Crisis Identity: A Conversation About Puerto Rico
Thurs. May 3, 7-9pm
SOHO20 presents a conversation facilitated by artist and photographer Mónica Félix on the current state of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico has been a disjointed colonized tropical paradise for more than 500 years. It is this condition and its consequences that has shaped the identity of Puerto Ricans and who they are in society today. Government corruption, financial crisis and the unprecedented events after hurricanes Irma and María are the principal subjects of daily conversation about the island. This presentation will be a conversation about the topics that describe the current state of urgency through works by Puerto Rican artists, organizers, and investigators.
Mónica Félix is a professional photographer, self-portrait and conceptual artist. Beyond the lens, through her feminine themes and her ambitious affirmations, Félix explores the needle and thread that unite life and art. Currently, she works between New York and Puerto Rico as a professional photographer expanding her artwork in a parallel manner.
Frances Gallardo creates paper-based works that range from intricate two-dimensional collages to large-scale sculptural installations. Her work approaches the broad subject of landscape through personal experience, blending the geopolitical with the imaginary and the poetic. Her compositions are inhabited by images of hurricanes and other weather patterns, waves, dust and insects, exploring the visual veils above and around us.
Soldanela Rivera is a multi-disciplinarian creative worker. She produces and hosts Notes From A Native Daughter, the podcast, a raw one-on-one format show with figures from the Pan-American experience on arts, culture, and society. Her first book, View For Death, will be published in May.
Ashley Smestad Vélez is the Art Director of New York City’s seminal news institution, The Village Voice. Since 2016 she has curated the alt weekly’s web, social media and (former) print platforms, working closely with photographers and illustrators to bring editorial reporting in politics, culture, art film and music to life through a progressive visual narrative.
Images: Temporal (2017), Mónica Félix
Cayey, Puerto Rico