Lucia Hierro for Public Art Fund

Lucia Hierro (b. 1987, New York, NY; lives and works in The Bronx, New York)The Daily Bread/El Pan de Cada Día, 2020Digital imageCourtesy the artist

For this work, I not only wanted to replicate a bodega but also to highlight the moments which mimic Colmados in the Dominican Republic; depicting baked goods, root vegetables, and other items Americans may not immediately recognize. They function as everything stores but most importantly are a place where neighbors commune. The survival of these small businesses is so important to me. These spaces offer a little piece of home to those from the island.

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Art on the Grid responds to this historic moment. Our lives have been completely transformed by the devastation of a global pandemic and the rise of one of the largest social justice movements in modern history. This spring, Public Art Fund invited 50 emerging New York-based artists to reflect on the current situation as a way to help our communities process the challenges we face together. In different ways, COVID-19 and the renewed urgency over systemic racism that led to protests in our streets and a movement for change have reshaped our day-to-day lives including the ways we interact and experience our city. The exhibition gives a highly visible public platform to artists whose regular creative outlets have been stifled, commissioning them to make new, responsive works of art. Art on the Grid enables the people of New York to reflect, to engage with the city in new ways, and to begin conversations with neighbors, friends, and strangers alike.

The exhibition roster features 50 artists from 18 countries. The artists were prompted to respond to the broad themes of reconnection and renewal, interpreted through their different perspectives and personal narratives. The resulting works draw on their experiences of New York City, its people, and places. They include reflections on moments of spontaneity, intimacy, isolation, loss, healing, and rebuilding, as well as aspirations to create a more just, inclusive, and equitable future. Now more than ever, public art–open, free, and accessible to all–has the ability to serve as a vital tool in the creative and spiritual recovery of our city.

The 50 artworks in Art on the Grid form a decentralized group exhibition on the city’s public transportation and communication infrastructure. Launched in two phases—on June 29 and July 27—the works are housed on 500 bus shelters’ advertising panels and on more than 1,700 wifi kiosks’ digital screens located across the five boroughs. Clusters of works by multiple artists along a bus route are intended to create new art viewing itineraries or simply to enliven the days of those who encounter them fortuitously. The captivating works conceived by these artists re-envision the city itself as an outdoor gallery, reminding us that even in times of adversity, artistic expression is indispensable to the creation of a culture that truly reflects and responds to our contemporary world.

Art on the Grid is curated by Public Art Fund Director & Chief Curator Nicholas Baume, Public Art Fund Curator Daniel S. Palmer, and Public Art Fund Assistant Curator Katerina Stathopoulou.

The first group of ten new artworks unveiled on June 29 are by Firelei Báez, Arielle Bobb-Willis, Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Rafael Domenech, Chase Hall, Doron Langberg, Sharon Madanes, Emily Mae Smith, Cynthia Talmadge, and Andre D. Wagner.

The second group of 40 new artworks unveiled on July 27 are by Nina Chanel Abney, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Kamrooz Aram, Leilah Babirye, Chloë Bass, María Berrío , Elizabeth Bick, Zach Bruder, Jordan Casteel, Sara Cwynar, Jeremy Dennis, Marley Freeman, Ivan Forde, Chitra Ganesh, Oto Gillen, Baris Gokturk, Lucia Hierro, Esteban Jefferson, Yifan Jiang, Cheyenne Julien, Adam Khalil, Baseera Khan, Andrew Kuo, Sophie Larrimore, Nate Lewis, Joiri Minaya, Willa Nasatir, Jordan Nassar, Madhini Nirmal, Stephen Obisanya, Danielle Orchard, Anna Ostoya, Anna Park, GaHee Park, Jamaal Peterman, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Adrienne Elise Tarver, Salman Toor, D’Angelo Lovell Williams, and Wong Kit Yi.

Seeking to broaden our reach and assemble a group of 50 outstanding emerging artists who collectively reflect the richness and multiplicity of New York City’s artistic community, Public Art Fund’s curatorial team invited 30+ colleagues to submit names for consideration. These nominators include artists, curators, cultural leaders, and luminaries from academia and cultural non-profits. Through this process we were able to rapidly identify an extraordinarily diverse group of artists, while simultaneously deepening connections with peers in the field at a moment when so many of us felt disconnected by the pandemic.

With heartfelt thanks to our remarkable colleagues for their contributions: Cecilia Alemani, Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art; Farah Al Qasimi, artist; Miguel Aragon, Assistant Professor, College of Staten Island, The City University of New York; Tauba Auerbach, artist; Jessica Bell Brown, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, The Baltimore Museum of Art; Isolde Brielmaier, Curator-at-Large, International Center of Photography (ICP); A.K. Burns, artist; Emma Enderby, Chief Curator, The Shed; Adriana Farmiga, artist; Andrea Geyer, artist; Jeffrey Gibson, artist; Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, The Studio Museum in Harlem; Hugh Hayden, artist; Carmen Hermo, Associate Curator, Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum; Matthew Higgs, Director, White Columns; Shanay Jhaveri, Assistant Curator, International Art, Modern and Contemporary Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Ruba Katrib, Curator, MoMA PS1; Martin Kersels, Director of Graduate Studies in Sculpture, Yale; Thomas Lax, Curator, Department of Media and Performance, Museum of Modern Art; Christopher Y. Lew, Nancy and Fred Poses Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art; Jennifer McGregor, Senior Director of Arts, Education and Programs, Wave Hill; Alan Michelson, artist; Ugo Rondinone, artist; Walid Raad, artist; Xaviera Simmons, artist; Sarah Sze, artist; Kelly Taxter, Barnett and Annalee Newman Curator of Contemporary Art, The Jewish Museum; Mickalene Thomas, artist; Mark Tribe, MFA Department Chair, SVA; Tomas Vu, LeRoy Neiman Professor and Artistic Director, LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies, Columbia University; Jasmine Wahi, Holly Block Social Justice Curator, Bronx Museum of the Arts; Hank Willis Thomas, artist.

Hypebeast on Cody Hudson for Nike

As part of Nike’s Artist in Residence program, dubbed A.I.R., Chicago-based artist Cody Hudson will drop the second installment of his collection. Featuring Hudson’s signature abstract motifs inspired by his work as a graphic designer, the Pegasus 36 and Epic Phantom React Flyknit sneakers take on an updated ’60s counter-culture aesthetic.

The Pegasus 36 is printed with loose circles and geometric shapes, accented with a bright yellow swoosh and midsole gradient. In contrast, the Epic Phantom React Flyknit sports an all-over blue polka dot print on its upper with a yellow tongue and heel tabs. As part of the second installment, Hudson’s prints are also employed on a selection of apparel and accessories, featuring playfully printed lightweight jackets, T-shirts, shorts, socks and caps.

Hudson’s conceptual designs convey a sense of constant motion and togetherness through their bold colors and organic shapes. “The hand-painted dot pattern that is used through the line was meant to convey a feeling of movement and motion, but in a less-than-perfect way,” Hudson says. “To me, the dots feel like individuals all coming together to form something bigger when you see it as a larger pattern.”

LINK | HYPEBEAST

PAMM acquisition: Lucia Hierro

Primary is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of Lucia Hierro's "Can I Borrow a Cup of Sugar" by the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) for their permanent collection. Congratulations to Lucia Hierro and we would like to express much appreciation to the curatorial team: Maria Elena Ortiz, Rene Morales, Jennifer Inacio, Maritza M. Lacayo, and Franklin Sirmans. 

“As Miami’s flagship arts institution, PAMM must do what we can to shine a light on the city’s vibrant, multi-cultural community of artists and galleries who have been hit hard by the current crisis,” said PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans. “Our Collectors Council, made up of prominent Miami-based collectors, has purchased an impactful selection of works—the most ever in its 15 years of operation—which both supports the Miami arts community and bolsters our collection in a major way.”

In celebration, we will be extending Lucia's exhibition Vecinos/Neighbors until June 20, 2020, and will be resuming regular hours starting this Thursday, May 28 at 11 AM.

Every possible sanitation precaution will be taken when inviting you back into our home asking all our friends to wear a mask for everyone's safety while we navigate through these unfamiliar first steps. 

If you would like to arrange a private appointment to view the exhibition, please contact the gallery via e-mail at info@thisisprimary.com.

Link to Announcement on PAMM

Commissioner on Cristina Gonzalez

For Cristina Gonzalez, co-founder of Primary, it's all about cultivating a space where creativity is celebrated in community. We sat down with Cristina to learn more about her personal journey, her relationship with art, and what it's like to run a gallery in Miami. 

When asked about her home, designed by Keenen/Riley Architects as a place for living and to present art, Cristina explained: "This space has allowed us to interact with people in a way where we can learn and get to know them. Less transactional, more warm. More human."

Cristina Gonzalez was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Art with a minor in Art History from Florida International University. In 2007, Gonzalez co-founded Primary Flight, a grassroots public art program with a focus on site-specific, street level, mural installations launching in the Miami Design District and the Wynwood Arts District, Miami FL. Today, she continues her partnership at Primary, a context and research-driven curatorial collective with a focus on public arts. Located in Little River, Miami, this private residence explores modern ideas on the subject of live/work connecting new voices in contemporary art with growing audiences and collections. She has executed public art projects in Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Chicago, IL, Havana, Cuba, and multiple cities across Canada from East to West coast. Her Chicago based public art program, The Arts Initiative, received a Gold U.S. Maxi Award for A Cause-Related Project that Benefits Community Interests. Parallel to Primary, she participates in the development of the Artist-in-House Residency program for Soho House, a private club for the film and creative industry, and is the curatorial partner for Commissioner, a Knights Art Challenge grantee which aims to bring South Florida together through new creative concepts.

on Instagram: @jojoto

Commissioner is a membership program that helps art enthusiasts learn more about art collecting, build their art collection, visit artist studios, and explore collector homes.

Designed to cultivate a more connected, arts-invested Miami community, our program provides members with the opportunity to receive four original, limited edition artworks by thriving, contemporary visual artists in Miami.

Memberships are available for purchase on a first-come, first-serve basis, and include a robust program of thoughtfully-planned and engaging events throughout the year that gives our community access to unique experiences and curated content.

We offer fundraising as a means of organizing and design inclusive fundraising and collecting programs for the benefit of artists.

Link : Commissioner

Art Forum on Lucia Hierro

Walter Mercado, the cherished Puerto Rican astrologer, died last November; in January, Chinese media reported the first known death from COVID-19. The uncorrelated events seem to outline a cosmic ambigram: The loss of someone who was, for many, a divine comfort twists into the systemic upheaval of terrene life.

Mercado appears alongside traditional holiday candies in Lucia Hierro’s Portate bien para que te dejen lo reye (all works 2020), a digital collage on suede depicting ephemera recognizable to Caribbean and Latino families, on view in the artist's exhibition “Vecinos / Neighbors.” Throughout, Hierro brings together and enlarges objects, often but not always culturally specific, that are used by her actual neighbors. Saint candles, commonly sold at bodegas, are rendered more than three feet tall. A cover of the widely circulated newspaper AM New York is replicated on a blanket-size piece of suede, made physically comforting. (Over email, Hierro told me she once watched a man blow his nose into an issue of the free daily, and mused, fondly, “That’s my neighbor.”)

The word vecino implies vicinity, and the gallery comes to resemble a rebus for a city block, with stand-ins for the corner store as much as the strewn detritus. See the giant tub of Vicks VapoRub (Black Bag Up a Six Floor Walk-Up) and the colossal rendering of a take-out menu (Las Mellas Menu). Primary is located in a predominantly Caribbean neighborhood; Hierro invited its neighbors to hang with her relatives at the exhibition’s opening, a week before the citywide shutdown. Visiting the space later, once social distancing began, I found the works unwittingly eerie, transformed into artifacts of the community that inspired them. While Hierro’s works relate to the trend for supersize totems as shorthand for identity, “Vecinos / Neighbors” is less about personal tropes than shared ones.

— Monica Uszerowicz

Link | Art Forum

Artsy on Lucia Hierro

In Primary’s brightly painted space, Lucia Hierro presents objects and symbols from her upbringing in Washington Heights, New York, on a monumental scale. Titled “Vecinos/Neighbors,” the show is the Dominican-American artist’s first solo exhibition in Miami, where she hoped the gallery’s predominantly Haitian and Dominican neighborhood would recognize aspects of their own daily lives in the work.

Drawing on her previous “Mercado” and “Bodegon” series, Hierro’s new body of work is focused on Latinx experiences that have typically been excluded from galleries. With an oversized bag of Goya red kidney beans and Vicks VapoRub in Black Bag Up a Six Floor Walk-Up (2020), Hierro nods to Andy Warhol’s towering Brillo boxes and Campbell’s soup cans. Nearby, a more-than three-foot-tall sculpture of a bag of Domino sugar, titled Can I Borrow a Cup of Sugar (2020), speaks to communal care—a theme that is prevalent throughout Hierro’s practice. “A family made this happen,” Hierro shared in a recent email exchange. “The title of the show really shaped the making of the works and mirrors how I work in general.” Now in the midst of a global pandemic, this sense of neighborly support and solidarity is especially critical, but it’s nothing new to Hierro, who now lives and works in the Bronx. “It’s important to understand that certain communities were already supporting each other through hard times,” she said.

— Harley Wong

LINK | ARTSY

Amadeus on Cody Hudson

CODY HUDSON CREATES ABSTRACT COMPOSITIONS THAT EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HUMAN TOUCH

Los Angeles and New York City are typically over-credited when it comes to art and culture in the US. As a cultural capital in its own right, Chicago has long held a stake as a creative laboratory not just in the states, but globally. The Windy City is a proud sports town and a musical mecca that spawned the swinging compositions of Benny Goodman and the funk-induced Jazz of Herbie Hancock, to the inception of House music along with a myriad of rappers and producers. Chicagoans do things differently, and they are damn proud of it. Take Cody Hudson, an artist and designer who’s abstract shapes and compositions provide a refreshing human touch in our increasingly digital world. Hudson has traveled across the country throughout his career, but ultimately knew that the midwest would always be home base. 

A master of shape and color, Hudson works across mediums and designs under his studio, Struggle Inc. His aesthetic feels familiar, carrying a childlike curiosity that gives each piece a primal yet inviting nature that begins to take on new meanings alongside each other and the surrounding spaces. Having exhibited across the world, Hudson has worked along a range of products, murals and prints for clients that range from Nike, Stussy and Undefeated to Pitchfork, Starbucks and the MCA. I hopped on a chat with Hudson to discuss his work and what the Midwest means to him. I’d like to know a little more about your roots growing up in the Midwest, floating around the country, getting into art and the influences that inform your work?

I was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It’s right in-between Milwaukee and Chicago so we got influenced by both cities growing up. I grew up skateboarding and going to punk shows and making zines and drawing on my grip tape and all that stuff. I didn’t realize until years later that some of what I was doing was basically graphic design or what we called it back then “Commercial Art”. I was working at Piggly Wiggly also and that was starting to get old so I tried to focus more on finding ways to turn making flyers for friends’ rave parties and such into more of a real job.

What about the Midwest do you believe often gets overlooked — charms that you can’t quite get in the big coastal cities such as LA or NYC?

The Midwest is the Midwest. I think you either love it or you don’t get it. I just happen to be from here, love it here, and will probably always live here. I like the honesty of the people; I like the work ethic; I like the food and the music. I moved around for years thinking that the location of where I lived was going to change my life; after 10 years of that I realized the change that needed to happen was in my own head not in a new city, so I came back home and started focusing on that.

Chicago is a cultural mecca in its own right — from its sports heritage to music, art and design — what about Chicago do you believe cultivates this creativity?

There are a lot of creative people here who want to do good work and represent the city in their own way. I feel it also gets looked down at and constantly reminded that it’s not NY or LA so I think people take pride in doing good things here and putting in the work.

In our increasingly digital age, your work embraces the human touch. How would you describe your art and are there any messages you try to convey?

I like making stuff by hand, I’m getting old. I started doing graphic design before they used computers to do graphic design so my hands have always been a big part of my work. I also think my time focusing more on painting and sculpture has only pushed that more into my practice. I think something made by hand has a more honest feel to me; it’s not trying to be perfect. When I cut out a circle I like that it has imperfections, I don’t need or want to try and make it be a perfect circle.

Paintings tend to flow out more naturally for you, where there isn’t a particular image or predetermined goal in mind. In hindsight, what would you say influences much of the final mark — be it music, film, art or anything really.

Everything around me makes its way into the work in some way or another. Music, art, walking in the woods, plants, nature, animals, my family, human emotions, feelings, etc.

What tracks and artists are currently on the playlist now?

It’s been pretty mellow around the studio lately, Listening to a decent amount of Mary Lattimore, Joseph Shabason, Arp, Sign Libra, and more mellow music in the AM. Been also listening and getting back into a lot of Grateful Dead and Mazzy Star lately. Usually try to pick up the tempo later in the day and get into some more house music or electronic jams.

Ellsworth Kelly’s iconic colors and shapes stemmed from his memories — from the reflection of the Seine to the back of a military caravan during WWII — as a fellow abstract artist, do you see a through line with the work you’ve created and are there particular themes or memories you attribute to them?

The titles of my work reference particular moments for me more than I think the paintings themselves do. In some situations though, I’ll have a body of work that’s very inspired by a specific landscape (like the high desert for example). Sometimes that’s based on memory but a lot of times it’s also where those sketches or initial studies were made as I like to work from the road, so some works can feel very connected to a place in my head but others are pretty far removed.

Having dabbled in a variety of mediums and collaborated with studios and companies from around the world, what have been some of your favorite projects and why?

I like any project that challenges me or gets me to be able to experience something new. Lately I’ve been working towards larger and larger public art murals where the scale of it becomes what starts to excite me about the project. I also like projects that really make their way out into the world. I’ve had some recent commercial projects that ended up all over the globe, so seeing that is always nice.

You recently exhibited at the David B. Smith Gallery in Denver, can you tell us a little more about the formation of this body of work?

This is a series of paintings and sculptures loosely based on what I thought the landscape of Denver would look like. I purposely didn’t do any research so they are not real references but a lot of the works in the show for me were meant to be imaginary landscapes that just existed in my head.

Any shows or collaborations you’re working on in this new year? 

I’ve got a big show in April at Andrew Rafacz Gallery. I’ll be showing in both spaces as well as painting a large mural on the outside of the gallery. I’ve got a book of my work coming out this summer with Hat & Beard Press that’s been in the works for a minute. The thing I’m probably most looking forward to though is spending some time in the woods with my family this summer and looking for turtles and frogs on the lake in Wisconsin.

For more from Cody Hudson, follow him on Instagram.

LINK to AMADEUS

Words by SHAWN GHASSEMITARI

Evan Robarts at Kunsthalle Bremerhaven

Artist: Evan Robarts | Exhibition title: Direct Reflections

Venue: Kunsthalle Bremerhaven, Bremerhaven, Germany

Date: November 16, 2019 – January 5, 2020

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists, Kunsthalle Bremerhaven and Berthold Pott

Evan Robarts takes his inspiration for his works from the urban landscapes of the metropolises. The American artist pays special attention to the external processes of change in the urban core, which he observes critically. In his works gentrification, repression and disregard for social structures and cultures are reflected in critical discourse.

In his first institutional solo exhibition in Germany at the Kunsthalle Bremerhaven, these themes are reflected in large-scale installations, sculptures, wall works and wall sculptures.

In the large exhibition hall, the artist has erected one of his ‘scaffold’ installations across a corner, placed directly in front of the wall, eight meters on the long side, five meters on the short side and 3.5 meters high, reaching almost to the ceiling. The transverse and diagonal metal struts of the scaffolding produce geometric forms such as rectangles, squares and triangles. Taking up these forms, Robarts painted corresponding fields of color on the wall, mostly in primary colors, supplemented by black and a few secondary colors. Scaffolding as a symbol of architectural change is elevated here to an oversized site-specific painting. The painting of the street, the change, the image in everyday life enter into a symbiosis with the tradition of Street Art tradition, while at the same time also referring to the tradition of 1960s American Color Field painting. Almost like a memorial, the installation towers over the viewer – overwhelming and threatening at the same time – as the artist experiences this every day in his own city, on every corner, especially in the developing areas in many parts of Brooklyn.

The installation is complemented by two other artworks in the same hall. Opposite the scaffolding installation is a wall work consisting of various fragments, like a jigsaw puzzle that no longer quite fits together, measuring approximately 230 x 230 cm in total. On closer inspection, one recognizes that these are pieces of a floor covering of black and white vinyl tiles including a wooden floor, which resembles a checkerboard pattern. The artist found these ‘fragments’ in front of a house under renovation. Like relics from the past, questions arise about the history of the house and its inhabitants – relics that Robarts has now reassembled, preserved and put into new contexts, thus according them new attention and meaning.

At the end of the hall, under the large wooden gallery, stands a white plinth roughly one meter in height. On this, the artist has placed a used basketball as a readymade, framed by a lead-glazed polygon made by the hand of the artist. Like a mausoleum, it encloses the ball, which appears in many of Robarts’ works and serves him as a symbol of children’s play, of playfulness in general. Robarts finds these balls in and around the fenced-in sports courts of the city, symbol of ‘fenced-in childhoods’ and the isolation of the game, reduced to a few squares. In the corridors of the Kunsthalle are other works related to this basketball sculpture, such as a freestanding work consisting of two unfolded wire mesh fences that enclose such sports courts. Small plastic balls have become entangled in the wire mesh, hanging like flies in a spider web.

In the so-called ‘Kabinett’ of the Kunsthalle, a second, somewhat smaller exhibition space, are three sculptures from the artist’s ‘Newspeaks’ series. One of these sculptures stands on the floor while two hang on the wall, whereby one of them is placed quite high towards the ceiling and thus away from eye level. These are wire-frame newspaper racks such as those generally found in New York’s subways, which contain free newspapers. The attached metal signs reveal the names of the tabloid newspapers, ‘Epoch Week’ and ‘The Epoch Times’, which are said to have strong propaganda messages and ostensibly a close connection with the Chinese government. Robarts unfolded them like paper, transforming them into bird-like sculptures whose wings, head, and tail are recognizable despite their abstract forms. Robarts thus elevates them to flying American eagles, the USA’s national symbol of freedom, pride and grace. In connection with the dubious autonomy of these newspapers, Robarts poses questions about the freedom of the press in times of the ‘fake-news’ debate of the Trump era.

Evan Robarts (b. 1982, lives and works in Brooklyn, New York City) studied art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at Berthold Pott (Cologne), Bryce Wolkowitz (New York), The Hole (New York), the Collection Frédéric de Goldschmidt (Brussels), Bank Gallery (Beijing), the Berman Museum (Collegeville, Pennsylvania), the Centre d’Action Culturelle (Niort, France), Balice Hertling (New York), Jérome Pauchant (Paris), the National Arts Club (New York), ‘Abstraction & Architecture’ at the Université Strasbourg, and the Pratt Institute (Brooklyn). Robarts is represented in Europe by the gallery Berthold Pott in Cologne.

Courtesy of Art Viewer

PAMM acquisition: Kenny Rivero

PÉREZ ART MUSEUM MIAMI ANNOUNCES NADA ACQUISITION GIFT

The New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) and Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) have announced the selection of the third annual NADA acquisition gift for the museum. PAMM associate curator María Elena Ortiz and assistant curator Jennifer Inacio have selected New Hat, 2019, by Dominican-American artist Kenny Rivero from Charles Moffett’s booth for the institution.

“We are thrilled to have acquired Kenny Rivero’s exceptional painting into our collection as it dialogues with PAMM’s commitment to Latinx and Caribbean artists,” the curators said. “We are grateful for NADA’s support and for presenting another great fair this year with groundbreaking art.” The initiative is funded by ticket sales of NADA Miami 2019, which closes on Sunday, December 8.

Known for his drawings, paintings, and sculptures that explore identity, the body, and masculinity, Rivero was born in Washington Heights, New York. He received his BFA in Fine Art from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in Manhattan and gained his MFA in painting and printmaking at the Yale University of Art in New Haven. He currently serves as a teaching artist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is an adjunct faculty member in SVA’s department of visual and critical studies.

“As an institution dedicated to presenting international modern and contemporary art, we are incredibly grateful PAMM has decided to acquire Kenny Rivero’s painting New Hat,” said Moffett. “To have this work included in such an important collection, which is committed to the diversity of twentieth and twenty-first century artists, PAMM’s acquisition is nothing short of a dream come true.”

via ARTFORUM

Commissioner on A.G.

“This isn’t about me being good, it’s about me doing it.” - A.G.

Filmed by Jorge Graupera. Much gratitude to Gary Ressler, Hernando's Hideaway, Miami City Ballet and Olympia Theater. Commissioner is supported by Knight Foundation, The New Tropic and Tito's Handmade Vodka.

For more information, visit commissioner.us.

Dallas Morning News on Lucia Hierro

Pop art and identity politics spark Lucia Hierro's Dallas show of uncommon depth

The 'Dominican New Yorker' tackles ideas related to minimalism, pop art, identity politics and consumer culture at Sean Horton (presents) in Oak Cliff. Lucia Hierro has brought her conceptual art to Dallas for her first solo show in Texas.(Nan Coulter / Special Contributor)

By John Zotos|

How can ideas related to minimalism, pop art, identity politics and a critique of consumer culture find themselves at play in a single body of work?

Such ambition drives the conceptual art of Lucia Hierro, who has opened her first solo show in Texas titled “Objetos Específicos” at Sean Horton (presents) in Oak Cliff.

A relative newcomer, the artist has slowly made a name for herself in the New York art world and has now set her eyes on Dallas as well. Hierro, who calls herself a “Dominican New Yorker,” studied art at Yale, completing a master of fine arts degree in 2013.

Lucia Hierro has opened her first solo show in Texas, "Objetos Específicos," at Sean Horton (presents) in Oak Cliff. The exhibition includes this site-specific mural titled Anchoring, which is composed of collaged imagery on vinyl decals.(Kevin Todora / Sean Horton (presents))

The exhibition includes several brand-new sculptures and a site-specific mural titled Anchoring, which is composed of collaged imagery on vinyl decals, adhered to a painted wall. Born into a family of Dominican immigrants, Hierro grew up in the Manhattan neighborhoods of Washington Heights and Inwood, places suffused with Latin Caribbean culture, from which she draws extensively for subject matter and perspective as an artist. Hierro arrived in Dallas almost a week before the opening to install the show.

The title of her exhibition is a translation into Spanish of an influential essay on minimalism, “Specific Objects,” written by Donald Judd and originally published in 1965. His contempt for art riddled with illusionism and narrative content paved the way for an exploration of spare, repetitive forms.

Hierro appropriates this aesthetic in her Rack series by retaining minimalism's metallic structures, but she subverts the format by adding fabricated bags depicting chicharrones, corn chips and platanitos: everyday comfort food items found in Latin bodegas.

Lucia Hierro's Rack: Platanitos is a 2019 digital print on brushed nylon, foam and powder-coated aluminum.(Kevin Todora / Sean Horton (presents))

The bags are larger than life-size, made of nylon and foam, each overlaid with a digital print. The work is serious but not without a sense of humor. She turns Judd’s theory on its head by way of the culinary.

Her choice of mass-market products, also present in the mural, undermines Judd’s disdain for recognizable images, while suggesting a critique of consumer culture akin to the purview of pop art. This also raises a question about how the products might depict a sense of identity or, perhaps conversely, have a hand in constructing this very identity via the consumable items themselves.

These questions and ideas are further played out in Mandao: Para Baby Chower (Hung Open) #1, her oversized plastic shopping tote filled with soft sculptures that represent various sundries and packaged items. The contents are clearly visible through the clear plastic. They suggest what the owner's choices reveal: personality, race, taste and even education level.

The soft sculptures are a direct reference to the pop artist Claes Oldenburg, whose work is a constant inspiration to the artist. For Hierro, it’s not merely a question about her particular situation and worldview.

Certainly, Latin American viewers would readily identify with the products and the “Spanglish” titles, but the ideas are large enough to interest people from various backgrounds, enriching the artistic dialogue.

Additionally, seeing the images brought together, enhanced in scale with their bold colors and strong outlines, underscores their seductive beauty. In our current era of late capitalism, these are all poignant and appropriate issues for advanced art to tackle in reference to aesthetics, commodity saturation and multiculturalism.

Exhibitions with art of such depth are few and far between, and therefore all the more important to see for yourself.