“I saw the Aleph, from every point, I saw the earth in the Aleph, and in the earth the Aleph, and in the Aleph the earth.” — Jorge Luis Borges, The Aleph (1945)
A colossal white yacht floats serenely on vibrant blue waters. Surrounding it, incongruous characters and objects seem immersed in their own stories: bathers, both clothed and nude, indulge in a day of leisure, while mambí soldiers, clad in their somber uniforms, remain alert. A biplane, a sailboat, and colorful parasols add a nostalgic air that contrasts with the modern technology of the vessel. In the background, vertical cliffs confine the scene, reminiscent of those along the Hudson River—the very same landscape that inspired the painters of the Hudson River School in the 19th century. Today, that same geography nourishes the creative sensibility of Ariel Cabrera. From his adopted home in New Jersey, along the banks of this emblematic river, the artist finds a connection to that stylistic and natural legacy.
The improbable scene of Veterans Yacht Party (2024), described above, inhabits Cabrera’s imagination. He recreates it from various angles, rearranging its characters and artifacts in whimsical combinations across several works featured in his solo exhibition, Metanarratives. Similarly, other bodies of work presented in the show reflect the artist’s obsessive tendency to recreate familiar universes. For instance, in the series Campaña Húmeda (2022) and Sueños Húmedos (2023), he conceives an apotheosis of figures suspended in water, observed by other characters through different planes or portals, framed by glass windows. Like theatrical settings, Cabrera’s worlds merge symbolic and historical archetypes from different eras into infinite creative possibilities. Thus, beyond admiring the technical virtuosity that characterizes and unifies them, one must immerse oneself in their multiple layers of meaning.
The challenge to the linearity of time and narration in these paintings recalls Jorge Luis Borges’ concept of the Aleph. In his 1945 short story of the same name, the Argentine writer imagined a point in space that simultaneously contained all places, times, and things in the universe, offering a total and limitless vision—one that was, however, chaotic and incomprehensible to the human mind:
“Each thing (the moon in the mirror, let us say) was infinite things, because I clearly saw it from all points in the universe.” — Jorge Luis Borges, The Aleph (1945)
While Borges’ concept was a response to the turbulent reality of his country and the world at the time, in Cabrera’s case, the awareness of the fragmentation of knowledge and the impossibility of grasping total reality connect with his personal biography and experience—first in Cuba, and later in exile. Since the triumph of the Revolution in 1959, the island’s history has been marked by successive waves of emigrants, whose actions and legacies have been erased from official discourse. The immediate past has also been idealized and manipulated, presenting post-revolutionary Cuba as the fulfillment of the nation’s great identity dream.
Originally from Camagüey—one of the leading cities in the 19th-century independence struggles—Cabrera has shown a deep fascination with history and objects imbued with memory since the beginning of his career. During his formative years, his involvement in the antiques trade profoundly impacted his work. photographs, letters, objects, and other relics of Cuba’s past that he encountered across the island allowed him to uncover narratives unrecorded in official history, while simultaneously fostering an admiration for Cuban, European, and American painters of past centuries, whose works he was able to study firsthand. Self-taught, he meticulously studied their techniques and styles, incorporating their academic and narrative rigor into his own work.
On the other hand, his periods of residence in Mexico, Miami, and, in recent years, New Jersey have allowed him to engage with alternative Cuban realities that complement those of the island. In this new context, his characters and narratives have been influenced by the opulent leisure scenes, material culture, and customs of the middle and upper classes that emigrated at the start of the Revolution. Furthermore, his access to major museums during travels across the United States and Europe, as well as his relationships with other artists of similar interests—most notably, his close friend, the master Julio Larraz—have been fundamental to his evolving experience.
In La danza del apetito No. 2 (2024), one of the key pieces in Metanarratives, Cabrera adopts a solemn tone reminiscent of historical painting. However, contemporary artistic resources distinguish the piece from a mere mimesis of period paintings. A lavish 19th-century ballroom scene dominates the canvas, while in the foreground, two grayscale mambí figures lie atop bundles on the ground, observing the scene. With profiles resembling torn paper, these figures appear superimposed, failing to integrate with the rest of the composition. Instead, they create a sense of estrangement, anachronism—almost as if we were witnessing a rehearsal, a preliminary sketch before the final result.
A similar effect is achieved with his new bronze sculptures, presented for the first time in this exhibition. Inspired by scenes from his maritime works, these pieces retain an academic style and can be seen as a natural evolution of his figurative paintings into a three-dimensional realm. Simultaneously, in dialogue with his two-dimensional works, they reference the exploratory process that preceded them, enhancing the idea that they may have existed before being represented on canvas. In this way, they reinforce a recurring theme in Cabrera’s work: the confluence of past, present, and future within a single setting.
Like visual Alephs, the pieces in Metanarratives are not closed stories but spaces in constant negotiation, where memory and imagination intertwine in a perpetual dance between what was, what is, and what could have been. Cabrera constructs multiverses—territories of infinite possibilities—to reinvent history and identity. His works function as incomplete maps, encompassing both what remains of the island and everything it no longer contains.
Yuneikys Villalonga Miami, FL, January 2025.
