New York
TWO EXHIBITIONS HIGHLIGHT LATINX ARTISTS’ ABSTRACT APPROACH
Two groundbreaking exhibitions currently on view in New York assert the enduring legacy of abstraction among Latinx artists: “Latinx Abstract” at BRIC, curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, and “XX”, at the Manhattan-based LatchKey Gallery. Both exhibitions emphasize, on the one hand, a desire to push against limitations and stereotypical expectations imposed upon Latinx artists, and on the other, the need to reassess the scope and history of abstract art itself.
GUADALUPE MARAVILLA: SEVEN ANCESTRAL STOMACHS
Reflecting upon his own battle with cancer, which began in his gut, as well as that of members of his family, Maravilla examines how genetic trauma manifests in the body over generations. Throughout the many teachings Maravilla experienced in his healing process, one notion kept returning –if one cleanses properly, they will heal seven generations back and seven generations forward.
DE POR VIDA
«De Por Vida» [For Life] brings together thirteen artists whose works portray cycles of life, death and legacy. The exhibition at Company (New York) presents Latinx artists Alina Perez, Bony Ramirez, Diana Sofia Lozano, Felipe Baeza, Frieda Toranzo Jaeger, José De Jesus Rodriguez, Oscar Nñ, Raúl de Nieves, Rose Salane, Ruben Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, Sanchez Kane, Sergio Miguel, and Troy Michie.
TALLER BORICUA: A POLITICAL PRINT SHOP IN NEW YORK
In celebration of Taller Boricua’s 50th anniversary, El Museo del Barrio presents «Taller Boricua: A Political Print Shop in New York», the first monograph exhibition in three decades about the East Harlem-based Nuyorican collective workshop and alternative space. Curated by Rodrigo Moura, the exhibition is comprised of more than 200 works and ephemera, including serigraphs, lithographs, linocuts, paintings, assemblages, collages, and drawings by founding and early members.
HULDA GUZMÁN: MY FLORA, MY FAUNA
The works in «Hulda Guzmán: my flora, my fauna» reveal an artist in exuberant introspection and exploration of reality and perspective through her distinct iconography —informed by her imagination and the flora and fauna in her surroundings within the Dominican Republic. Guzmán renders a world in which children, adults, animals, plants, and invented creatures alike come together to dance, lounge, congregate, share secrets, and play —all colored and enriched by embracing nature and celebrated through the act of painting.
TISHAN HSU: LIQUID CIRCUIT
In the mid-1980s Tishan Hsu (b. 1951, Boston) began a series of works that considered the implications of the accelerated use of technology and artificial intelligence and their impact on the body and human condition. His prescient artistic practice has been probing the cognitive as well as physical effects of transformative technological advances on our lives. An artist-intellectual ahead of his time, Hsu worked quietly for many years, largely overlooked or forgotten by the art world –until now.
GINA BEAVERS: WORLD WAR ME
Drawing on images taken from Instagram, YouTube, image databases, and other online sources, Gina Beavers creates thick, tactile paintings that capture, in deeply visceral ways, the curated and often superficial nature of our digital lives. Her recent series of sculptural paintings are based on body painting, social media snapshots of food, make-up tutorials, memes, and bodybuilder selfies.
LAIA ABRIL: ON ABORTION
The Museum of Sex in New York presents «On Abortion: And the Repercussions of Lack of Access», Laia Abril’s first-ever solo show in the US, displaying her career-long research exploring the debate over abortion restriction worldwide. In Abril’s words, abortion has become “a political matter, rather than a question of rights.”
ECOFEMINISM(S)
Ecofeminism is grounded in spiritual feminism, which insists that everything is connected –that nature does not discriminate between soul and matter. This exhibition presents some of the strategies of ecofeminist art, by its pioneers as well as the youngest generation of artists. It also provokes the question: if the ecofeminist art of the 1970s and 1980s was largely defined by Goddess art, ritual performances, anti-nuclear work, and feminist land art, what makes female environmental artists working today ecofeminists?
LOIE HOLLOWELL: GOING SOFT
Loie Hollowell’s pastel drawings for «Going Soft» explore the physical and psychological experiences of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Serving as abstracted self-portraits, each drawing reveals the artist’s interior psyche at the time of the work’s creation. Her online exhibition is at Pace Gallery (New York).