Mario Mesa arrived in the United States from Cuba, where he had been a political prisoner, in 1980 during the Mariel Boatlift, following Castro’s release of inmates of prisons and mental institutions.  Like so many other “outsider artists,” Mesa began painting as an outlet to help him deal with the difficulties of life.  In Mesa’s case, he turned to art after being hospitalized for a nervous breakdown.  “When I got sick I lived in the streets.  I had always been very neat and clean, but everything changed.  When I got better I had to help myself.  I started painting to give something back.  Thanks to painting I got better.”  Mesa’s paintings reflect the tropical colors of his native Cuba and often feature animals, as in “Rooster.”