Mabel Poblet

Acompañada, from the series Desapariencia, 2015

Mixed media on PVC, 53 x 110 cm.


  • La obra de esta nueva joya del arte cubano destaca por su refinada visualidad y esteticismo, muy relacionada con el minimalismo y el arte pop.
  • Some of the most exciting and innovative art in the world is represented by Cubans. The riveting work of Mabel Poblet with her singularity is an example of that talent.

Accompanied by Mirrors, Constructions and Utopias

The subtle eloquence of silence and the disturbingly peaceful atmosphere in solitude seem to crack in the face of the title Acompañada (Accompanied). However, silence reigns upon the masterwork, introspection is glimpsed. Will its sign then become the outcry of a late longing, of an unresolved need? On the other hand, will it consist of a plain allusion to the figure-author relation, reinforced upon the artwork in isolated cubicles?

Acompañada could then be thought of as a paradox, or possible metaphor that mimics the myth of Narcissus, tied to the absorbed contemplation of his own image that would lead him to deprive himself of life, and to the birth of a flower in the place where his being and utopia would merge. In addition, Desapariencia (NT: A word game from the author’s intention in Spanish: Dis-appearance) is precisely a series in which this art piece has a spot where flower, body, seduction come together.

The first one denotes industriousness and mastery on the part of Mabel Poblet, who perhaps intentionally takes up the motif again, who found kitsch and at a time, authentic and emancipatory, when she contacted female inmates at a correctional prison in the province of Holguín. From that dialogue the installation Simplemente Bellas came into being, where crimson and the white color of flowers depicted a visual harmony of the whole into small cores.

Now, the motif is stylized, it is a backdrop and foreground at the same time. The colors persist; the headdress is imposed to the detriment of the face that is intuitively imbued in its reflection. The body is simply the bearer, a bearer of a constructed image, the disguise of a being that blurs through the designs of appearances. Seduction is palpable, admirable by all the elements coming together upon its image, where the deafening silence does not overwhelm the fascination of eyes; eyes that enclosed by certain decoy are caught in this game of mirrors, constructions and utopias.

–Indira Carrillo