A talented artist’s journey from atheist misery to joy in the Faith, and the discovery of his personal vocation,
When my wife Margarita and I checked into the Orthodox Academy of Crete this past August for an iconography workshop taught by Greek master iconographer George Kordis of Writing-the-Light (a full training in iconography offering classes in the US and Europe), Margarita noticed on the list the name of an art student from Havana, José Garcia Cortés. Margarita is Cuban American; her mother came to the United States as a young woman over 60 years ago, so she immediately noticed José’s name. The address José gave was just a few blocks from her mother’s family home. She quickly connected with this young man, whom George described to us as the ‘best iconographer in Latin America’, and wrote about him and his story in detail here in her Substack, The Graced Imagination.
I am delighted to present works by José, still not yet 30. This wonderful painting of the Hospitality of Abraham hangs in our own home in Princeton, New Jersey!
In brief, his remarkable story is as follows:
He was born in 1997 into a family that was totally separated from the Faith, and which subscribed to the state ‘religion’ of Marxist-inspired atheist materialism. At 16, he faced a total life crisis – he had no purpose in life or even any dreams and was morbidly depressed. By chance, he entered San Juan de Letrán Catholic Church in El Vedado (run by Dominican Friars) and, through contact with them, converted and was received into the Church. His atheist parents, who might have ordinarily opposed such a move, supported his conversion because they saw how he was transformed and how much happier he became. As he put it, “I knew nothing about Catholicism, but I knew that I, alone, could never make myself happy. I had a hunger for God I just can’t explain.”
With the encouragement of those in the Church both inside and outside Cuba, he applied his natural talent and interest in beautiful art to the creation of sacred art. He has since attended workshops in Europe and taken commissions both inside and outside Cuba. Most recently, he has been studying under George.
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José García Cortés, Our Lady of Charity. Catedral Ortodoxa Rusa Nuestra Señora de Kazán, Havana
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| The Early Life of the Theotokos |
His dream is to remain in his home country and draw Cuban youth to the Faith through his art. “So many young people have stopped dreaming. They need community. They need inspiration. They need God.”
Commission work from José: I encourage people here to consider commissioning work from this talented artist so that it will grace more homes and churches and further his mission! For details on how to do so, please visit my wife Margarita’s Substack,
The Graced Imagination, here.
Here is a poster of a recent exhibition of his work, featuring his St Joseph with the Child Jesus.
