photo: courtesy of Allison Hill and Pablo Perea.
Their story is a romantic one, as seems befitting of two painters. After graduating from
DePaul University in 1999 with a B.F.A. in art, Allison Hill became the Director of
Havana Gallery. For years she worked with the paintings of Pablo Perea, an abstract artist still living in Cuba, and became fascinated by his art. When the two met, they instantly fell in love, soon married, and now live together in Chicago where together they champion Cuban art and culture.
An accomplished painter in her own right, Allison's solo show of self-portraits, "Unveiled," lightens La Llorona Gallery through November. Last week I had a conversation with the couple at Havana Gallery, on what happened to be their third wedding anniversary, just before they headed to Scoozi! for an Italian dinner.
It's such a romantic story, the two of you as being married painters who inspire each other.
Allison: Just like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera! [To Pablo] You're like Diego.
Allison, how has Pablo influenced you as a painter?
I sold Pablo's paintings here at the gallery before I met him and they always seemed so complex. [Turning to Pablo] Now I start out like you, with a few layers of freedom before I get into the detail.
Do you two paint together? Do you share a studio?
Allison: No. We thought it might work out that way. But we have our spaces for painting. I paint at home and Pablo paints here in a studio in the basement.
Pablo: At home what's supposed to be a big dining room is Allison's studio.
Tell me what your paintings are about.
Allison: There are aspects of my personality in each one. Ideas come pretty easily to me. But I have to like the idea enough to make a painting out of it. Each piece takes a long time… I work in such detail. A hand will take about a day and a half. When I'm also working at the gallery, it takes about a month for me to get a painting done.
On behalf of Havana Gallery, you travel to Cuba to collect artwork and bring it back. How do you find the artists there?
Allison: We get a lot of emails. If I like their work I go to visit their studios when I go to Cuba. Like this artist over here [points to a painting of a woman with a bird's nest for a hat], she just emailed us, and now she's going to have a solo show here next year.
What's the story behind the woman's face that appears in Pablo's paintings? Is it you, Allison?
Allison: It's actually Pablo's face. Since it's hard to get people to commit to modeling and they cancel all the time, he decided one day to look at himself in the mirror and do some self-portraits, softening the lines to be more like a woman's.
Pablo: These paintings that are up now are from a show I had here two years ago "Far from Them." We were really pissed in the summer of 2004 when President Bush signed a new regulation that allows Cubans and Cuban American can only go home every three years for two weeks. Half of the show was about my family in Cuba, the other half [point to a painting with a portrait of Allison in the middle of a sea of his signature faces] of the show was of my new family here with Allison.
Allison: I'm lucky that I've been to Cuba and been able to meet his family...Pablo's got a nephew there that he's never met.
Pablo: I'm the lucky one. I am here, I can love you and be married to you. How many thousands of Cubans are trying to emigrate in a raft or a boat? I'm the lucky one.
Pablo, tell me about being an artist in Cuba.
Pablo: It's hard to be an artist in Cuba because everybody is an artist. Everybody paints, everybody dances and everybody is a musician. Everyone does something about creation the heart there is beating. But I had to be a painter. It's part of who I am.
For the best Cuban food in Chicago you two go to...
Pablo: If you want to eat your mom's cooking in Cuba, Cafeteria y Restaurante De Pancho. It's authentic, big time! If you want to have fun and party like Cubans do go to Cafe Bolero. Tuesday nights are the night to go. We should all go next Tuesday night!
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