Artist brings Cuban ?avor

Some people cherish their nicknames. Cuban printmaker Eduardo “Choco” Roca Salazar, a current visiting artist at UNC’s art department, didn’t cherish his at first.

“When I was thirteen, one of my peers at school gave me the name ‘chocolate,’ after a boxer named Chocolatico Pérez,” he said.

“I begged people not to call me that, but somehow it stuck.”

He eventually started signing his work under the name Chocolate, later shortening it to Choco.

He added that everyone he knows calls him Choco — even the mailman.

“I would get letters mailed to Eduardo Choco, but the mailman asked, ‘What was your other last name?’ Choco just stuck,” he said.

Salazar’s studio in Havana is considered one of the most important in the world, said Beth Grabowski, art department assistant chairwoman.

He has won Cuban and international awards for his collagraphs — collage-like works in which materials are applied to a wood or cardboard surface.

“I wanted to touch it,” said senior studio art major Kristen Lineberger of his work. “It’s so tactile. It’s got great texture.”

Salazar’s art can be found in museum collections around the world. His two most famous patrons include the artist’s friends Fidel and Raúl Castro.

“My work tends to be about everyday stuff, like the colors you see in Old Havana, the textures you see on the walls and the mood you get when you see them,” he said.

Though not a religious man, he understands religion’s importance to Cubans and uses it in his art.

“In the show, you see a lot of heads that have glowing color, often very regal profiles and gestures,” Grabowski said.

“He’s honoring his people in the way he’s depicting them.”

During a typical day at work, Salazar said he usually gets stressed in the morning and hides in his studio, spending three to four hours working on his craft.

“I have a table that nobody can touch,” he said. “That’s where I stick things, where I sleep, where I dream and where I hone in all of these ideas.”

At UNC, he has taught art students techniques he learned for printing and plate-making.

“It’s nice to see a new artist work, especially in a media that’s not as popular of a concentration on campus,” said junior Natalia Davila, a studio art major.

Salazar said his main goal has been to expose as many people as possible to his work and Cuban culture.

“I just want people all over the world to know about the Cuban people,” he said.

The public is invited to observe Salazar at work from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays through Wednesday at the Hanes Art Center’s John C. Henry Print Studio. His work is also on display on the first floor of the art center.



Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.