14ymedio, Clara Riveros, Miami, 4 February 2024 — The Intercontinental hotel in Miami opened its doors during January to welcome Anabel Ruiz as a visiting artist. Ruiz, of Cuban origin, exhibited her collection De ella Reinas de ébano (Ebony Queens), in tribute to the women she met in Havana and who marked the first stage of her childhood. A well-executed exhibition that reflects the femininity, delicacy, neatness and care of the artist. In conversation with 14ymedio, Ruiz spoke about art and politics, but also about religion, love, sexuality, gender and biology and the destinies and experiences that have shaped her character and outlined her life path.
The work of ARuiz (as she signs her artworks) is a creative process that gives an account of life, humanity and its faces, multiplicity, diverse individualities, as her paintings attest. The artist focuses on facial expressions, very vivid and colorful, and what is conveyed by the looks of those women who do not go unnoticed.
The painter is preparing a new exhibition for the end of 2024, dedicated to a group of notable artists of the 20th century and their self-perceptions, she concerns herself with their representations. Anabel paints, but her passion and commitment has been collage, her obsession is working with paper.
The artist bets on facial expressions, very vivid and colorful, and what is transmitted by the looks of those women who do not go unnoticed
She carries Havana in her veins, in her blood and in those childhood memories, crossed by the experience of those first years under a totalitarian system where many normal and everyday things for her were part of those fantastic stories that her mother read to her. Madrid holds a special place in her heart, she arrived there with her family when she was nine years old, in 1983.
Her education and training were religious, influenced at school and at home, which helps to understand the reason for her later decisions. When she was a teenager, her family moved to Miami, where she finished high school and studied Business Administration, although her inclination and vocation since she could remember was art.
Upon completing her studies, with more doubts than answers, she opted for religious life, became a nun and entered a community here in Miami. She later changed congregations and countries, moving to Portugal where she stayed for three years. In those ups and downs of her life love presented itself to her as that kind of quicksand that destabilized all of her structures.
After nine years of religious life and committed to her vows of chastity, obedience and poverty, she hung up her habits.
She left Portugal and returned to Miami with the idea of spending more time with her parents and dedicating herself to art and her individual interests.
The artist recognizes the importance of political representation for the gay community of which she is a part. However, when consulted, she admits that her opinions are divided around the transsexual issue and the gender agenda. Rights and freedoms are not synonymous with defiance of biology.
Those interested in getting to know the artist and her work can visit “Anabel Ruiz” Art Studio any afternoon, located in the sector known as “the Bird Rd. Arts District,” 4257 SW 72nd in Miami. The ART inscription, logo and registered trademark will be found on the door.
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