“A spilled cup of coffee leads Cuban artist to paint in java”
Reynier Llanes of Naples came across the discovery in his
native Cuba
Written by
Marlene Graham
Special to Coastal Life
Apr 12, 2013
Artists use a lot of media when it comes to expressing themselves, but one you
probably haven’t thought about: espresso for expression.
Artist Reynier Llanes says he has tried out other Cuban versions of the beverage such
as the “cortadito” – which literally mean “cutting” (corta) steamed milk into espresso. Not
so good for painting, he says; neither is Cuban coffee with sugar.
“I thought I would like the idea of sugar crystals on paper, but that didn’t work out so
good,” he says with a laugh. So for now he is just going to stick to the good old strong
stuff.
So how does one come up with the idea of painting with coffee? Much the same way
many of us have painted our important office paperwork early in the a.m. when a swift
movement of the hand has created a near desk-ward catastrophe.
In Llanes’ case, while indulging in the traditional morning activity of Cuba – gathering
around a cup of coffee with friends and family to discuss the day’s activities — he
spilled coffee onto one of his drawings. Instead of panicking to soak up the errant liquid,
he let the drops dry naturally. The graduated results proved interesting, as did the rich
sienna coloring.
With art supplies in “short supply” in his poor Cuban town of Pinar del Rio, he had a
revelation. “Why not use this as an opportunity? Yes I can use this. Not a range of
colors, but why not use coffee as my fine art?”
Though now only 27, the handsome young artist’s fine arts dream was coupled with
another dream; that of living in America. It wouldn’t be easy, he knew, and in a scale
most of us may never be able to understand he went to the mat to walk the soil we take
for granted.
Not once, not twice, but four times he tried to escape. One time after hiding in the
woods for two days, the escape boat never arrived and he emerged with a heavy
growth of facial hair and a multitude of mosquito bites everywhere on his body. Two
other times, he did manage to jump a boat – the first time with some 20 other people –
but they were caught and thrown in jail. The second time with nearly the same result,
except that “there were so many people, I couldn’t count them and there wasn’t room in
the jail, so they let me go with a warning.”
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“I was really depressed,” he says, “especially after the time in the woods being bitten by
mosquitoes. I thought I would never make it to the United States.”
They say three times is the charm, but for Llanes, four was the magic number. And
even that episode turned out to be frightening and life-threatening. “I was in a motorboat
for 24 hours,” he says, “fighting waves. We were going to go to Tampa, but a storm
came up and the waves were too big …”
Fearing they might drown, they risked a landing in Key West which is always on high
alert for Cuban refugees. Apparently the rule is, if caught in the water, even 2 inches of
water, no matter their situation, they are deported. If they make it to dry land, they earn
an immigration review. In Llanes’ case that meant America at last. And the next day
friends from Lehigh Acres drove to the Keys to pick him up.
He stayed with them two months to get his bearings; then spread his wings opening a
studio/gallery in Tin City with the help of a friend from Cape Coral. “I just thought Naples
was so wonderful.”
Unfortunately the economic timing wasn’t so good, so while researching local art in the
community, he met his mentor Jonathan Green – then a decades-long local artist known
for cultural art from South America, Africa and the Caribbean. When Llanes closed his
studio he went to work for Green who ultimately made a move to the Charleston, S.C.,
area (Daniel Island).
And though Charleston is now Llanes’ artistic home, he maintains ties to collectors and
galleries in Naples, which explains his current exhibit at the Naples Depot, where
whimsical brown art weaves together coffee-related icons; scenes of agrarian life in
Cuba; earlier eras of America; and the mystical Santeria religion (west African Yoruba
religion with influences of Catholicism).
Entitled “The Spirit of the Coffee Bean,” the exhibit is in itself a full-circle story. Once in
America, Llanes abandoned his “coffee paintings,” which he viewed as “art by
necessity.” With oils and canvas easily obtainable, he went traditional.
Then one morning in his Charleston kitchen he smelled the coffee brewing and was
suddenly taken back to his days in Pinar del Rio. He remembered how coffee was so
entrenched in the culture and how it would “enhance a game of dominoes or the
enjoyment of a cigar after a great meal.” He remembered “the rich steam aroma of
freshly brewed and strained coffee prepared by his mother at the beginning of each
day” and the comfort that it brought to a life of poverty and hardship.
Suddenly his “coffee paintings” came back into focus.
“Some of my collectors came to my studio and they were fascinated by the color, like
old sepia photographs. I kept telling them, this isn’t paint. This is really coffee and they
were surprised; and it pushed me to get back to more of this rare painting.”
Enthusiastically he began promoting his art online and showing it around, which took
him to Myrtle Beach’s Franklin G. Burroughs – Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum in 2010.
“That was my first major coffee arts show,” he says with pride.
Though he does call his collection “The Spirit of the Coffee Bean,” if you could smell his
paintings, they might be more appropriately titled the “Scent of the Coffee Bean.”
“My paintings in the exhibit are probably 90% coffee,” he says, “though I think on three
of them I did use some watercolors.”
To learn more about Reynier Llanes check out his website at www.ReynierLlanes.com.
The Naples Depot is located at 1051 Fifth Ave. South. For information you may call 2626525.
Marlene Graham is a noted journalist and longtime freelance writer with credits including
Ladies’ Home Journal, Seventeen magazine and the Kansas City Star. Currently she is
the owner of Tropics Real Estate, 539 Fifth Ave. S. in Naples. If you have suggestions for
her ART beat, you may contact her at [email protected].
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