Artbeat

“Reconstructing a Family Portrait”: Elizabeth Cerejido’s exhibit is a poignant narrative of political exile, love, and loss. The setting is Cuba in 1970, a year of political turmoil. People leave by the thousands. One family splits apart, the mother and her young daughter traveling to Florida while the father stays behind. The understanding is that they will meet in a few weeks. But fate has it another way. The exhibit begins with 26 de junio, 1971, a color photo of an envelope written that year, its postage-stamp image clearly indicating the radical political context of the moment. Then viewers see two photographs of the father’s letters — one right after the separation and one just before the family reunion. A neat touch is that Cerejido gives his letters a voice, which we hear from the recording of a male voice-over projected into the gallery space. — Alfredo Triff (Through April 16 at the Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, 3550 N. Miami Ave., Miami, 305-573-2700.)