Art Book "Hybrid of a Chrysler. A Provocation to Fly"
A Work of Art by Esterio Segura
Published by The Cuban Arts Group & ESTERIOSTUDIO
​​Each volume includes a signed and numbered original drawing:
Hybrid of a Chrysler. Infinite Flight, 2021
Mixed media on cardboard. 11 x 11 1⁄2 in.
Limited edition
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IIntroduction
Credits
Table of Contents
Gallery
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This publication was conceived as an art book in a limited edition, each copy signed and numbered by the artist and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. It is housed in a 29 x 30 cm black cloth-covered box with silver-stamped lettering on the cover, featuring a recessed niche and pull ribbon for the book, as well as an interior support to hold an original drawing by the artist. Overall, it is designed as an object that evokes the elegance and subtlety of the sculptural lines of a 1953–54 Chrysler limousine.
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In terms of content, the book is structured into four sections that follow Esterio Segura’s ongoing lines of research on travel, machinery, and hybrids. Each section traces in detail the various journeys of the sculpture, unfolding like a road movie or travel log.
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The first section opens with a timeline summarizing the work’s participation—or inability to participate—in various events, as well as the technical transformations the piece has undergone over the years. This is followed by an interview with the artist and an analysis of the project No todo lo que vuela se come, the series to which the work belongs. The section then addresses the origin of the piece, its first exhibition in Havana, and the beginning of its travels.
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The second section introduces a new version of the work, referred to by the artist as the “version with passport,” and recounts the journeys that Hybrid of a Chrysler made from 2015 to 2019 to the Tampa Museum of Art, the Venice Biennale, the Kennedy Center, and the Cade Museum.
The third section brings together two critical texts: one offers a brief overview of Hybrid of a Chrysler’s graphic work, and the other is an essay on the impulse and possibility of travel in Esterio Segura’s practice, visually referencing numerous related works.
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The volume concludes with a reference section including the artist’s curriculum vitae, brief statements on The Cuban Arts Group and ESTERIOSTUDIO, photographic credits, and acknowledgments. Across its four sections, the publication places a strong emphasis on the visual, creating a dynamic dialogue between text and image that enhances the reader’s experience.
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Hybrid of a Chrysler. A Provocation to Fly
By Gabriela Azcuy​
“Hybrid of a Chrysler” is a peculiar traveler. This hybrid of a vintage limousine with the wings of an airplane has had many adventures and exploits. All in the name of travel, it has changed its body, remade its wings, and been made into paintings, drawings, prints and photographs.
Esterio Segura created this sculpture installation in 2003 ô€„½ô€„»ô€„»ô€„¾ and at times it may seem that the work is his alter ego. The most complex and absurd difficulties have not been able to stop the traveling performance of “Hybrid…” –no matter the circumstances, it has found the way forward. The sculpture is in continual transformation and adaptation, always ready to dialogue with the diverse public and places where it lands, despite its supposed inability to fly. Like all art, it evokes many readings, but one seems consistent: “everything is possible.”
This catalog narrates the adventures of the sculpture from its creation until now. The story of the work is constructed through a discourse that weaves together dissimilar points of view from across a spectrum of perspectives. This attempt to recognize the work as a phenomenon of communication across countless and diverse distances, both physical and perceived, is expressed in a neutral journalistic voice enhanced by three subjective perspectives: the artist’s voice, the specialized critics’ opinions, and the viewer’s gaze. The book is structured in sections that guide the reader through the origins of Esterio’s investigations into travel, machines and hybrids; then, like a roadtrip movie, travels to all the places the work has visited.
With the publication of this first catalogue book, Esterio is celebrating his fifty years of life. Conceived as an extension of the work itself, the book is a limited edition that includes an original and signed drawing by the artist. The drawing is independent of the book, allowing “Hybrid of a Chrysler” to once more be experienced from another platform, thus further multiplying the work’s travels and meanings.
“Hybrid of a Chrysler's” travels are not over yet as reflected by the catalog itself which offers no conclusions. Through its narration, it extends an invitation to enjoy a work that reflects the eternal relationship between humans and travel, a provocation to fly.
Credits
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EDITORIAL DIRECTOR / CONCEPTO EDITORIAL
Gabriela Azcuy
EDITED BY / EDICIÓN
Gabriela Rey
TEXTS BY / TEXTOS
Gabriela Azcuy, David Horta, Gabriela Rey, Esterio Segura
PROOF-READING / CORRECCIÓN
English (inglés): Noel Smith
Spanish (español): Gabriela Rey
ENGLISH TRANSLATION / TRADUCCIÓN AL INGLÉS
Noel Smith
GRAPHIC DESIGN / DISEÑO
Dieiker Bernal, Anabel Medina
CONSULTANTS / CONSULTANTES
Anne Gilroy, Lucía González Makowski, Joanna Robotham
SPECIAL COLLABORATORS / COLABORADORES ESPECIALES
Esterio Segura, Susie Rice, Mitchell Rice
PRODUCED BY / PRODUCCIÓN
The Cuban Arts Group, ESTERIOSTUDIO
Table of Contents
Hybrid of a Chrysler. A Provocation to Fly
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I
Notes on a Journey
Interview with Esterio Segura
Hybrid of a Chrysler and Not Everything that Flies Can Be Eaten
Everyone Wanted to Fly. Hybrid of a Chrysler at the ô€…ƒ8th Havana Biennial and Other Adventures
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II
Version with Passport
Complicated Beauty. Hybrid of a Chrysler at the Tampa Museum of Art
Times of Intuition. Hybrid of a Chrysler at the 57ô€…€ô€…‚th Venice Biennale
From the Island to the World. Hybrid of a Chrysler at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Cuban Ingenuity. Hybrid of a Chrysler at Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention
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III
The Light Will Remain. Hybrid of a Chrysler in the Graphic Works of Esterio Segura
Impulse and Possibility of Travel in the Work of Esterio Segura
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IV
Esterio Segura
The Cuban Arts Group / ESTERIOSTUDIO
Photo Credits
Acknowledgments
Magical Deserts
Morocco
4/11-5/12
$600
Exotic Urbanism
Brazil
4/11-5/12
$600
Misty Mountains
Scotland
4/11-5/12
$600
Magical Deserts
Morocco
4/11-5/12
$600
Exotic Urbanism
Brazil
4/11-5/12
$600
Misty Mountains
Scotland
4/11-5/12
$600
