Details:

This painting touches on the distance between people in Cuba and their relatives who are far away in another country. The artist's work explores how proximity and union, ever-present aspects of Cuban society, inform notions of solitude and intimacy.
Unframed

① Artwork:

Larga Distancia (Long Distance)

This painting depicts two young Cubans sitting side-by-side. The woman converses on an old rotary phone while her partner listens in. The painting touches on the distance between people living in Cuba and their relatives who are far away in another country. Many Cubans experience the loss of friends and family who immigrate to another country—the phone becomes the only way of communicating with their loved ones. The cold white background symbolizes the lack of warmth when talking to someone on the phone as opposed to in-person. The female model has her own image tattooed on her left shoulder.

This painting explores how proximity and union, ever-present aspects of Cuban society, inform notions of solitude and intimacy. This composition depicts a mundane event, an everyday scene of island life—a snapshot where the distractions of urban life are minimized, bringing the viewer's attention to the present moment.  

Sanchez's oil portrait paintings, carefully rendered with classical technique, focus on Cuban current events and politics. The artist's use of realism produces “an authentic and inescapable illusion of existence” that brings the viewer into a close relationship with Sanchez's subjects—the artist's fiancée, family, friends and acquaintances. These figures embody the warm-yet-stoic nature of Cuban culture that has changed little over time; each figure is a reminder to the world of what has been lost. Sanchez excels at creating scenes of togetherness and social unity.

Specs:

32 inches
26 inches

③ Artist:

Gabriel Sanchez

Gabriel Sanchez’s oil portrait paintings examine Cuban current events and politics. The artist employs a classical technique, achieving a realism that brings viewers into a close relationship with his paintings’ subjects. Sanchez creates scenes of togetherness and social unity populated by figures drawn from his own life—characters that serve as exemplars of the warm yet stoic nature of Cuban culture.

BIO:

Gabriel Sanchez was born in Miami, Florida in 1993. The Cuban-American artist received a BFA at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Solo exhibitions of Sanchez’s work include Remote Generation at Lora Schlesinger Gallery in Santa Monica, California (2019). 

Group exhibitions that have shown Sanchez’s work include: Stay with me at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California; Figures at Lora Schlesinger Gallery in Los Angeles, California; Tiny Visions at Hive Gallery in Los Angeles, California; Synchronicity at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado; Take Me Back to November at 1015 Pearl St in Boulder, Colorado; Where We Stand at the Visual Arts Complex in Boulder, Colorado; Artmix at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in Boulder, Colorado; Something that Means Something at Madelife in Boulder, Colorado; and Kings Exhibition at the Visual Arts Complex in Boulder, Colorado. 

Sanchez splits his time between Colorado and Cuba.

Gabriel Sanchez:
Larga Distancia (Long Distance), 2022
Oil on canvas
26.0 × 32.0 inches /