Opening reception for the exhibition curated by professor Erika Abad will be Sept. 2.
The Weaving Our Cultures Arts Festival (WoCAF) and the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art are proud to present "Two Cultures, One Family: Building Family, Finding Home" Aug. 30, 2022 through Jan. 28, 2023. With this exhibition, professor Erika Abad draws on her personal experience as the daughter of a historically multiracial family to curate a selection of artists who invite us to ask questions about the way that ideas around family, gender, sex, and reproductive justice are negotiated today.
Abad’s curation moves across a wide array of media, encompassing paintings, sculptures, poetry, textiles, zines, videos, and drawings. Her themes range from reproductive genocide to the choices that LGBTQ+ American families are forced to make now that numerous states are pushing for trans- and homo- antagonistic legislation.
The artists she has chosen include Chris E. Vargas, the founder of the Museum of Transgender Hirstory and Art; the influential self-taught Chicano realist Hector Silva; and the formerly-undocumented Arizonan artist Gabriela Muñoz, as well as local artists such as Keeva Lough, Lyssa Park, and Xochil Xitlalli. "Two Cultures, One Family" features new work created specifically for this exhibition by the nation-spanning duo of Lisa and Janelle Iglesias (also known as Las Hermanas Iglesias), the Portland-based artist Lisa Jarrett (co-founder of Art 25, a collective dedicated to Black and Indigenous artists), and Las Vegas’ own Krystal Ramirez. The curator asks us to reflect on past injustices with the inclusion of ¿Y Tu Abuela Donde Esta? (Where is Your Grandmother?), a popular poem about racial hypocrisy by the Puerto Rican poet Fortunato Vizcarrondo (1895-1977).
“I hope this exhibition helps people feel seen,” Abad says. “To have their families feel seen. "Two Cultures" is a love letter to my mother and grandmother. While our struggles are different, I am here because of them – a testament to their resilience and sacrifice.”
"Two Cultures, One Family: Building Family, Finding Home" features work by Abayomi Brownfield, Fawn Douglas, Justin Favela, Noelle Garcia, Q’Shaundra James, Lisa Jarrett, Las Hermanas Iglesias, Keeva Lough, Linda Garcia Merchant, Gabriela Muñoz, Jean Munson, Lyssa Park, Krystal Ramirez, Hector Silva, Rose B. Simpson, Lance L. Smith, Chris E. Vargas, Fortunato Vizcarrondo, and Xochil Xitlalli.
The exhibition is made possible by The Intersection, the Psi Upsilon Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the Women's Research Institute of Nevada, and the UNLV University Libraries with assistance from Art, Architecture, and Design Librarian Richard Saladino.
The curator would like to give special thanks to her mother Aurea Abad, her sister Melissa Abad, and her aunt Cynthia Perry, in addition to the WoCAF collective, her friends and colleagues, Blanca Rincon, Iesha Jackson, and Doris Watson for supporting her throughout this venture.
The exhibition will be on view at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at UNLV from August 30, 2022 - January 28, 2023. Entry to the museum is free and open to the public Tuesday - Saturday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Masks are recommended.
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