elmuseo@SVA: May Contain Moving Parts
Opening reception: Jan 18th, 6-8pm.
All are free and open to the public
Exhibition open Monday to Saturday, from 10am-6pm, Jan 13 to Feb 4, 2018.
SVA Chelsea Gallery
601 West 26th Street, 15th floor
Curated by Rocío Aranda-Alvarado
With work by Graciela Cassel, Willie Cole, Franco Frontera, Jon Gomez, Jonas Lara, Arnaldo Morales, Marilyn Narota, Aya Rodriguez-Izumi and Jenny Santos.
elmuseo@SVA: May Contain Moving Parts is an exhibition co-presented by SVA’s MFA Fine Arts Department and El Museo del Barrio, New York’s leading Latino cultural institution that highlights the artistic landscape of Latino, Caribbean, and Latin American cultures. Curated by El Museo’s Rocio Aranda-Alvarado, the exhibition features artists of the Caribbean diaspora, many of them SVA alumni, who explore materiality by transforming objects, familiar sounds and images in unexpected ways.
This exhibition includes work in a wide variety of mediums. Videos by Graciela Cassel render the urban landscape as a series of symmetrical, geometric forms visible through lights that pierce the hazy darkness of the night sky. Willie Cole’s inventive sculptures repurpose colorful women’s shoes in the guise of oversized masks. Franco Frontera’s video pieces play with prerecorded sounds but also involves the artist’s own drumming, engaging with historic instruments and sounds as they are manipulated electronically. Jon Gomez uses three channels to illustrate varied perspectives on the crossing of the U.S.-Mexico border. The haunting sound works of Jonas Lara combine repetitive clips and collages of chanting, heavy bass, guitar, or keyboard. Arnaldo Morales uses found machine parts, discarded tools and hydraulic systems to put his mechanical works into motion. Marilyn Narota’s performance work explores female silence through the presence of the body and visceral references to beauty. Aya Rodríguez-Izumi’s works on paper use familiar words combined with formal and linear patterns. Jennifer Santos creates installations in which viewers are invited to participate, either through moving the assembled objects or by climbing toward a mirror and taking in their own reflection.
Definitely Contains Moving Parts: Jan 25th, 6-8pm featured artist Arnaldo Morales will activates his kinetic work as part of a conversation with the exhibition’s curator. The program will be followed by a Q+A with the artist. RSVP here.
A Tour with the Artistas: Thursday, February 1, 2018, 6-8pm Featured artists Graciela Cassel, Willie Cole, Franco Frontera, Jon Gómez, Marilyn Narota, Aya Rodríguez-Izumi, and Jenny Santos will discuss their works on view, process and inspiration. RSVP here.
