El Pais de los Muertos 1996 graphite and acrylic on canvas, 82 x 220 inches. Nassau County Museum of Art Collection, Long Island, NY.
The canvas depicts Downtown Miami on one end, and a cemetery of sorts in the distance There stands a commemorative building (such as the NationsBank Tower, The Empire State Building, and so on) for each of the artists depicted. The work as a whole is an homage to Cuban artists as well as a symbol of Cuban exile. The title of the piece, Pais de los Muertos, is a reflection on the status of Cuban artists. Are the artists still active or have they in some sense, died? The work asks the question, are the artists really dead or symbolically dead to the people still in Cuba? For each of the artists, Mr. Novoa used their passports photos, as used upon their departure from Cuba. On the left of the canvas, the orange area represents Havana, Cuba. In the background, we find the Florida Straits, with small boats, rafts, and floating bodies. Again, the work represents both an homage and a cemetery.
Represented from left to right are: Julio Antonio, Ciro Quintana, Jesse de los Rios, Santiago Rodriguez (Chago), Ana Albertina Delgado, Florencio Gelabert, Adriano Buergo, Tomas Esson, Arturo Cuenca, Juan Abreu, Consuelo Castaneda, Quisqueya Enriquez, Juan Bosa, Carlos Alfonzo, Nelson Franco, Pedro Vizcaino, Carlos Perez Vidal, Humberto Pena, Jose Bedia, Ruben Torres Llorca, Tomas Sanchez, Aldo Menendez, Aldo Menendez (Aldito), Acela Rey, Carlos R. Cardenas, Fernando Garcia, Rogelio Lopez Marin (Gory), Gustavo Acosta, Antonia Eiriz, Dario Blanco, and Glexis Novoa.
