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Manuel Mendive (b. 1944)
Olofi Owner of the Landscape
(Olofi, Dueño del Paisaje), 1994
oil on canvas
46 x 74 ¼ inches

SOLD

Illustrated in IMPORTANT CUBAN ARTWORKS, Volume Twenty, page 113.

Exhibited in MENDIVE, Carin Arte, Thiene, Italy, 1997.

Exhibited in MENDIVE, Joan Guaita Art Gallery,
Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1997.

Exhibited in MENDIVE, Galerie Le Monde de L’Art,
Paris, France, 1997.

Illustrated in the corresponding three-exhibition
catalog, MENDIVE, Dr. Guillermina Ramos Cruz and
Juan Delgado, M&G, non-numbered page, 1997.

A sister painting by the artist, Olofi and the World,
executed in the same year and the same medium,
technique, and dimensions, is in the permanent
collection of the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

The peaceful scene in Olofi, Owner of the Landscape, depicts divine
spirits roaming alongside believers in a lush Eden. Within the work,
all energies are shared – a man nourishes a ceiba tree, just as
the garden nourishes the man. Everything is magical, sincere,
alive and in harmony. Olofi is an honorific title of Olodumare,
the Supreme creator God of the Yoruba pantheon.
For the Cuban Yoruba, Olodumare has three manifestations,
each syncretized with Catholic beliefs: Olodumare is the divine
essence, (the Father); Olorun is the creative act,(the Son);
and Olofi is the creation itself, a conduit between heaven
and earth, (the Holy Spirit). The devout praise Olofi by respecting
the earth – he has no temples in his honor, nor does he have
consecrated priests. The work is part of an informal series
executed by Manuel Mendive during the 1990’s in honor of Olofi.

NICO HOUGH

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