Untitled ‘Practical period’ | III Havana Biennale 1989 oil on paper, wood & canvas, wooden structure, 16 x 49 feet. At III Havana Biennale, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana. Pérez Art Museum Miami collection, Miami
… “Glexis Novoa (1964) and Carlos Cárdenas (1963) sarcastically deconstruct official rhetoric in their criticism of political iconography.” … – Edward J. Sullivan
“(…) The work presented at the National Museum during the 3rd Biennial marks the beginning of the so-called ‘practical stage’, in which he transforms himself into a skilled painter in order to ironically expose the mechanisms and inner workings of the art system; his fine “techne” is, in itself, a biting critique. He paints signs bearing slogans that convey nothing—imaginary symbols of his own creation—and manipulates the language of political propaganda (specifically Socialist Realism as an aesthetic ideal in Russia and China) alongside Art Deco figurative elements that can be interpreted as abstract paintings through a recreation evocative of Futurism and Russian Constructivism—such as abstract medallion-style heroes—while also constructing massive altars featuring a complex visual web of ironies and counter-ironies.”
– José Clemente Gascón Martínez, Havana, 2013.