in Los Angeles, California.
Biographical / Historical:
Gala Porras-Kim (1984- ) is a Colombian and Korean American multi media artist based in Los Angeles, California. Porras-Kim interrogates museological norms through drawings, sculptures, and large installations.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its Oral History Program interviews available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. Quotation, reproduction and publication of the audio is governed by restrictions. If an interview has been transcribed, researchers must quote from the transcript. If an interview has not been transcribed, researchers must quote from the audio recording. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Multimedia artists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
An interview of Margarita Cano conducted 1998 April 22, by Juan A. Martínez, in Cano's home, Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Cano recounts her interest in art, which developed after graduating as a science major at the University of Havana; arriving in Miami around 1962, where she found work at the main Public Library of Dade County, instituting an arts program focusing on the work of African American and Cuban American artists, which included building a permanent collection of local artists' work and arranging exhibitions; her work on the board of the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, including organizing the pivotal exhibition "The Miami Generation: Nine Cuban American Artists" in 1983; her own art, mostly painting on wood using a miniature style and reflecting mostly Cuban scenes; her son Pablo Cano, a successful artist; and her views on her Cuban background and her North American cultural identity.
Biographical / Historical:
Margarita Cano (1932-) is a painter, librarian, and curator in Miami, Florida. Born in Havana, Cuba.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 55 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics, and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview of Ruben Torres-Llorca conducted 1998 January 31, by Juan A. Martínez, in Torres Llora's home/studio, Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Torres Llora discusses his early interest in art; his father, whom he never met, who was a talented commercial artist; studying art at San Alejandro Academy of Art, Havana and fellow students Jose Bedia and Ricardo Rodriguez Brey; graduate studies at Havana's Instituto Superior del Arte; participating in the "Volumen I" exhibition in 1981; travels to Mexico, where he began sculpture and installations; returning to Cuba and curating exhibitions of younger artists; moving to Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and since 1993, Miami; artistic influences, including literature, anthropology, sociololgy, film, and other disciplines on him; his mixed media figurative objects of the 1990s which tell a narrative, are socially oriented, and at best, provide a shared experience for the viewer.
Biographical / Historical:
Ruben Torres-Llorca (1957-) is a Cuban born painter and sculptor in Miami, Florida.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 6 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics, and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture (Miami, Fla.) Search this
Extent:
38 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1998 March 28
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Ramón Cernuda conducted 1998 March 28, by Juan A. Martínez, in Cernuda's office, Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Ramón Cernuda (1947-) is a Cuban born art collector in Miami, Florida.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 1 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview of Cuban born painter José Bedia conducted 1998 February 13, by Juan A. Martínez, in Bedia's studio/home, Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Bedia discusses his early inclination toward drawing and interest in cartooning; receiving rigorous academic training at San Alejandro Art Academy in Havana and being introduced also to non-western art; attending graduate school at the Instituto Superior del Arte, 1976-1981; participating upon graduation in the Volumen I exhibition which was a turning point for Cuban artists; travel outside of Cuba to Budapest via Berlin, to New York, to an Indian reservation in the Southwest where he became acquainted with North American native art and artists, and to Angola with the Cuban military, where he came into contact with African roots of Cuban culture; moving to Mexico City and then to Miami; his art and inspirations; religion; his collection of African and American Indian art; and exhibitions in which he has participated.
Biographical / Historical:
José Bedia (1959-) is a Cuban born painter from Miami, Florida.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 15 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview of Rafael Soriano conducted 1997 December 6, by Juan A. Martínez, in Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Rafael Soriano (1920-) is a Cuban born artist in Miami, Florida.
General:
Originally recorded 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 19 min.
Interview recorded at slow speed.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Topic:
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Florida -- Miami Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview with Cundo Bermúdez conducted 1997 December 13, by Juan A. Martínez, in Bermudez's home/studio, Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Cundo Bermúdez (1914-2008) was a Cuban American painter. Born in Havana, 1914.
General:
Originally recorded 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 45 min.
Poor sound quality.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics, and administrators.
Topic:
Painters -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Expatriate artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Florida -- Miami Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview of Cuban born sculptor María Brito conducted 1997 October 25, by Juan A. Martínez, in Brito's home/studio, Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Brito speaks of her birthplace, Havana, Cuba, and her early art education at the Edison School; her travels to Miami as part of the Peter Pan Project in 1961; her art studies at the Miami-Dade Community College and the University of Miami. She also comments on the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art (MOCHA) in New York, The Decade Show, her first exhibition in Miami at Gallery 24 in 1980, and other exhibitions.
Biographical / Historical:
María Brito (1947-) is a sculptor from Miami, Florida. Born in Havana, Cuba.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 2 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics, and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Expatriate artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview of Demi conducted 1997 November 20, by Juan A. Martínez, in Demi's home/studio, Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Demi speaks of her birthplace, Camaguey, Cuba; the death of her father in 1960, and being sent to Puerto Rico in 1971; her move to New York, and arrival in Miami in 1978; her theater studies at Miami Dade Community College. She recalls an opening at the Meeting Point Gallery in Coral Gables in 1980, where she met her husband, painter Arturo Rodriguez. She talks about her first painting in 1984, the role Arturo plays in her life, her first exhibition at the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture in 1987, and the importance of touching the human spirit.
Biographical / Historical:
Demi (1955- ) is a painter from Miami, Florida. Demi (who uses only her first name) is a self-taught artist born in Cuba. Her husband is the painter Arturo Rodriguez.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 9 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics, and administrators.
Topic:
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Expatriate artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Florida -- Miami Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
The translation of this interview transcript was provided by Oksana Salamatina.
An interview of Enrique Guy Garcia conducted 1998 Mar. 18, by Juan A. Martinez, in Garcia's studio, Miami, Fla., for the Archives of American Art.
Garcia discusses his early interest in drawing; enrolling in art school as a teenager in Santiago de Cuba; attending Havana's San Alejandro Art Academy and studying painting with Leopoldo Romanach and Domingo Ramos, and modeling for sculpture classes where his interest in sculpture developed; going to Mexico City upon graduation to study fresco painting; returning to Cuba and working in organizing craft workshops; becoming dissatisfied with the political situation in Cuba and accepting an UNESCO grant to study art in Italy; seeking political asylum on his return from Italy; living in New York and working in a foundry; moving to Miami in the mid-1970s; his sculpture, which is primarily bronzes; his abstract expressionist style; his series of works in the 1980s, "Head," and "Icarus"; his current work, "Columns"; and an upcoming exhibition in Venezuela.
Biographical / Historical:
Enrique Guy Garcia (1928-) is a sculptor and painter from Miami, Fla. Born in Havana, Cuba.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics, and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
