Lagrimas Negras (Black Tears)

Date2000

MediumFour color screenprint and woodcut

Credit LineGift of Sara and John Shlesinger

DimensionsMat: 45 3/4 × 53 1/2 in. (116.2 × 135.9 cm) Sheet: 35 × 43 1/2 in. (88.9 × 110.5 cm)

Object number2003.070.004

Label TextMiranda, a member of a new generation of Cuban artists, all born since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, began to receive international recognition in the 1990s. His obsessive theme is the island of Cuba itself, portrayed in maps, as here, and overlaid with expressive details. The title of this print, Black Tears (Lagrimas Negras), comes from a very popular song written by the world-famous Cuban musician, Miguel Matamoros (1894-1974). The words of the song are as follows:

Although you have abandoned me
although you have killed all my illusions
instead of justly cursing you
in my dreams I shower you
in my dreams I shower you
with blessings.

I suffer the immense pain of your loss
and I feel deep pain at your leaving
and I cry even though you will never see
I am crying black tears,
tears as black as my life.
You want to leave me,
I don't want to suffer,
I am going with you, my darling,
even if I die.

In the woodcut portion of the print, hand carved by the artist, a portrait with flowing black tears appears superimposed on the waves of water that separate Cuba and Florida. The land forms are represented by a pink, copper, and red screenprint reproduced from a sixteenth-century map. Coupled with the words of the song, this image evokes the pain of isolation and abandonment that emigration to Florida has inflicted on so many Cuban families.
Exhibition HistoryPrinted Matter: Contemporary Works from GraphicStudio, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 11 - May 12, 2006
Permanent Collection Intervention: Come Ruin or Rapture, Michael C. Carlos Museum, September 16, 2024 - Present
Published ReferencesMCCM Newsletter, March - May 2004.
MCCM Newsletter, December 2005 - February 2006.

ProvenanceEx coll. Sara and John Shlesinger, United States, purchased from Graphicstudio/Institute for Research in Art, Tampa, Florida, September 11, 2000.

Status

On view

Collections