New Viewings #31
Curated by Ana Sokoloff and Catalina Acosta-Carrizosa
Barbara’s invitation to participate in the New Viewings program directed us towards addressing the virtual world’s power of acting as a fertile ground for cultural exchange and collaboration. Taking advantage of the ability of reaching a wide—yet specialized—public through this platform, we thought of showcasing the production of four artists of different generations and from different corners of Latin America. In dialogue with the gallery´s existing program, our selection aims to illustrate distinct artistic currents that address issues of ethnicity, gender and equality emanating from the region.
Noe Martinez
Noe Martinez, *in 1986 in Michoacán, Mexico,
lives and works in Mexico City
Delving deeper into his own ethnicity and the effects of colonization, Noe Martínez’s work brings forth the suffering and trauma left behind by the Spanish enslavement to the Huastecas—a group of indigenous people, descendants from the Maya and living along the Gulf of Mexico.
For the current viewing, Martínez presents a series of assembled bulks composed of text, rawhide, textiles and natural pigments. These elements, drawn from his own ancestry and research, are embedded to reference the trades that his people have historically produced for the benefit of the other. They work as a metaphor and homage to the resilience of the Huastecas as they continue to fight exploitation and oppression today.
Quisqueya Henriquez
Quisqueya Henriquez, *1966 in Havanna, Kuba,
lives and works in the Dominican Republic
Quisqueya Henriquez presents an installation that explores the fragile ecosystem of her home garden in the Dominican Republic.
While in the past her work has concentrated in raising questions about the Caribbean stereotypes, and the region´s relation to other parts of the world, this specific project is the result of working under confinement and reconsidering her garden as her new universe. The works in the show depict enlarged illustrations of insects commonly found living in and off the plants in her garden, and identifies and classifies the color palette of the Dracaena Colorama, a common plant found all over tropical Latin America. In doing so, she embraces some of the preconceived stereotypes about the Caribbean she had critiqued before to further question her understanding of her immediate habitat.
Arnaldo de Melo
Arnaldo de Melo, *1960 in Brazil,
lives and works in São Paulo
Arnaldo de Melo is a self-taught abstract expressionist artist who has also worked in theater and performance.
The works on view are an homage to Karl-Horst Hödicke, German abstract expressionist under whom De Melo studied while living in Berlin in the late 80s. De Melo, a devoted expressionist, further pushes his practice by inserting his work in found images of famous spaces. An act that seems to precede the virtual reality situations that are becoming commonplace in our daily lives.
Wynnie Mynerva
Wynnie Mynerva, *in 1993, Lima, Peru,
lives and works in Lima
Through colorful paintings of nudes entangled in sexual acts, Wynnie Mynerva explores the taboos behind pleasure and gender roles during sex.
Mynerva’s work derives from her own exploration and her research on sexual behavior in contemporary societies where gender roles are often fluid. In her practice, she unveils how these roles have been played through the ages confronting norm and fantasy against true sexual desire and pleasure. Her installation alludes to a paradisaic space of folly that underlines the mystery attached to sex even today, where concealed bodies actively engaging in acts of sexual pleasure are juxtaposed to her paintings.
