Art Direction: A specialty sunk into oblivion. About Memories and More
An Art Director’s Memories (Ediciones ICAIC label) collects Pedro García Espinosa’s experiences throughout his career
By Rubén Ricardo Infante
Art direction is one of the specialties with less recognition among the audiovisual production. However, it is one of the most important in the coherent creation of speech-related images, which is, finally, a film.
The attempt to give it its due can be one of the purposes of the book Memorias de un director de arte (An Art Director’s Memories), with which artist Pedro García Espinosa reveals his experience based on the contribution to audiovisual production from this specialty.
The book about the life of an indispensable creator, published by Ediciones ICAIC label, is made up by different texts which contribute to the shaping of a description about this specialty and its link with the final product. An introductory text by Luciano Castillo “Pedro García Espinosa: The leading role of the stage” depicts him as one of the anonymous heroes in the Cuban film history managed by the Cuban Industry of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), of which he has been one of the main promoters.
These pages include his own opinion about art direction, the main aspects of consideration: the shows, the use of light, the storyboard, the knowledge about general culture and especially the cinematographic studios, with these elements, alongside personal creativity, good taste and constant dedication to study, with which an art director can be shaped.
Another complexity of this specialty is that it is not formally studied at school, but it is exercised by those trained in art history, design, or the closest, stage design which are taught at Cuba’s University of Arts.
As part of the selection are the “Autobiographical notes and some reflections”, with the description of his younger years, his approach to the cinema industry and opinions about production and the signification of this one for the culture of a country.
The “Cinematographic memories” are made up from experiences and his contribution to films like: El Mégano (Julio García Espinosa, 1955), La ciociara (Vittorio de Sica, 1960), El joven rebelde The young rebel (Julio García Espinosa, 1961), Realengo 18 (Oscar Torres, 1961), Las doce sillas Twelve Chairs (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1962), Crónica cubana Cuban Chronicle (Ugo Ulive, 1963), El otro Cristóbal (Armand Gatti, 1963), En días como estos On days like these ones (Jorge Fraga, 1964), El bautizo the baptism (Roberto Fandiño, 1967), Aventuras de Juan Quin Quin Juan Quin Quin Adventures (Julio García Espinosa, 1967), Lucía (Humberto Solás, 1968), Los días del agua Days of Water(Manuel Octavio Gómez, 1971), Una pelea cubana contra las demonios A Cuban fight against Demons (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1971), Girón (Manuel Herrera, 1972), Mella (Enrique Pineda Barnet, 1975), El recurso del método the Resource of Method (Miguel Littín, 1978), Cecilia (Humberto Solás, 1981), Amada (Humberto Solás), Cubagua (Michael New, 1986), Baraguá (José Massip, 1986), Otra mujer Another Woman (Daniel Díaz Torres, 1986), Vals de la Habana Vieja (Luis Felipe Bernaza, 1988), Reina y Rey Queen and King (Julio García Espinosa, 1994), Lealtad a su tiempo Loyalty to his Time(Pedro García Espinosa, 2003), Octavio Cortázar, un cineasta con luz propia Octavio Cortázar, a filmmaker with his own light (Humberto Solás and Pedro García Espinosa, 2013).
The book concludes with pages whose aim is to show his “Reminiscences” of all these years; together with a necessary “Acknowledgement”, and in the appendix section there is a list of films in which he has performed other functions within art direction and production in general. Accompanied by sketches and photographs allowing the visualization of his contact with figures like Fernando Birri, Miguel Littín, Alejo Carpentier and others.
In addition to plastic art Pedro García Espinosa has worked as an art director for over sixty years at ICAIC, institution he co-founded. Graduated at San Alejandro, he also studied at the Experimental Center of Cinematography of Rome and at the Higher Institute of Cinematographic Studies of Paris and he holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History.
Translated by ESTI