It’s Liquid Group, International ArtExpo, Venice Art House and Ca’ Zanardi, are proud to announce the opening of:

FRACTAL IDENTITIES – Entropy . Disorders . Obsessions, international art exhibition of photography, video art, installation, painting and performance art, that will be hosted in Venice, at Palazzo Ca’ Zanardi and Venice Art House, from the 15th to the 25th of July 2015.

The opening of the event was on July 15, 2015 at VENICE ART HOUSE Gallery.

above artist Nayda A. Cuevas and sculpture by  Iveta Tomanová

ARTISTS
Eva Chelmecka . Poland | Nayda A. Cuevas . US | Alexandra Foffano & Nicolò Rossi . Italy | Antonia Pia Gordon . UAE | Clare Haxby . Singapore | Ashish Kushwaha . India | Judith Levi 16 . Canada – Israel | Aleksander Michelotti . Italy | Thompson Pereira da Costa . Italy | Mika Qatsi . Italy | Kathy Rose . USA | Iztok Smajs . Slovenia | Gregory Steel . US |Anneke von der Fehr & Tona Gulpinar . Norway | Ann-Hege L. Waterhouse . Norway

link to event: http://www.lucacurci.com/artexpo/opening-fractal-identities-venice-2015.htm

#immigration #Dreamers #Obamarespnde #iaSummit

Young Activist

On November 20, 2014, the President announced a series of executive actions to crack down on illegal immigration at the border, prioritize deporting felons not families, and require certain undocumented immigrants to pass a criminal background check and pay taxes in order to temporarily stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation.  

I only wish to continue conversation on an issue that affects many families wishing for a better life. Finding my images on Twitter I observe from a far distance how young adults or young people and their voice circulates within the internet. I have pulled them out from the many images lost on cyberspace and painted them as a dialogue to my series entitled ‪#‎MurrietaProtest‬, from an event that took place on July 2014. By November 2014 Obama made an official step forward...

January 25, 2015

Immigration Protestors interrupt Rick Perry at Iowa Freedom Summit.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/01/immigration-protesters-interrupt-rick-perry-at-iowa-summit.html/ 

 

While his immigration plans are on hold because of legal challenges, President Obama hosted an immigration town hall February 25th, 2015 in Miami.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2015/02/22/obama-immigration-msnbc-telemundo-town-hall/23838871/

 

Pedro Albizu Campos

In remembrance Of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos. First Puerto Rican to graduate from Harvard Law, returned to PR to represent the poor and stand up to injustice.

Portrait above created by Nayda A. Cuevas. This is a portrait out of sugar paper (paper made of sugar). After graduating from Harvard he returned to PR to practice poverty law, where he represented sugar cane workers (Denis, p.116). Albizu and the sugar cae workers formed the Association de Trabajadores de PR (Workers Association of PR) and negotiated on their behalf to increase their wages. " the workers would received $1.50 for a twelve hour day, more than double the amount they'd gotten before." (Denis, p120) 
Please visit http://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/

Taking a little inspirations from Artists: Vic Muniz “The Sugar Children, 1996” and Kara Walkers 2014 installation in Brooklyn at the abandoned Domino Sugar factory.

Kara Walker Sugar Sphinx

As I entered the building to look at this exhibition the wall had text that read; "An homage to the unpaid and overworked artisans who have refined our sweet tastes from the cane fields to the kitchens of the new world on the occasion of the demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant." The same company that Puerto Rican cane workers also refined.

 The Sugar children: Valentina, the fastest; Jacynthe, loves orange juice; Lil Calist can't swim; Valicia bathes in sunday clothes; Big James sweats buckets; Ten-ten's weed necklace (in 6 parts) ,by: Vik Muniz

On April 2015 I obtained my copy of the book entitled War Against all Puerto Ricans by Nelson A. Denis. A few essays published on Latino Rebels, found through Twitter, sparked interest on the unknown history of the Island I was born in. To be honest, my least favorite subject in school was history and therefore I had no knowledge of Puerto Rico’s history and relationship with the United States.

I had herd the name Pedro Albizu Campos, as this Nationalist no one in my family or Puerto Ricans friends talked about. I also knew that Dr. Campos was compadre with my great grandfather Angel Ramos Torres (godfather to one of my gran aunts). And I now know that my great grandmother had a “carpeta” and would often visit Laura, Pedro’s wife.

My interest grew stronger and I was unable to put down the book. Chapters 13 and 14 were the hardest to read. I am still digesting all the information I just learned and as an artist I will regurgitate this information through Visual form. Words cannot express the sadness in my heart for the history of my people and Puerto Rico’s current economic crisis. Leaving the island is what many Puerto Ricans result to.

Life is... La Vida Es...

Words inspired me to paint these in 2010-11:

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.”
― Mother Teresa

La Vida - Poema de la Madre Teresa de Calcuta

La vida es una oportunidad,
aprovéchala.
La vida es belleza,
admírala.
La vida es una bendición
disfrútala.
La vida es un sueño,
hazlo realidad.
La vida es un reto,
afróntalo.
La vida es un juego,
juégalo.
La vida es algo preciado,
cuídala.
La vida es algo valioso,
consérvala.
La vida es un misterio,
descúbrelo.
La vida es una promesa,
cúmplela.
La vida es dolor,
supéralo.
La vida es un himno,
cántalo.
La vida es un combate,
acéptalo.
La vida es una aventura,
desafíala.
La vida es una tragedia,
enfréntate.
La vida es suerte,
merécela.
La vida es vida,
defiéndela.

 



#Inbetween2worlds Portrait Paintings

Opening Reception

January 17, 2015

Washburn Halln

Lesley University Cambridge, MA

8pm

2015 Exhibition at Queen University of Charlotte

Excited to be a part of this exhibition

ARTE LATINO NOW exhibits the works of Latino artists who will be selected by national competition. The show will highlights the exciting cultural and artistic contributions of Latinos in the United States. Sponsored by the Center for Latino Studies at Queens, Friends of Art at Queens, and the Departments of Art and World Languages in partnership with artist Edwin Gil and ArtSí.

Opening Reception:

Thursday, February 5 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Exhibit Hours:

Weekdays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Weekends 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Max L. Jackson Gallery, Watkins Building, Queens University of Charlotte Main Campus

Overcoming Displacement

We all have a cultural identity that is formed by family, community, country, and the world in which we live. Today, selfies aid in constructing identity by providing a new mode and venue for negotiating values, perceptions, and assertions. I present myself and my Latino identity via my selfies. I act both as artist and subject, allowing complete control of how my image is portrayed to the public. However, by removing my self-portraits from social media context to the gallery wall of the art world, I add permanence. Furthermore, my selfies draw on memory to construct identity, in that they record events, people, and places that are special to me. I am constantly taking self-portraits with my smart phone, alone or with my husband and my son, to instantly share on social media and remain connected with family and friends in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico.  The painted portraits intend to capture the interaction between my life here in Massachusetts and my bond to Puerto Rico, my birthplace.

The act of exploring the meaning and location of borders, boundaries, and zones of transitions is what theorist Homi Bhaba names as “In-betweeness” (Robertson, p178). My series #Inbetween2worlds aims to document the now easy transition between two places and how I have overcome displacement. Reaching for a deeper understanding of self directly correlates to the construction of my identity. As I pose for the selfie with my grandmother, I intend to take with me a memento and share it on Facebook. As I paint our self-portrait, I further celebrate, process, and savor that moment.  In my selfie portrait with my son we playfully pose in our winter attire, celebrating a sunny cold day to share with family back in Puerto Rico. In another selfie, I pose with my parka or with the exotic flower of the “Flamboyan” or Royal Poinciana tree. It may not be as obvious for my viewer to determine where I am, either here or there, but my desire is to allow the viewer to contemplate on who I am, what I value, and how I identify. Every portrait in this series evaluates, reevaluates, examines, and reexamines my personal experience.

Robertson, Jean & Craig McDaniel. Themes of Contemporary Art Visual Art after 1980. Oxford University Press. Pages 50&51, 80, 178 . 2010.