Upcoming Pelham Art Center exhibitions
Natalia Nakazawa Our Stories of Migration at the Pelham Art Center.
Photo courtesy of the Pelham Art Center.
Pelham Art Center will present IN/
FLUX from Friday, September 20 to Saturday,
November 2, with an opening reception
on Friday, September 20, from 6
to 8 p.m.; and an artist talk on Saturday,
October 5, at 3 p.m.
IN/FLUX is a visual art exhibition of
people in fl ux, or an infl ux of people,
bringing together immigrant and fi rst
generation artists curated by executive
director Charlotte Mouquin and Gallery
Advisory Board member Victoria Rolett.
Each artist responds to immigration
stories through their unique vantage
point in a time of diverging world views.
Challenging norms, these artists place
an up-close lens on historical and present
day issues surrounding traversing
the globe, including the travails of oppression
betwixt borders. Utilizing a variety
of art media, they refl ect the complexity
of immigrant experience through
installation, sculpture, encaustic, photography,
design, collage, and bio art.
Artists include Corina S. Alvarezdelugo
(Venezuelan), Selin Balci (Turkish),
Nicky Enright (Ecuadorian-American),
David Rios Ferreira (fi rst generation
Puerto Rican), Alejandra Hernandez
(fi rst generation Mexican), Jenny Polak
(British), Omid Shekari (Iranian), Ruben
Natal San Miguel (Puerto Rican), Natalia
Nakazawa (fi rst generation Uruguayan/
Japanese American) and Victoria
Idongesit Udondian (Nigerian).
The Republic of Unknown Territory
a site specifi c installation by Victoria-
COMMUNITY
CHIROPRATIC
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Idongesit Udondian greets visitors with
suspended draped fi gurative elements,
fl oating hijabs, disembodied shoes,
reaching hands, overfl owing suitcases
and sound recordings of immigrant stories
in the entrance gallery. From the
series Design for the Alien Within, The
Media Center by Jenny Polak is a fi ctional
furniture piece that incorporates
hiding places for people without immigration
papers. There are accompanying
assembly directions and audio elements.
Natalia Nakazawa contemplates human
movement in a large map tapestry
with incorporated art objects. Our Stories
of Migration shows routes of migration,
travel and trade throughout history.
This installation in the main gallery will
be interactive at the opening reception
where gallery attendees will be asked
to participate and share personal stories
of migration. David Rios Ferreira’s
works, a sculptural boat and drawings,
combine contemporary and historical
imagery to create metaphors for the
process of cultural appropriation. This
reconstitution of pop culture, cultural
symbolism and myth redefi nes identities
in a post-colonial society.
Encaustic panels with fabric collage
elements depict boundaries, borders,
and home in the work of Corina S. Alvarezdelugo.
From the series “Remendando
Mi Patria” and “Coddiwomple”
these pieces are personal narratives of
political upheaval, movement and rebuilding.
In his latest series, National
Security is our priority!, Omid Shekari
depicts how state power manifests in
everyday life. This piece, Normalization
is in progress!, is made of resin containing
shards of a locally-bought revolver
and ammunition. It seeks to express
how starkly force and domination shape
lived experience.
Nicky Enright’s Globos are an invented
currency combining elements
of the legal tender of over twenty-fi ve
countries. Through the globo, Enright
questions the role of money and presents
a vision of global citizenship and
world unity. Alejandra Hernandez’s window
installation Homenaje is informed
by her Mexican-American cultural
identity. The piece combines found
materials including a lawn mower and
receipts of money orders sent to family
abroad.
Thirteen portraits by renowned photographer
Ruben Natal San Miguel depict
faces of New York City. He empowers
often marginalized people by
collecting their individual stories and
sharing his depictions of their strength
and beauty. Selin Balci utilizes mold
spores grown in a bio lab as metaphors
for the human condition in our ongoing
fi ght for resources and territory. These
abstract works on panels are a new
form of art that takes months to grow in
a laboratory/studio.
Nikay Paredes will perform a live
reading at the opening reception. Her
poems examine the relationship of colonialism
in her native Philippines and
perceptions of her immigrant experience
in the United States.
The opening reception is free. Pelham
Art Center will host three Folk
Art celebrations during this exhibition:
Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba celebration
with BombaYo! takes place Sunday,
September 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. Diwali
the Hindu festival of lights will take
place Sunday, October 6, from 2 to 4
p.m. Mexican Day of the Dead will be
celebrated Sunday, October 27, from 2
to 4 p.m.. There will be additional performance
art during ArtsFest weekend
October 4 to 6, with an artist talk Saturday,
October 5 at 3p.m.
The center will hold its fi rst Arts After
Dark party on Friday, September 6,
from 7 to 10 p.m.
The art center invites community
members to come create, mingle, and
enjoy refreshments with friends the fi rst
Friday evening in September.
Guests will see their creativity come
alive during art demos throughout the
evening.
The highly popular Faculty Exhibition
will be on view in the art center gallery,
where partygoers can view work
in a variety of media by the art center’s
distinguished instructors.
Arts After Dark will include a gourmet
gin tasting provided by Pomp &
Whimsy. Pomp & Whimsy is an awardwinning
gin liqueur brand that brings
modern sensibilities to the tradition of
gin making by infusing classically distilled
gin with a natural, delightfully fl avorful
botanical liqueur.
Arts After Dark is a 21+ event. There
is a $20 donation cover charge; Pelham
Art Center Silver Members or higher receive
complimentary admission.
The Pelham Art Center is located at
155 Fifth Avenue, Pelham, New York.
For further information call (914) 738-
2525 or visit www.pelhamartcenter.
org.
BRONX SCENE
of Throggs Neck
Kenneth P. Gonoud D.C.
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