State of the Art: Your Weekly Guide to NYC's Latino 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.

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Alejandra Regalado: In Reference To

In Regalado’s photos, women staring straight into the camera are juxtaposed with an image of a charm. Tacones, powder boxes and wedding jewels, are some of the charms placed next to the portraits. These items are special keepsakes, treasures brought from Mexico on a migration to the U.S.. The women portrayed have all taken the arduous journey from Mexico to the U.S. at different points in their lives. In her work, Regalado exposes these intimate details from a life left behind. This can be a powerful re-personalizing of the immigrant’s image, one that pushes back against the societal dehumanization that immigrants often feel in our day and age. The opening for the show is this Wednesday, December 4, from 5 to 7:30pm.

Isabel De Obaldía: Metates

Isabel De Obaldía has a solo exhibition of her modern glass metates on the Upper East Side that closes pretty soon on December 13th. A metate is a stone used in ancient Mesoamerican cultures to grind maize, grains and other seeds. However, these aren’t exactly traditional-looking stones, nor are they functional. These metates mix contemporary material and Pre-Columbian motifs like the smiling crocodile, and are exquisite in their detail. De Obaldía was raised in Panama and draws inspiration from the region’s ancient traditions and imagery. Only a few more days until it closes, so check out her beautiful expression of a semi-lost art.