On the dark poetry in the art of Angel León Valiente and why he fled Cuba

The technique of Angel León, a Barcelona based artist who moved there from Cuba in 2021, is exceptionally advanced and incredibly precise. His paintings show a great deal of mastery and his unique and metaphoric style combines hyperrealism and surrealism.

Trova music as the primary influence

Trova was created by musicians known as 'trovadores' who travelled around Cuba’s Oriente province, especially Santiago de Cuba, and earned their living by singing and playing the guitar. “I have a lot ofinfluence from music as a concept towards painting. Since I was young, I listened to a lot of trova and I am sure that after so many years listening to so many lyrics I have achieved a way of seeing painting, influenced by music, more by lyrics and what they provoke in me.”

There is certainly something poetic in the art of Angel León, and he reflects: “In everything in life there is poetry. And poetry can be either very dense or very deep and complex, or it can be simple. You go out into the street and you see the trees falling their dry leaves and suddenly you see how the wind takes them away, that is poetry. And those things fill me. They may seem superficial, but to me they are tragic.”

Artistic evolution

He uses charcoal and sometimes oil on canvas to create his realistic illusions, but does not adhere to this particular form. “For me all techniques are a means. Until now I am using charcoal because it’s working for the things I want to say. When there will come a time when I have other ideas and also another space where I can paint, then I would use other materials, like oil, like mixed techniques. But so far drawing fascinates me a lot. It’s something that has always been there in all stages. A few years ago I worked with a lot of color. But as the ideas evolved I simplified the colours and I’ve even come up with something more achromatic. Because I realised that beyond the color what matters most is the form and the message that I am transmitting. That color can even be a distraction to achieve the message.”

Why he fled Cuba

Angel León Valiente grew up in Cuba. Born in 1990 he remembers his environment as difficult for exploiting his talent: “In Cuba you have to paint with whatever you have, because in Cuba there are no materials, there are no material stores, there is no canvas, there is nothing.” Being regarded as one–party Communist state, Cuba is not the easiest place to grow up or to live. That’s what led the artist to move to Barcelona, after finishing his art studies and in the midst of a global pandemic. He shares: “I come from a country with a dictatorship where freedom is totally deprived. A country that if it occurs to me to do a work that goes against the ideology or what they censor, they can put me under surveillance.” Despite of having fled his country, the artist doesn’t deny that growing up in Cuba has defined him and his art. “The themes of sadness, anguish, loneliness, melancholy are what I am returning to most of the time. But there is also a beauty in these feelings. That is, one can achieve a certain degree of satisfaction living and experiencing these supposedly dark emotions. They can make you reflect, they can make you live, they can give you different

situations, which can be pleasant, paradoxically.”, shares the artist.