From March 21 to June 23, 2018, art from the El Museo del Barrio collection will be on display at the Hunter East Harlem Gallery. Called QUEENIE, this exhibition will focus on Latina artists from the Caribbean, South America, Central America, and the Latinx diaspora.
Artists featured in El Museo del Barrio’s permanent collection will show work in QUEENIE. The exhibition is named after Alessandra Expósito’s sculpture of the same name. This work depicts an animal skull painted a whimsical pink. The images on the skull include tiny paintings of a black horse (labeled “Queenie”), a class portrait of a young girl (“Shauna”), a carousel horse, and other images associated with girlhood. The creamy antlers on this sculpture are decorated with two roses.
The works in this exhibition shine a light on the women of the Latinx community, a gender-neutral term for the people of the Latin-American community worldwide. QUEENIE draws both from global Latin-American culture and the local East Harlem neighborhood in which the gallery and El Museo are located. The mix of works in QUEENIE are intended to spur dialogue around gender and its influence along the many spectrums of social experience.
Featured artists from El Museo’s permanent collection will include Tania Bruguera, Margarita Cabrera, Maria Fernanda Cardoso, Melba Carillo, Marta Chilindron, Alessandra Expósito, Iliana Emilia García, Dulce Gomez, Cristina Hernández Botero, Carmen Herrera, Jessica Kairé, Carmen Lomas Garza, Evelyn López de Guzmán, Anna Maria Maiolino, Ana Mendieta, Marina Núñez del Prado, Liliana Porter, Raquel Rabinovich, Scherezade, and Nitza Tufiño.
The exhibition was prepared by Arden Sherman, a curator at Hunter East Harlem Gallery; Noel Valentin, Permanent Collection Manager at El Museo del Barrio; Elizaveta Shneyderman, Gallery Manager at Hunter East Harlem Gallery; and Olivia Gauthier, Gund Curatorial Fellow at Hunter College.
El Museo del Barrio, located at 5th Avenue and 105th Street, is devoted to the preservation and celebration of Latin American art in New York. It’s the northernmost museum on Museum Mile, the rich line of cultural institutions on the East side of Manhattan. El Museo was founded by Raphael Montañez 45 years ago in order to promote the Latinx artists that other museums had ignored. The museum’s collection contains over 6,500 art objects that represent over 800 years of history in the Caribbean, Latin America, and elsewhere.
Located on the ground floor of Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter East Harlem Gallery showcases artworks in a variety of media that explore social issues. The gallery frequently partners with organizations like El Museo to bring a diversity of artistic voices from around the city. Like all HEH exhibitions, QUEENIE will be free for all visitors. It’s open Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 12-5pm.
El Museo del Barrio is located at 1230 Fifth Ave. Call 212-831-7272 or visit elmuseo.org for more information.
Hunter East Harlem Gallery is located in Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work at 2180 3rd Ave. Call 212-396-7819 and visit huntereastharlemgallery.org for more information.
