‘The Resilient Ones’ premieres
South Bronx art gallery WALLWORKS shows solo exhibition by NYC artist
Bianca Romero Photos courtesy of Bianca Romero
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Back in November, muralist
and mixed media artist
Bianca Romero debuted
her fi rst solo exhibition at
the WALLWORKS Gallery
in the south Bronx entitled,
“The Resilient Ones: Everything
You Ever Thought
Would Occur Exists in Your
Essence.”
According to Romero, the
purpose of the exhibition,
which includes 10 pieces and
a mural inside the gallery,
is to show people’s strength
and resilience, even during
the darkest times.
“Through all the hardships
of this year, and just
in general, I really thought
about our resilience — the
community, entrepreneurs,
the creatives, people in general
just trying to mentally
stay afl oat,” Romero said.
“We kinda got forced into
this situation of really having
to fi nd our inner strength
and really trying to fi nd our
resilience out of necessity.”
The exhibition’s subtitle
is a nod to Romero’s late
friend Jason Williams, a
staple in the underground
hip hop scene in New York.
Romero said that Williams
was credited with starting
the fi rst and longest-running
weekly open mic night,
which ran for over 20 years
in the Lower East Side.
“That quote is one of his
lyrics. For me, he was somebody
that was one of my biggest
supporters, one of my art
‘hype men.’ He was always so
excited whenever I did any
mural or a new project and
was such a big support. So I
wanted to include that quote
in the title just as a tribute
back to him,” she said.
Prior to starting the project,
Ramos was approached
by WALLWORKS Co-owner
John “CRASH” Matos, a
graffi ti icon known in his
home borough of the Bronx
and citywide.
“With what has been a
challenging year for everyone,
WALLWORKS has been
striving to keep art alive and
well in an uncertain time,”
said Matos. “Bianca’s work
felt like the perfect fi t for
such an atmosphere. Her
mixed media, multi-layered
collage work in ‘The Resilient
Ones’ seeks to celebrate
and visualize the strength
and resilience we all have
had to fi nd this year.”
Romero grew up in Manhattan’s
East Village to a
Korean mother and Spanish
father. Both of her parents
pursued creative careers —
her mom a former fashion designer
BRONX TIMES R 60 EPORTER, DECEMBER 18-24, 2020 BTR
and her dad a graphic
designer.
“So I just love the idea of
all different cultures and
contexts coming together to
create something totally different.
That’s just very parallel
to my life experience,”
she said.
She fell in love with graffi
ti at a young age saying
“that’s just the environment
I grew up around — seeing
graffi ti everywhere.”
Although Romero has curated
shows in the past, she
called the experience of creating
her own exhibition”a
new undertaking.”
“Now is a really good
time to share art and make
things that uplift other people,”
Romero told the Bronx
Times. “I think that people
and communities really need
that right now. So I spoke to
the gallery and we decided
to go ahead and do it. We put
it together pretty quickly —
in about two and a half or
three weeks.”
In addition to her own
work, Romero collaborated
on two pieces for the show
with Matos and Jean Michel
Basquiat’s graffi ti partner
Al Diaz (SAMO). One of those
pieces is entitled “Floating
in Limbo” made on a found
piece of plywood.
“It’s this girl fl oating,”
said Romero. “It’s basically
about quarantine, like when
it fi rst started and we didn’t
really know. Just going into
lockdown and being in solitude
and trying to process
while not knowing what’s
going on.”
Despite the uncertainty of
the pandemic, Romero said
that art has been a positive
outlet for her and others.
“There was a lot that we
all had to process and go
through this year and fi gure
out. Art helped me a lot,”
Romero said.
“The Resilient Ones”
in an ongoing exhibit that
is on display until Dec. 23.
Visitors must book their
visit at www.wallworksny.
com/book-online. Learn
more about Bianca Romero
at www.biancaromero.com
and on Instagram @Bianca-
DoesNYC.
/www.wallworksny
/www.biancaromero.com
/www.wallworksny
/www.biancaromero.com
