Luis Cruz Azaceta (Cuban/American, b. 1942) , "Road to Ricovery[sic]", 2010, mixed media, signed, titled and dated in shoe, h. 72 in., w. 11 1/4 in., d. 4 in . Provenance: Commissioned from the artist; Collection of Noted Preservationist and Aesthete Dorian M. Bennett, New Orleans. Note: Luis Cruz Azaceta was born in Havana and escaped to the United States at the age of eighteen, settling in first New York and then New Orleans where he lives and works today. Azaceta has described his initial desire to create art as a need “to communicate [his] experiences as a Cuban in New York.” Themes in his work since the late 1970s address immigration, gun violence, oppression, displacement, social isolation and racial injustice through the lens of his own personal narrative. Azaceta's artistic style has evolved throughout the course of his career from abstraction to neo-expressionism to pop and back again, while the concept of confronting the reality and morality of the global condition takes center stage. The most symbolic subjects of his work, such as labyrinths, tormented figures, walls and balseros journeying through the turbulent ocean continue to be relevant to today’s issues of border politics and immigration. Azaceta often combines media in unexpected ways that illicit an emotional response from his viewer, a technique which is perfectly showcased in the work offered here. A pair of hand-decorated shoes are positioned pointing in opposite directions on a board and placed across from each other on either side of a white line. The line, which in this context evokes the concept of a border or perhaps a solid white road line, acts to highlight the senseless separation of the pair and indicates that neither can transgress onto the other side. "Road to Ricovery[sic]" was created as part of a series of works by over eighty artists who incorporated TOMS shoes into pieces auctioned to benefit the Tropical Health Alliance Foundation. Participating artists included Gene Koss, Jacqueline Bishop, Raine Bedsole and Karoline Schleh, among many others. Ref.: "Bio." Luis Cruz Azaceta. www.luiscruzazaceta-art.com. Accessed Aug. 2, 2020. "Luis Cruz Azaceta." George Adams Gallery. www.georgeadamsgallery.com. Accessed Aug. 2, 2020