This installation is based on extensive research in Havana and in the US National Archives, where a 1953 State Department inspector’s report was discovered that recommends the removal of the new US embassy’s balcony. It was feared that the balcony’s “Mussolini-style” appearance would make it a symbol of US imperialism. The balcony form, broken into modules, us used in a series of sculptures made of steel and woven vegetable matter and the research is worked into a series of collages that show how both the function and meaning of the Havana embassy building has been altered by the US and Cuban governments since the Cuban revolution.

Documentation:
Installations at Simon Preston Gallery, New York; LABOR, Mexico City; XIII Bienal de la Habana, Havana, Cuba

Havana Case Study (Version I)
Terence Gower, 2016 and 2019
Simon Preston Gallery, New York, 2016
LABOR, Mexico City, 2018

Balcony (sculpture): Acid-etched rebar, 775 x 139.7 x 149.86 cm

Modules (sculptures): Painted steel, wicker, 77.5 x 70 x 75 cm each

Political Services (6 collages): Digital photographs, ink, 86.36 x 60.96 cm each

Balcony Studies (2 drawings, LABOR Installation): Ink on velum and collage and graphite on paper, 50 x 40 cm each

Review: Art in America

Interview: Terremoto