Wooden Saints of Puerto Rico: Prints, Décimas, and Coplas Wooden Saints of Puerto Rico: Prints, Décimas, and Coplas is an exhibition consisting of seventy-nine carvings accompanied by a print or image of the saint and a lyrical composition in the form of a décima, copla, or gozo dedicated to the saint. The Museo de Las Américas, in keeping with its mission, offers this exhibition to the general public to introduce this attractive collection of Puerto Rican folk art, selected and curated by Nitza Mediavilla de Toste. Based on the significant investigative work of anthropologist Dr. Yvonne Lange on the wooden saints of Puerto Rico, the exhibition includes carvings made in native woods from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. Catholic friars arrived in the New World in the 16th century with the mission of evangelizing; to this end, they used sculptures and religious images. Over time, the need to produce these locally grew, so religious leaders established workshops to teach the craft to those who showed some skill in carving saints. Spain was the most influential nation in the religious fervor of our people, given the large number of emigrants from the Canary Islands, Andalusia, and other territories. Other pieties came to us from immigrants from Italy, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. The first Puerto Rican artisans and carvers lived far from cities, and roads were scarce and difficult. Lacking churches, friars, and images to perform their religious worship, they were forced to seek out means to produce their works. It is very likely that they turned to small religious prints to learn about the saints' devotions, attributes, and characteristics, as well as to popular verses and verses as a source of inspiration. Prints from Europe were inexpensive and easy to obtain. The great achievement of our carvers was to synthesize the image of the holy image and, in turn, give it a three-dimensional form. It is important to highlight the influence that our verses and sung verses have had on the conceptualization of the wooden saint. The verses are used in various celebrations, such as Christmas, the arrival of the Three Wise Men, Holy Week, and the Feast of the Cross, among others. Devotion and promises to the saints are also captured in these popular prayers. Starting in 1990, our carvers began using other direct reference sources. Currently, young carvers and sculptors use computers and the internet, as well as religious art books, to learn and master the iconography of the saints. Our traditional iconography continues to be the most frequently carved by contemporary artisans, although many of these devotionals have ceased to be carved or are rarely carved. Some carvers work on pieces commissioned by a private collector or some institution where the motivation bears no relation to the traditional fervor of the devotee. There are images associated with new popular devotions, such as Saint Jude Thaddeus, John Paul II, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and the Puerto Rican Blessed Carlos Manuel "Chali" Rodríguez. Today, the carved saint has acquired a new value, being acquired as a collectible cultural asset and, therefore, a commercial asset. However, the original mission of the wooden saint as an object of piety and evangelization must not be forgotten. Conference Program
Pieles
Marsi Caraballo | Pieles Marsi Caraballo presenta una serie de obras tridimensionales colgantes, compuestas de círculos de papel descartado. Con su trabajo lleva al espectador un mensaje de concienciación sobre el reciclaje del papel y otros materiales que de otra forma terminarían en la basura. Su obra crea imágenes deconstruidas y patrones de color sobre tela moldeada de manera orgánica que asemeja una piel forrada de escamas. “La artista Marsi Caraballo con su obra aspira a enviar un mensaje significativo, de frente a los excesos y a los residuos que resultan de una cotidianidad gráfica distintiva de toda sociedad consumista. Pieles, a través de miles de esferas confeccionadas de papel reciclado crea superficies que dan la ilusión de escamas sobre un cuerpo y provocan una mirada detenida a descubrir en qué consisten las capas de esta piel. Cada escama es un recordatorio a la conciencia sobre el medioambiente y a los desperdicios de materiales impresos.” Dra. Ana Rebecca Campos, curadora de la exposición. La exposición incluye imágenes fotográficas que representan el uso práctico de las piezas; también se presentará un performance donde la bailarina y coreógrafa Sorely Muentes experimenta con el sonido y movimiento de los círculos de papel de sus instalaciones. Marsi Caraballo, diseñadora de profesión, es egresada de la Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto de Rio Piedras con concentración en Artes Plásticas y de la Escuela Central de Artes Visuales de San Juan. Ha expuesto en Estados Unidos y Puerto Rico. En exhibición hasta el 29 de septiembre de 2024.
Abriendo líneas
Abriendo líneas | El buril de Orlando Salgado Abriendo líneas es una exposición donde se presenta la trayectoria del artista Orlando Salgado desde 1996 hasta su obra más reciente. El artista trabaja el grabado en distintos medios y técnicas como la xilografía, acuafuerte, acuatinta e Intaglio. Más de 40 obras completan el escogido para esta exposición, cuya curatoría fue realizada por la PhD. María de Lourdes Javier Rivera y la diseñadora gráfica Araceli Ortiz-Azancot. “Abriendo líneas es una exposición que presenta la continuidad de la exploración gráfica de Orlando Salgado desde su última exposición individual (1999) hasta el trabajo que lleva a cabo en el presente. Salgado es primordialmente un dibujante quien, con el buril, abre la línea del dibujo sobre la plancha de madera, metal o acrílico. En todas las obras expuestas impera el deleite formal arraigado a una búsqueda de la belleza, que en Salgado está vinculado con la ejecución técnica. El artista percibe esa estética en su entorno y la plasma en su arte. La contundente cohesión que se aprecia en la obra de Salgado parte de esa preocupación por la forma y la dedicación al oficio del grabado.” Orlando Salgado nació en Santurce, Puerto Rico. Es egresado de la Universidad Interamericana de San Germán (2008) y la Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Diseño de San Juan Puerto Rico (1995). Desde 2010 es profesor de grabado y dibujo de la Liga de Arte de San Juan. Fue director del Departamento de Artes Gráficas de la Escuela de Artes Plásticas y profesor de dibujo anatómico en la Universidad Central del Caribe, Escuela de Medicina. Ha expuesto en Lorenzo Homar Gallery, Taller puertorriqueño, Filadelfia, Pensilvania USA (2001); Museo Casa del Libro en San Juan Puerto Rico (1999). A nivel colectivo su obra se ha presentado internacionalmente en Portugal, Macedonia, España, Bosnia Herzegovina, Argentina y Japón. En exhibición hasta el 26 de enero de 2025. Declaración del artista
Crossings
Imna Arroyo | Travesías/Crossings Travesías/Crossings presents over forty years of artistic production by Imna Arroyo Cora, who began her studies at the School of Plastic Arts in Puerto Rico and completed them at the Pratt Institute in New York and Yale University in Connecticut. The exhibition brings together a series of installations created during different periods, evoking the artist's quest to connect with and honor her ancestors. This exhibition marks the first time that Imna Arroyo Cora has presented a show of graphic and sculptural work in Puerto Rico. Travesías/Crossings is curated by Professor Humberto Figueroa Torres, who is also in charge of the exhibition design, Caribbean art critic and historian Professor Yolanda Wood, and curator and collector Benjamín Ortiz. Regarding the themes that inspire Arroyo Cora's work, Professor Figueroa Torres comments: "It is the Antillean and American religiosity, with its richness of forms and ceremonies, that serves as a nourishing source for the artist to scale her imagination. The creation of engravings for prints on fabric and paper leads her to model with clay and paper and to the construction of sculptures and objects with an environmental tone displayed in installations." On the other hand, Caribbean art critic and historian Yolanda Wood expresses in her writing: "These territories of enunciation have been selected by the author to revere her humble origins, her condition as a woman and as a Black woman, also committed to all these chapters of her life to break a pre-existing logic and construct a discourse with critical and anthropological perspectives." “Nature informs my experience and search for identity, which aims to recover my spiritual and cultural heritage. In my installations, I strive to honor my ancestors and acknowledge the indelible mark they have left on the lives of their descendants, as well as on the broader cultural landscape. My work explores the different manifestations of nature, the spirit, and beliefs of African ancestors; it gives voice to their stories, activating both physical and spiritual spaces,” said artist Imna Arroyo Cora about her work. Artist statement
Look to the future
Tari Beroszi | Peering into the Future The Time Trap By Laura Bravo López, PhD Trying to peer into the future in a medium as closely tied to the past as photography seems a somewhat paradoxical exercise. Recognized, both theoretically and practically, for its symbolic capacity to halt the continuous flow of time and capture life in an unrepeatable instant, the camera has been repeatedly used as an instrument of image creation that allows us to preserve memories in order to relive them for posterity. Photography is to the past, therefore, as our gaze is to the future. The close relationship between photography and time has generated countless pages, especially since the development of the medium in the late 19th century. Every photograph is a memento mori, declared Susan Sontag in one of her most famous publications, in 1977. To take a photograph, as the American theorist reflects, is to participate in the mortality, vulnerability, and mutability of another person or thing. Photographic images, in this way, warn us about what the future holds, but always from a past perspective, not the other way around. Joining this line of thought, Roland Barthes declared in his posthumous work, Camera Lucida, that looking at a photograph is an invitation to contemplate death in the future and, in some cases, to notice a catastrophe (like the inexorable passage of time and its traces) that has already taken place. In Looking at the Future, Tari Beroszi challenges the scope of those theoretical approaches and also the prejudices we carry when we look at a photograph. Articulating different artistic media, this Puerto Rican artist conjures the power of photographic creation and invites us to interpret her images, acting as oracles. Predicting what the future holds for us, as her photographs seem to want to tell us, is a pipe dream. At best, we will find only what our eyes and our desires are yearning to find. Artist's Statement
Who desecrated the Georgetti Mansion?
Who desecrated the Georgetti Mansion? Spanish Version The exhibition «Who desecrated the Georgetti Mansion?» by Eddie Ferraioli is dedicated to the Georgetti Mansion, designed by Czechoslovakian architect Antonin Nechodoma (1877-1928), and honors his memory. The theme of this exhibition–the rescue and conservation of our heritage, both natural and built–has been a constant in Ferraioli's works and exhibitions. Four vectors energize Ferraioli's body of work: the condemnation of the pillaging of a sacred space (desecration), the pressing need for environmental and architectural conservation, the urgency of keeping our memories alive, and the life project inspired by the mosaics and stained glass of this destroyed architectural jewel. And so, in putting forth the question 'who?', it becomes a compelling call–almost an inquest– to find those responsible for this devastating loss of our patrimony. Where do houses go when they die? In what dimension do the human sensations and experiences, the joys and tribulations which accumulated during decades now subsist? Personally, for the artist, the accumulated memories of this house still vibrate because of the immediacy of a lived memory. Each object recovered and transformed into a mosaic, each door and window redeemed by art, attests, as clearly as a hologram, the sonorous beauty of this mansion lost to us because of indifference and neglect. It is the defiling of a structure which, because of its architectural perfection, appreciated through a cult of beauty, was a sacred space. Let us then imagine that the walls of this museum are the support for the doors, windows and chairs (inspired by Nechodoma's designs) that were once a part of the Georgetti Mansion, and that the visitors are witnesses of an archaeological montage. Although Ferraioli has dedicated a large part of his life to stained glass, it has been mosaics which have captured his interest in recent years. Recently, he has ventured into fused glass, and it is this medium which we will most frequently encounter in this collection, whose core consists of twelve pieces in wood from the doors and windows retrieved from the Georgetti Mansion. Walter Benjamin, the German philosopher and essayist, introduces the concept of 'aura' in reference to the vibrant presence that the artist (through tactile contamination) imbues in his works. Will we be able to feel the 'aura' of the house when we come in contact with its authentic wood? The presence of absence… Of the twelve works constructed from the original doors and windows, it is the twelfth piece which catches us off guard: a tryptic of shutters and mosaic with the message that erupts in the form of a grievance and serves as the title of the exposition: Who desecrated the Georgetti Mansion? It is not a coincidence that there are twelve pieces in this collection, since Ferraioli, through numerology, portrays the magic, the power and the meaning of the sacred ensembles in different cultures beyond the Biblical. In addition to the twelve doors and windows, for this exhibition, the artist surprises us with a foretaste: ten women morphed into hyperbolic chairs, drawn out from a hallucination of Nechodoma. Some were constructed by the artist; others had been discarded and were salvaged; and some were recycled from other houses. The twelve doors and windows retrieved from the Georgetti Mansion, as well as the chairs/sculptures, only make up the nucleus of the totality of works presented in this exhibition. Most of the mosaics are part of the artist's collection, and many were part of previous exhibits. There is one unifying and distinctive theme par excellence: the celebration of the fruits and flowers which embellish our countryside, some of which have been forgotten. Let us celebrate, then, this wonderful tribute to the beauty and richness of our flora transformed into art, and which we see displayed before us together with the artist's commitment to protect and preserve, not only our natural environment but also our architecture and culture. Let us protect those 'ships of our past' to which we see what we are. It is the same message carried forth…whether it be through glass, through poetry or through song. Sonia CabanillasCurator, August 2023 Eddie Ferraioli | Biography
Who desecrated the Georgetti Mansion?
Who Desecrated the Georgetti Mansion? English Version The exhibition Who Desecrated the Georgetti Mansion?, by Eddie Ferraioli, is dedicated to the Georgetti Mansion—designed by Czech architect Antonin Nechodoma (1877-1928)—and honors its memory. The theme of this exhibition, about the rescue and conservation of our heritage, both built and natural, has been a constant in Eddie Ferraioli's work and exhibitions. Four vectors energize Ferraioli's work: the denunciation of the violation of a sacred space (desecration); the imperative of environmental and architectural conservation; the urgency of keeping memory alive; and the life project inspired by the stained-glass windows and mosaics of this destroyed architectural gem. Asking the question "who?" is a pressing call, almost an investigation, to find those responsible for this heritage loss. Where do houses go when they die? In what dimension do the experiences, joys, and sorrows that accumulated there over the decades survive? For Ferraioli, the memories accumulated in that house still vibrate with the immediacy of a vivid memory. Each piece recovered and transformed into a mosaic, each door and window redeemed by art, attest, almost like a sound hologram, to the beauty of this mansion lost to the lack of love and neglect of many. It is a desecration of a building that, through the cult of beauty and architectural perfection, was a sacred space. Let us consider, then, that the walls of this museum are the support for the doors, windows, and chairs (inspired by Nechodoma's designs) that once formed part of the Georgetti Mansion, and that visitors are witnesses to an archaeological display. Although Ferraioli has dedicated much of his life to stained glass, it is the mosaic that has captured his interest in recent years. More recently, he has ventured into fused glass, and it is this medium we will find most frequently in this exhibition, the core of which is formed by twelve pieces made from wood from doors and windows salvaged from the Georgetti Mansion. Walter Benjamin, the German philosopher and essayist, introduced the concept of "aura" to refer to the vibratory presence that the artist, like "contamination by touch," leaves in the work. Can we feel this "aura" of the house upon coming into contact with its authentic wood? The presence of absence... Of the twelve works constructed with the original doors and windows, the twelfth catches us off guard: a triptych of shutters and mosaic with the message that emerges as a denunciation and serves as the title of the exhibition: "Who Desecrated the Georgetti Mansion?" It is no coincidence that there are twelve, since Ferraioli captures, through numerology, the magic, power, and meaning of sacred objects from different cultures, in addition to the biblical. In addition to the twelve doors and windows, for this exhibition the artist surprises us with a first: ten women metamorphosed into hyperbolic chairs, taken from a hallucination of Nechodoma. Some were built by the artist, others were collected from the trash, and still others were recycled from other houses. The twelve doors and windows recovered from the Georgetti Mansion and the chairs/ladies comprise only a core of the total pieces in this exhibition. Many of them were part of past exhibitions, and most of the mosaics come from the artist's collection. They are united by the distinctive theme par excellence: the celebration of the fruits and flowers that adorn our countryside, some of which we have relegated to oblivion. Let us celebrate, then, this beautiful tribute to the beauty and richness of our flora transformed into art and unfolding before us, in conjunction with the artist's commitment to protect and conserve not only the natural environment but, with it, our architecture and our culture. Let us protect these "ships of the past" to which we owe what we have become today. It's the same message... whether it's glass, poem, or song. Sonia Cabanillas, Curator, August 2023, Eddie Ferraioli | Biography
Tufiño | The Centenary – English Version
Tufiño At 100 Spanish Version In the arts of Puerto Rico, Rafael Tufiño has defined the essence of what we are through an artistic language that is fundamentally the search for himself, but that also reveals the profiles of the collective to which he belongs. Tufiño transforms his imagery into a reflection of what we are, or what we think we are. The ability to perceive what is visible and immediately transform it into sign, emblem, or metaphor is a constant in his work. This transformative possibility appears not just in his painting but also, and equally, in the graphic work, the posters, the drawings, and illustrations that he produced. Art as an instrument of affirmation of a way of being and feeling, but within the context of a desire to portray the characteristics of a nationality under duress, was a thread that linked all the artists whom we have come to call the “Fifties Generation”. The Museo de Las Américas is celebrating the centennial of Rafael Tufiño's birth with an exhibition of the letters that Tufiño sent to his son Pablo. Tufiño, the “Oller of the twentieth century,” as I called him in the essay published in the catalog of his exhibition at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico titled No es el misma ser que estar, practiced the epistolary art with all of his children. An early example can be seen in the letter-newspaper El Moriviví that he sent to Nitza, his eldest daughter, in 1962 on the occasion of her thirteenth birthday. The illustration is filled with humor, with a sleeping Tufiño dreaming that he is a bullfighter. At the bottom of the page he writes, “Nitza, I've put on my dreaming glasses to sleep in.” The letters and postcards chosen for this exhibition number about thirty. Over some twenty years, Tufiño sent them to his youngest son, Pablo. The artist was 56 years old when his youngest child was born, so it's only to be expected that these letters show the face of a loving, understanding, grandfatherly father. And as Pablo grew up, the things the letters talked about changed and evolved. In a kind of conversation, Tufiño tells Pablo about his daily activities, the friends he encounters on his walks through Old San Juan, and, later, his nighttime visits to the old city's bars. But what is always there, in all the letters, are the expressions of love, understanding, and admiration Tufiño felt for Pablo and his intellectual and human development. Dra. Teresa Tió Fernández Curator LAS CARTAS / LETTERS TO PABLO TUFIÑO ÍNTIMO: LETTERS TO PABLO
Aby Ruiz | Without pain or glory – English Version
Aby Ruiz | Sin pena ni gloria Spanish Version Born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, in 1971, Aby Ruiz is a visual artist working with oil painting, drawing and installations. His work explores human nature in different situations in which human behavior is exposed. The body is the primary source of expression in highly charged compositions where sometimes an element of humor appears. The themes most developed by the artist are related to childhood, sexuality, mortality, innocence, violence, and tenderness and are addressed in undefined spaces and cropped images. Ruiz was involved in the arts early in life; he took painting classes with Pablo San Segundo and studied painting, drawing, and printmaking at the Specialized School of Fine Arts in Arecibo, under the tutelage of professor and artist Rolando Borges Soto. Ruiz's work has been presented in many international exhibitions in the United States, Panama, Canada, and the Dominican Republic. He is the recipient of several awards, and his work is held in many private and public collections, such as Museo de Arte de Caguas, Puerto Rico; Museum of Contemporary Art, Puerto Rico; Ana G. Méndez University Museum, Puerto Rico; Puerto Rican Athenaeum and The Lannan Foundation, New Mexico. Sin pena ni gloria is the artist's first survey exhibition, encompassing more than two decades of painting, drawings, and installations.
Transitions in Time | English Version
Transitions in Time | English Version Spanish Version Time changes, minute by minute… In each painting there is no repeatable traces in a certain year, transiting on the long journey of emotions. Yesterday was present and today is past. The infinite creativity is riding the horse of time, footprints embodied in unrepeatable symbols and colors, forming part of the great human collection and traversing, with my deep and ethereal message, the soul of the beholder. Olmedo Quimbita "I always say that I can tell his painting apart... He has cultivated and refined his own style during a long and permanent career in so many exhibitions, in the most unusual places in the world. Using a palette of very clear color tones and a summarized drawing, Olmedo Quimbita stopped painting the Andean world a long time ago, changing his gaze to the tropics, its inhabitants and their daily life, as well as to the birds and foliage of our coast." Juan Castro and Velázquez, Critic and and art curator BIOGRAPHY EXPOSITION CATALOG
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