5th Bronx Latin American Art Bienal / Biennial
September 19 – December 7 , 2016
Curator: Alexis Mendoza
Curator: Luis Stephenberg
The 2016 edition of the Bronx Latin American Art Biennial is called, “I am one of those people that...”. The exhibitions of the Biennial will present artworks referring to personal aspects of the creation process.
The curators of the 5th Bronx Latin American Art Biennial are interested in the way artists think and what are the specifics behind the creating process. We encourage the artists to be very vocal about their work. Our intention is to have the opportunity to explore some of today’s local, national and international social issues such as: migration, women’s rights, political conflicts, different types of discrimination, and issues that reflect on the autonomy of the opinion. We want to show self-representation of the artist’s way of thinking.
I am one of those peoples that…
The exhibit's main focus resides not in the discovery of new variants of seeing art but in the recognition of their legitimacy. There is nothing new in the awareness that culture proposes different solutions; what it is new is that all these solutions are valid. Access to it is no longer to be found by art or art making within itself but through the interrelation and intercommunication between artists living inside and outside of the United States. History and the changes in it create awareness that Latin American culture is too complex to be encompassed through a single approach.
It is in the work of Latin American artists, regardless the place in this world they live, that we are able to find aspects of our own existence. Art it is not just a cultural manifestation, it is also a cultural way of life for those who live by it (artists, curators, critics, collectors, dealers, etc.). The work of contemporary latin American artists living in any part of this world, tells us the anxious evolution in the styles and techniques used by them to show us their findings.
In contemporary art, intentional emancipation may occasionally be considered socio-political for its originality and interest, for focusing an aesthetic discipline on something not conventionally considered aesthetically pleasing to the senses.
The artworks to be included in the 2016 Bronx Latin American Art Biennial will provide us with the opportunity to examine and pay attention to the nature of habitual experience. For those of us who engage this opportunity, the nature of experience is questioned and often changed. These exhibitions are the result of careful looking. It is impossible to pay close attention to all of the details of everything around us during the course of most days. “I am one those peoples that…”, provides an opportunity to slow down and appreciate details that just exist, that are not necessarily for something or toward some purpose.
Art within our society changes the way people conduct themselves by being part of it. Art can also be about people, but primarily it is, in itself, an element within the cultural experience.
Participating Galleries: Bronx ArtSpace ▪ Bronx Museum of the Arts ▪ The Andrew Freedman Home ▪ The Hebrew Home at Riverdale ▪ Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos ▪ Poe Park Visitor Center Gallery
Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture, in partnership with the Bronx Council on the Arts, is pleased to be participating in the Fifth Bronx Latin American Art Biennial. Featured artists at Longwood include: Liliana Avalos (Perú), Williams Carmona (Cuba), Scherezade García ( Dominican Republic), Patrick McGrath Muñiz (Puerto Rico), Elsa Meléndez (Puerto Rico), José Morales, (Puerto Rico), Clara Morera (Cuba), Freddy Rodríguez (Dominican Republic), Nancy Saleme (Venezuela), Juan Sánchez (Puerto Rico), Ezequiel Taveras (Dominican Republic), and Sandra Mack Valencia (Columbia).
