ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
We are excited to be hosting 'GLORY: Glorifying the beauty of the Island and the Horrors of the Colony' in collaboration with AM:PM Gallery in the historically Boricua community of Los Sures, Williamsburg. This exhibition calls for artists to highlight the dichotomy that is our Island in all its beauty and all its distress. As a colony of whom some of its indigenous culture has persisted and much of its current culture is heavily influenced by its various colonizers, we recognize our identity is complicated. Though complicated, we survive and thrive in joy and glory.
Artists for Puerto Rico is calling for artists to submit work that amplifies both the beauty of our history and the horror that still impacts our people today.
ABOUT THE ART
BOMBA & Mini Canvases
by LizBNYC
Bomba was the first known genre of music in Borikén. It was developed by our African ancestors on the island in the 16th century. It was used to express themselves, tell stories and communicate revolts. Bomba is a powerful form of resistance. When you dance Bomba, you are claiming space with your body. Hundreds of years later, Bomba is still used as an expression of our culture and resistance. We use it to honor and pay tribute to our ancestors.
DETAILS
BOMBA — 20”x24” Mixed Media on Canvas — $787
MINI CANVASES — 3”x3” Acrylic Marker — $25 each
LA MADONNA
by Paula Maria Persiani
DETAILS
6’x4’ Acrylic Paint on Paper and Wood — $Inquire for Pricing
LA MITAD (THE MIDDLE)
“La Mitad (The Middle)” encompasses the idea of beauty and vibrancy existing right next to distress. In this piece, I combined fabric, embroidery, tufted yarn, stamped patterns, paint, and jewelry. I then coated half of the piece in beige spray paint to represent how it feels watching our culture being whitewashed and stripped of vibrancy. While the single coat of paint removes the colors, it can not conceal the texture. During my visit to Puerto Rico, I witnessed how deeply colonization had attempted to assert control, yet the island’s culture refused to be silenced. As a Latin American, beauty and distress coexist within me, shaping a complex and layered identity. By sharing this experience, I find comfort in existing "en la mitad."
DETAILS
26"x32" Mixed Media on Canvas — $1,271
A MI ISLA
by Alyssa Monet
This piece was created in light of a feeling of disconnection to culture and identity tied to the fact that the artist after 24 years still had not stepped foot into her ancestral homeland. A proud Nuyorican connected to her family’s home of over 50 years in the historically Puerto Rican neighborhood of Los Sures, this piece hangs connecting the land of the displaced to the ancestral island.
DETAILS
20” x 24” Pastel on Paper — $987
BODEGA
by Paula Maria Persiani
DETAILS
48” x 44” x 5” Oil paint, ink, spray paint, oil pastel, acrylic on muslin stretched on wooden shipping pallet — $Inquire for Pricing
BOLSA DE BANDANAS
“Bolsa de Bandanas” embodies glory because of its vibrant color and homage to ancestral resistance. This purse was created from a pink puffer jacket and resewn with added embroidery and jewelry. The puffer jacket hung in the back of my closet for a long time because I didn’t have the confidence to wear the vibrant pink color. Through connecting with community, I learned how to embrace who I am and not be ashamed of my desire to be loud and colorful. Bandanas have long been symbols of resistance, from Pancho Villa’s use during the Mexican Revolution to the queer community’s adoption of them in the 1970s to create the secret handkerchief code. Works like this remind me that joy and vibrancy are always possible to create because I am neither the first nor the last in this ongoing fight against oppression.
DETAILS
22"x32" — $288
BOMBA
by Paula Maria Persiani
DETAILS
48” x 24” Acrylic on Wood — $Inquire for Pricing
Puerto Rico Will Continue To Be Bled
by John Bravo DeMicoli
This piece is a graphic representation about the violent extraction La Junta & the Financial Oversight and Management Board is forcing on Puerto Rico.
DETAILS
48”x36” Acrylic on Canvas — $Inquire for Pricing
NUYORICAN
by Alyssa Monet
This piece was created to be worn by the artist marching alongside independence groups at the 2024 NYC Puerto Rican Day Parade. The piece was completely hand sewn and painted in a rough style to reflect the streets that Nuyoricans walk everyday.
DETAILS
Skirt, 100% Cotton Hand-Sewn and Acrylic Painted — $370
Ixisábara (resist) / Aléja (return)
by Jai
Hand carved linoleum stamps depicting Taíno petroglyphs y un cemí over a political newspaper page from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Politics are overwhelming, our ancestors are reassuring. I ground myself remembering the strength it took them for me to be here.
DETAILS
12”x12” Mixed Media — $Inquire for Pricing
MORNINGS TO REMEMBER
by Destyni “Desi” Swoope
DETAILS
20”x16” Acrylics and Found Fiber Multimedia — $600
LOST THEN FOUND IN BK
by Kiera Del Vecchio
“Lost Then Found in Brooklyn” explores the loss of identity, home, safety, and community that Boricua youth face as colonial subjects of the american empire, who so frequently have no option but to migrate to the diaspora. Utilizing a myriad of found and collected materials ranging from magazine clippings, personal mementos, watercolor paintings, and fabric - within the framing of a shopping bag- the viewer is asked to reflect on their privilege in relationship to resources. Several powerful images remind the viewer about the grave realities of what youth of the archipelago have suffered. Young boys have long been seen as bodies to serve the US war machine. Young girls’ bodily autonomy has been stolen from them in inhumane sterilizations.We reflect on our resources because it will take all of our collective power to protect and liberate her. In community, we find ways to give and receive strength para que la lucha sigue, simpre pa’lante.
DETAILS
Assemblage — $150
LA ENERGIA DE VENUS
by Breezy D King
The meaning behind this artwork can be described in three words: Liberation, transcendence, and awareness. It fits well with the call for this exhibition as we are reminded of the internal power we have and hopefully will remind the viewer of their own strengths passed down to them from spaces of love and struggle. This fits well as I hope it helps empower anyone who interacts with this digital art piece.
DETAILS
24”x24” Acrylics and Found Fiber Multimedia — $Inquire for Pricing