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Puerto Rican Surrealism Art Heading to New York, London

‘Surrealism Beyond Borders’ opens in Oct. at the MET and moves in Feb. to the Tate Modern Museum

Jorge Rodriguez jrodriguez@elvocero.com

Ever since José Correa Vigier decided to mount the exhibition “En el camino al Mirador Azul” at the Art Gallery of Sacred Heart University in 2014 when he was a student, following the guidelines of his thesis on surrealism in Puerto Rico, his commitment to this movement has been so thorough that the Metropolitan Museum of New York (MET) invited him to integrate his Puerto Rican studies on this art movement with their own.

“I received an invitation in August 2019 from the MET to present my research on surrealism in Puerto Rico and ‘Mirador Azul.’ The [work] began to take shape around what was going to be exhibited in New York. I gave them my research, photos, documents, catalogs, the selection of surrealist pieces on the island, and after a while they evaluated my research and decided to include it in the catalog of the ‘Surrealism Beyond Borders’ exhibition, which opens on Oct. 11 at the [MET], and in Feb. 2022 at the Tate Modern Museum in London,” he told THE WEEKLY JOURNAL.

The exhibition is under the direction of Stephanie D’Alessandro, curator of Modern Art at the MET, and Matthew Gale, head of Exhibitions at the Tate Modern in London.

There was very little information about surrealism in Puerto Rico. There was no bibliography and the paintings did not appear, either. For this reason, Correa decided to research the subject and assumed the responsibility to highlight artists committed to a new contemporaneity.

“My attention was drawn to the artistic activity that took place in San Juan with the arrival of Spanish exile Eugenio Fernández Granell in 1950 when he developed a surrealist and modernist school at the University of Puerto Rico and with the ‘Mirador Azul’ workshop off-campus. The subject of surrealism in Puerto Rico was practically a memory in the historiography of national art and had not been studied. However, Granell stands out as a traveling artist, who took the genius of surrealism to different places,” the researcher said.

“The theme dedicated to Puerto Rico in the Sacred Heart gallery caught D’Alessandro and Gale’s attention, so they decided to integrate it into the exhibition. We started working on my writing and it took a long time to write, edit and finish,” he said.

Puerto Rico will have a space in the international exhibition, which recognizes the importance of Puerto Rican surrealist artists and the artistic collective “El Mirador Azul.” Four Puerto Rican artists will exhibit their works together with Eugenio Fernández Granell, Luis Maisonet Crespo, Frances del Valle, Rafael Ferrer and Cossette Zeno.

Throughout this journey, Correa found other local surrealists, such as Roberto Alberti “El Boquio,” José María Lima, Myrna Espada, Juan Cossio, Nydiana Font, Gustavo López, Jorge “Lopito” López, Octavia “Tavin” Maldonado, Miguel Ángel Ríos, Julio Rosado Del Valle, Ernesto Ruiz de la Mata and Víctor Sánchez - candidates to study.

“The New York and London exhibitions will go beyond a surrealist-centric narrative created in Paris, to shed light on the importance and legacy of international surrealism. In doing so, it will offer new perspectives on how surrealism was useful for the free expression of artists in various countries. Puerto Rico will occupy an important place among the countries that are part of this exhibition such as Colombia, Iran, Egypt, Japan, Mexico, Romania, Syria, Thailand and Turkey,” Correa said.

José Correa Vigier with Cossette Zeno’s work, “Steppin Out,” from 2009 >All photos are courtesy

“Ciertas vagas criaturas” by Rafael Ferrer

“Los limones voladores” by Eugenio Fernández Granell

The Rebirth of Puerto Rican Coffee

Harvesting coffee at Hacienda Juanita

Nahira Montcourt nmontcourt@elvocero.com

MARICAO - Crossing the mountains between mist and a few rays of sun, a journey begins that since the beginning of our history has fought for its permanence: the harvest and picking of the precious bean known as coffee. For years, Puerto Rico has positioned itself as one of the countries that has grown the best coffee, in addition to being one of the largest coffee producers in the Americas. Four years after Hurricane Maria in Sept. 2017, Puerto Rico is now celebrating the first great coffee harvest since that destructive event. The number of local coffee farms numbers to more than 2,000 and many coffee plantations in the central mountain area have been renovated, showing the industry’s rebirth. Hacienda Juanita is one of these coffee plantations, with 23 acres of land and 8,000 coffee trees. They are focused on specialty coffee whereby the harvesting, pulping, fermentation, drying and roasting processes are integrated. “Actually, this is going to be the first harvest that we are doing that is 100 percent sustainable. We have made our adjustments and currently, we have new fermentation techniques with which we think and hope to put Puerto Rico on the map,” said Jorge Contreras, owner of Hacienda Juanita. “The labor force is very scarce and it is not very productive. Additionally, this is a kind of employee who requires a lot of supervision. Thank God, we have a small group of human capital who are the ones who really maintain the farm and give their 100 percent,” he added.

Several members of the hacienda’s team of pickers have dedicated their lives to coffee and agriculture. This is the case of Enrique Morales,

The drying process seeks to reduce the water in the coffee beans that have been previously washed and pulped. >All photos by Nahira Montcourt

Enrique Morales has been dedicated to the coffee industry and agriculture for more than eight years. Coffee pulping is the first stage of the wet processing.

who in his more than eight years doing this work, has had the opportunity to work on several farms in Maricao. “Coffee is very important because it is what we drink every morning to recharge our spirits; we need more pickers,” he pointed out.

For his part, Manuel Vega Barrera, said that he has been picking coffee all his life. “Since I can remember, my parents and grandparents taught me to pick coffee beans. Here and there I learned how to pick coffee. I like agriculture, I like the whole process, from picking (the beans), drying, grinding them and then — the best thing — drinking it,” he explained. Hacienda Juanita, founded in 1834, is an agritourism company that combines learning about the coffee industry with tourism, through a hotel with 34 rooms, a restaurant and coffee shop. They also offer nature appreciation tours.

Save the Date for the Latest Wine Dinner Series Event

Catalan flavors to be highlighted at the Condado Vanderbilt Hotel

THE WEEKLY JOURNAL Staff

The Wine Dinner Series of the 1919 Restaurant at the Condado Vanderbilt Hotel is back and will be on Oct. 22. This regularly scheduled event, popular among those with sophisticated palates, will be inspired by the Spanish region of Catalonia.

For the occasion, Juan José Cuevas, executive chef at the Condado Vanderbilt, together with his kitchen team, designed an impeccable tasting menu featuring some of the most emblematic flavors of Catalan cuisine.

The gastronomic journey to Catalonia will begin with a selection of canapés paired with Torello, 225, Brut Nature, Corpinnat, Penedes, Spain, 2016. The first course will be turbot with roasted local peppers, Iberian ham and “jus de piperada,” accompanied by Planets De Nin, Vi Blanc De Varietats Antigues, Priorat, Spain, 2019, followed by grilled lamb with caramelized aubergines, miso and yuzu paired with Planets De Nin, Garnatxes En Amfora, Priorat, Spain, 2019. A first-class cut of venison accompanied by Bomba rice, sofrito, blood sausage and snails will be the third course, served in a pairing with the following wines: vinos NIT De Nin, Porrera, Mas D’En Cacador, Priorat, Spain, 2018 and NIT De Nin Ortiz, Porrera, Coma D’En Romeu, Priorat, Spain, 2018. The finishing touch of the gastronomic evening will be the fourth dish that will feature artisan cheese with tropical fruit jam and criollo bread flavored with bacon; and chocolate with olive oil and Maldon salt, with a glass of Torello, Gran Crisalys, Penedes, Spain, 2018.

The Catalan dinner includes food and wine at a cost of $259 per person, plus tips and taxes. Valet parking is included. For more details, call the 1919 Restaurant at 787-721-5500. Remember that as part of the COVID-19 prevention measures in Puerto Rico, all guests must present upon arrival evidence of their vaccinations or a negative test for COVID-19, and must follow other requirements such as wearing masks indoors.

The 1919 Restaurant is open for dinner, Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. For reservations and additional information, you can also visit: www.1919restaurant.com and https://www.opentable.com/1919- restaurant.

The Condado Vanderbilt Hotel is located at 1055 Ashford Avenue, in the Condado area of San Juan.