Latino Arts Inc. collaborates with the Centennial Celebration of Women at Marquette to welcome Clara Andrea Rojas Mocetón, also known as Andrea Rojas, to the city. The artist is debuting an exhibition at the United Community Center (UCC) titled “Freedom Without Borders.” The exhibit opens Feb. 26, coinciding with Rojas traveling here from Bogotá, Colombia, and continues through April 16.
Rojas’ 45 paintings and 17 block prints study the Colombian landscape, particularly the country’s rain forests and jungles, through abstract expressionism. Her evocative colors represent the brilliant hues displayed in South America’s exotic natural habitats, including emerald green and ruby parrots, fiery orange flora and the burning yellow sun.
The South American jungle represents a dichotomy in Rojas’ life story. The jungle environment, such an integral part of Colombia’s land, contains relationships layered with violence, corruption and fear, yet it also harbors valuable resources and nourishes complex, majestic diversity among its inhabitants.
This positive energy from Colombia embodies Rojas’ small print series Conciencia Pristina (2009),or “pristine conscience.” These smaller, more defined abstractions suggest a moral responsibility regarding the usage of Colombian resources.
“How encouraging to see Colombia represented in the states, especially with the logistics involved [in bringing the exhibitions to Milwaukee], says Zulay Oszkay, Latino Arts’ artistic director. “We’re lucky to have the art here.”
Rojas will give a talk at Marquette University’s Haggerty Museum of Art on Thursday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m., and the exhibition’s opening reception will take place at the UCC on Feb. 26, 5-7:30 p.m. Following the UCC reception, composer and pianist Pablo Mayor, another Colombian artist, performs at Latino Arts with his 11-piece band to complete a festive evening that offers Milwaukee a snapshot of Colombian culture.
At MIAD, the exhibition “Transitional/Transcultural: New Paradigms for a New Century” explores cultural diversity through art. The show, part of the college’s “Culture in Transition” series, closes Feb. 27.
Eight artists, including former Mary L. Nohl Fellow Jason Yi and Madison’s Tom Jones, present individual cross-cultural viewpoints through this multimedia exhibit. Installation, painting, photography, sculpture and video portray altered boundaries that challenge preconceived notions about the interrelationships between heritage and personal ethnic identities.
Carol Hamoy’s otherworldly installation Welcome to America, transported here from New York, reveals past stories of female immigrants. Her translucent, tattered and stained nightdresses suspended from the ceiling appear like supernatural memories. Hamoy’s garments include imprints of actual names, dates and home countries. Like the exhibition’s other artists, Hamoy expresses a global conversation that quietly speaks volumes when one listens with an open mind.
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