Peace theme unites U.S., Cuban artists

U.S. restrictions prohibit many Americans from traveling to Cuba as tourists, but art fans will have the chance to go there -- virtually -- Friday night. That’s when the epOxybOx Gallery in Venice will host a live, online feed from Havana, allowing gallery visitors to interact with some of the participating artists in “Shared Dreams 2005” -- a graphic art show featuring the collaborative works of American and Cuban artists.

Earlier this year, six Cubans and six Americans were put together in an online forum and asked to discuss the theme “Dreams of Peace.” Each of the 12 artists then developed a piece based on that idea, and the resulting work was shown in June at the International Digital Design Exhibit in Havana.

Artists from around the world have been participating in the annual graphic design conference, which has been staged for the last seven years in Cuba. The United States started taking part in 2004, when “Shared Dreams” co-producer Larry Richard came up with the idea of involving American artists via the Internet.

“My idea was to take what was a collaboration online and a physical show in Havana and bring it back to the U.S.,” Richard said of the exhibition, which will move to San Francisco, Miami and New York early next year.

In all, there are 22 original pieces in the show -- 10 from last year’s Cuban-American collaboration and 12 from 2005. Though none of the art is available for sale due to the U.S. embargo of Cuban products, commemorative posters from each year’s collaboration will be sold, with the profits going to two nonprofit groups -- the Cuban Artist Fund and the New York Foundation for the Arts.

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-- Susan Carpenter

“Shared Dreams 2005,” epOxybOx Gallery, 602 Venice Blvd., Venice. Simulcast with Cuban artists, 7 to 11 p.m. Friday; exhibition, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Tuesday through next Thursday. Free. (310) 862-4242, www.shared-dreams2005.com