In his largest museum exhibition to date, artist Daniel Lind-Ramos will “explore the traditions and histories of Afro-descendant communities in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and around the world” through the found and gifted objects he uses to create detailed sculptures.
“The McArthur ‘Genius’ Award-winning artist is celebrated for transforming everyday objects into elaborate sculptures,” MoMA wrote on their social media.
El Viejo Griot: Una Historia de Todos Nosotros, will be exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City beginning on April 20, 2023. The show will run through September 3, 2023. It will be co-organized by Kate Fowle, guest curator; Ruba Katrib, MoMA curator and director of curatorial affairs; and Elena Ketelsen González, assistant curator.
The exhibition will include more than 10 large-scale works, many of which have never been exhibited before. According to MoMA, some of Lind-Ramos’ work represents the “fast-disappearing local traditions of agriculture, fishing, cooking, and carnival alongside landmark sculptures that examine the repercussions of Hurricane Maria in 2017.”
Several large-scale pieces were created by Lind-Ramos within the last year and address the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has impacted local communities over the last three years.
Born and raised in Loíza, Puerto Rico, a city where he still lives and works today, Lind-Ramos earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Puerto Rico and a master’s degree from New York University. He has been a recipient of several awards and grants over the years, including the 2019 Joan Mitchell Foundation grant; the 2020 Perez Prize; and the 2021 MacArthur Award.
“Art is a powerful instrument to investigate reality,” he told the MacArthur Foundation last year. “For me, art is like transforming life experience in visual symbols. If I have the capacity to do that, I feel like I’m doing something important that I could share.”
Daniel Lind-Ramos has exhibited his work at other major venues like the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York; The Perez Museum in Miami; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico in San Juan; and Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in San Juan.