Please welcome to enjoy the Puerto Rican night with us at Glendale Community College on Saturday 6th from 5pm.
You are also invited to visit the art show any other time!
Please see the information attached.
PRESS RELEASE – APRIL 2019
PUERTO RICO: INTERIOR/EXTERIOR
ARTISTS CONSIDER PUERTO RICO AFTER MARIA
ELSA MARÍA MELENDEZ
ADÁL
AWILDA RODRÍGUEZ LORA
FRANCES GALLARDO
RICARDO RODRÍGUEZ
MARTÍN GARCÍA RIVERA
ERIKA P. RODRÍGUEZ
PATRICK V. MCGRATH MUÑIZ
JO COSME
EXHIBITION:
MARCH 1 TO MAY 15, 2019
COMMUNITY EVENT:
SATURDAY APRIL 6
5 TO 8 PM
Puerto Rico: Interior/Exterior is an exhibition of artists considering the cultural, economic and political effects of hurricanes Maria and Irma. The exhibition features contemporary Puerto Rican artists and opens at The Art Gallery @ GCC on March 1, 2019.
[PR: In/Ex] invites artists to reflect on hidden dualities and contradictions that have faced Puerto Rico even prior to hurricanes Maria and Irma. Among these: why is Puerto Rico always rendered as simultaneously “in” and “out” of dialogues about nationhood, identity, economy, and cultural status? How did Maria and Irma expose pre-existing vulnerabilities of predatory debt, racism, and economic exclusion? On the other hand, what are the roots of Puerto Rican resiliency, innovation and healing, and what’s the role of the artist in visualizing the future?
The exhibition features a diverse array of Puerto Rican contemporary artists working across media. Elsa María Melendez presents large-scale fabric sculpture referring to loss and rebirth; Awilda Rodríguez Lora shows movement-based performance staged around an altered cityscape. Adál presents a series of “underwater” portraits; Frances Gallardo exhibits cut paper collages about the aesthetics of aftermath. Patrick V. McGrath Muñiz offers narrative paintings about cultural conflict, and Martin García Rivera shows delicate etchings all produced during a time without electricity on the island. Jo Cosme presents a “tarot” deck depicting the complex social interactions that form recovery; Ricardo Rodríguez presents a haunting installation asking about the intertwined fate of nations. Available at the exhibition is also a take-away poster of documentary photographs from journalist Erika P. Rodríguez.
From artist Ricardo Rodríguez: “Hurricanes Maria and Irma unveiled – like a power washer lifting layers of opaque dirt – the realities that are inherent in being one of the last colonies in the Western Hemisphere. These conditions are not abstract but are lived experiences of diverse Puerto Ricans, both before and after having the lands decimated. This exhibition gives artists a platform to engage what led to Puerto Rico’s vulnerability and what strategies lead to its future.”
Beyond the exhibition, [PR: In/Ex] is the centerpiece of a comprehensive Spanish-centered instructional effort at Glendale Community College, in collaboration with the Language Arts, Journalism, Social Science and Visual and Performing Arts departments. It is also a venue for continued public visibility of Puerto Rico’s ecological and economic need.
[PR: In/Ex] will also have a charitable connection in benefit Access Books, a Los Angeles-based non for profit that transforms public school libraries in communities that need it the most. Each library served receives new, quality books, a new coat of paint and dozens of literacy-themed murals. This April, Access Books volunteers will travel to Puerto Rico to join teachers and members of the community to refurbish two local school libraries. The first renovation will take place at Escuela Inés María Mendoza on Monday, April 8th followed by Escuela Francisco Jordán on Tuesday, April 9th. Over the past several months, Access Books has worked closely with local teachers to identify, select and coordinate the shipment of thousands of new books.
More information about the project in Puerto Rico, https://www.accessbooks.net/puertorico.html
On Saturday, April 6th, The Art Gallery @ GCC is hosting a community event and reception for [PR: In/Ex], featuring Puerto Rican music and dance, food and drink, short lectures and gallery tours.
[PR: In/Ex] is co-curated by David John Attyah and Ricardo Rodríguez. Information about the exhibition and event is available at www.glendale.edu/artgallery or via Instagram at @artgallerygcc.
The Art Gallery @ GCC
Glendale Community College
1500 N. Verdugo Road
Glendale, CA 91207
David John Attyah, Director
