State of the Art NYC: This Week in Latino Art
Image: Stinkfish mural via Unurth Street Art
Twitter: @LaBarbaraaa
State of The Art is Remezcla’s weekly guide to Latin art openings in your city each week. Mingle with art admirers, collectors and casual passersby to check out these new works. And don’t forget to grab a free glass of wine…or three.
Canto Boricua: Las Dos Islas / The Two Islands
Longtime resident of Spanish Harlem and photographer Roger Cabán has a show of photographs with scenes from Puerto Rico and New York City in the 1970s. The show titled ‘Canto Boricua’ contrasts images of Puerto Rican landscapes in both the motherland or mother-island i should say, and it’s metropolitan sister island New York City. Roger Cabán is an original Nuyorican artist and also one of the founding members of gallery space En Foco that exclusively exhibits the work of Latino/a photographers. Catch a glimpse of Puerto Rican history and imagery in Cabán’s photos at Taller Boricua through July 30th.
Museum Mile Festival
The yearly Museum Mile Festival where all the museums on 5th avenue including our own Museo del Barrio will open their doors with free admission has come! This Tuesday, June 10th, from 6 to 9pm attend “New York’s Biggest Block Party” outside of Museo and hear live performances by Legacy Woman, an all female musical group rooted in traditional Afro-Puerto Rican and Afro-Dominican sounds and DJ Touch Tony. There will also be artmaking activities! Other participating museums will be The Africa Center, Museum of the City of New York, The Jewish Museum, The Guggenheim, The Met and more!
Phenomenal Woman: Maya Angelou, 1928–2014
The passing of poet, author and queen Maya Angelou saddened the world this past month. We lost an uncompromising artist who told the story of a powerful multitalented woman of color who despite a slew of odds against them taught love, sisterhood and strength. Her advice and perspective are nationally appreciated by people from all walks of life including men and women of all races and ethnicities etc. However, I think her work was particularly important for women of color, including us Latinas. She was seen as a mentor and art mother for many of us who experienced a tough upbringing and needed the spiritual boost her writings provided. And Latinas were important to her too! In her 2009 book, ‘Letter To My Daughter,’ the great Maya Angelou dedicated a chapter to Celia Cruz and the influence Celia had on her performing career. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has pulled a few jewels from her archival materials to show in an exhibit honoring the late Maya Angelou. The papers and photos including typed drafts from ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,’ and letters from Malcolm X and James Baldwin, will be on view until the end of the month in Harlem.