Latinx Abstract: BRIC, 2021

On January 27, 2021, BRIC, a cutting-edge arts and media institution located in Downtown Brooklyn, opened the exhibition Latinx Abstract under the curatorship of Elizabeth Ferrer. The artists presented were Candida Alvarez, Karlos Cárcamo, Maria Chávez, Alejandro Guzmán, Glendalys Medina, Freddy Rodríguez, Fanny Sanín, Vargas-Suarez Universal, Mary Valverde, and Sarah Zapata. They formed a cross-generational group that were united in their dedication to abstract languages. By utilizing the forms of abstraction, there were endless opportunities for them to discuss political, social, and spiritual concerns, without creating expected works of “Latinx art” that could visually be seen as culturally, politically, or traditionally specific.


Latinx Abstract also accomplished the aim of including Latinx artists in the discourse and scholarship of the history of abstraction in the United States, which has previously excluded artists of color.
  • 'In a time when new attention is being paid to Latinx artists, this exhibition suggests the need for a broader...
    HM&C artists Vargas-Suarez Universal's tapestry 45 Red Vectors is on the left and Freddy Rodríguez's painting Ella sola is on the right.

    "In a time when new attention is being paid to Latinx artists, this exhibition suggests the need for a broader reassessment, not only of Latinx art, but also, of the history of abstraction in the United States, which has largely excluded artists of color. Latinx Abstract provides an important step in documenting these critical voices. 

     

    For these artists, abstraction is a powerful language in its own right, not only for its formal possibilities, but also, as a mode of expressing concerns ranging from the political to the social to the spiritual. We are proud to be working with a group of multigenerational artists, including Fanny Sanín and Freddy Rodríguez, who have both been active as artists in New York for over a half century, as well as mid-career and younger artists."

     

    -Kristina Newman-Scott, Former President at BRIC, excerpt from the Foreword in the Latinx Abstract exhibition catalogue