(R)evolution: Identity and Power in Puerto Rican and Diasporican Art
March 22 @ 5:00 pm - June 8 @ 5:00 pm
Contemporary Puerto Rican Art Coming to the Art Museum, University of Saint Joseph
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (March 4, 2024) — The Art Museum at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) will open the exhibition (R)evolution: Identity and Power in Puerto Rican and Diasporican Art—a reflection upon colonialism and Puerto Rican resistance—with a public reception on Friday, March 22 from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m.
The exhibition will run from March 22 through June 8.
The centerpiece and inspiration for this exhibition is Miguel Luciano’s painting Cómo se dice Boricua en Inglés (1998), created in response to the centennial of the U.S. annexation of Puerto Rico following the Spanish-American War. The painting features a machete-wielding vejigante, the demon/trickster figure associated with the Loiza Aldea festival of Santiago Apostôl, confronting Uncle Sam, alluding, together with smaller vignettes, to themes of suppression of native language and culture, economic colonialism, and racial and ethnic stereotypes and hierarchies.
Bringing works about these issues by other artists together with Miguel Luciano’s painting, the exhibition sheds light on the ongoing effects of colonialism in Puerto Rico.
“Miguel’s painting provides an important inflection point from which we can look back at Puerto Rico’s history and forward to the current challenges faced by Puerto Ricans on the island and in the diaspora,” says Ann Sievers, Director of the Art Museum and curator of the exhibition.
Anthony De Jesus, USJ Associate Professor of Social Work & Equitable Community Practice, adds, “This exhibition recognizes the quest for political, linguistic, cultural, and economic parity of the Puerto Rican people. Since 1898, Puerto Ricans have utilized political organizing, protest, and revolt to resist the subordination of their identities within the US and confront man-made and natural disasters. At the same time, this resistance has shaped the identities of generations of Puerto Ricans born and raised stateside within the context of an evolving cooperative/complex relationship between the island/archipelago and diaspora.”
In addition to Miguel Luciano, other artists in the exhibition include Antonio Martorell, Juan Sánchez, Pablo Delano, Allora & Calzadilla, Yasmín Hernández, Marta Mabel Pérez, Danielle De Jesus, ADÁL, Omar Velázquez, and Ernest Lopez.
Miguel Luciano will deliver an artist talk on Tuesday, April 23 at 7:00 p.m. at USJ’s Hoffman Auditorium in Bruyette Athenaeum. The talk is free of charge, but advance registration is encouraged at ArtMuseumUSJ/eventbrite.com.
For further information on this event and other exhibition-related programming, see www.usj.edu/artmuseum/revolution.
About the Art Museum at USJ
The Art Museum at the University of Saint Joseph, an AAM-accredited institution, is located in Bruyette Athenaeum on the University’s campus at 1678 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, Connecticut. The Museum presents regular exhibitions drawn from its permanent collections as well as loan exhibitions of historic art or contemporary work by artists of national and international prominence. Public open hours are Wednesday through Saturday: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.; closed Monday, Tuesday, and Sunday. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.usj.edu/artmuseum.
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