Let’s get together grandly Exploring the innovations and interventions of contemporary Latinx artists within established pictorial traditions, it invites discussion on a variety of topics and reveals the diversity and breadth that exists in the field. The fifty-eight artists in the exhibition—as well as those in the broader Latinx field—encourage us to question the continued relevance of borders, from political boundaries to disciplinary boundaries. This exhibition thus celebrates artists whose expressions are first and foremost personal and subjective, but whose heterogeneous and culturally specific interventions enrich each other and the history of American and contemporary art, both of which these artists have historically been excluded from. Inspired by former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem “(Let Us Come Together in Prosperity),” the exhibition celebrates richness and presents a vision of Latin art that, like the diaspora itself, is infinitely complex.
The show’s broad intergenerational and regional dialogue is reflected in seven thematic groupings: (new) historyoffering new perspectives on personal, cultural, and global history; Human body and figuresrepresentation of marginalized groups and representation of marginalized groups, taking into account the importance of the body and who is or is not represented in the image; Identity/Placeconsiders how identity and place shape each other through a diasporic lens; land/terradifferent approaches to land and the built environment, from the material to the imaginary; Communityemphasizes communities of all kinds – artistic, ancestry and constituency – and their importance to diaspora groups; pintuxa contemporary Latin style study of traditional painting genres such as still life and portraiture; and abstractexplores centuries-long traditions of Aboriginal and European abstraction that are still used by artists today.
Taking into account the dissonance and heterogeneity within the narrative, the exhibition draws inspiration from the artists themselves who are actively cultivating the landscape of contemporary painting for visitors to experience in the museum. This exhibition does not tell a complete story like a survey exhibition, but rather gives viewers a glimpse into this vibrant and active network.
Let’s get together grandly Organized by the AKG Museum of Art in Buffalo and curated by curator Andrea Alvarez. A national tour will follow, including presentations at the Des Moines Center for the Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, the Phoenix Art Museum and the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle.
