Journey to Havana

The Painting from the Hotel Room in Havana:

A day prior to Ginés's exhibition at The Museum of Casa Las Americas in Havana, Cuba, Cristina Galvez, Director of Museum Rufino Tamayo in Mexico, nearly stepped on one of his paintings lying on the floor waiting to be hung. Immediately drawn to Ginés's work, she sent the Cultural Attache of Mexico in Cuba to find him in his hotel. Upon meeting, Cristina expressed her interest in his art. At that time, Ginés was working on a project aimed at reducing infant mortality rate among Mexican Indians. It was during that time that Cristina and Gines starting their longstanding friendship. She introduced him to Rudfino and Olga Tamayo, Fernando Botero and Kyoshi Takahashi. Journalist Kent Wallace, writing about his Cuban exhibit, says: "My favorite anecdote about Ginés's work: he was in his hotel room in Havana one night, itching to paint. He looked at the a typical hotel painting that hung over his bed. After all it was framed and stretched.Well? Well, Ginés removed the painting from the wall and painted it over with one of his own creations. The following day, the maid noticed the switch. She loved the painting and ran off to bring up the concierge for a look. Needless to say, management loved it so much so that they permanently secured it to the wall, and there it still hangs."