"America's Paradise" and "Isla Del Encanto": Contemporary Art from the American Caribbean September 18, 2007

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA), is proud to present “‘America’s Paradise’ and ‘Isla Del Encanto’: Contemporary Art from the American Caribbean” on view in SMFA’S Grossman Gallery from September 18–October 13, 2007. Though popular opinion associates the Caribbean with whimsical and exotic imagery, there is much more to these islands than a vacation destination. The twelve exhibiting artists are engaged in a serious, often angst-filled conversation about the myth of paradise. Ecological concerns, issues of identity, migration, and the complex economic, political, and social relationships with the U.S. are among the timely topics that inform their work.

Included in the exhibition are paintings and work on paper by Monica Marin, Elsa María Meléndez, Shansi Miller, Maud Pierre-Charles, and Rafael Trelles; sculptures by Luca Gasperi; an intervention piece by LaVaughn Belle; installations by Edgar Endress and Erik Pedersen; video documentation of installations by Mike Walsh; a video by Quintín Rivera-Toro; and a documentary film by Johanna Bermúdez Ruíz.

GALLERY HOURS:
Monday–Saturday: 10 am–5 pm
Thursday: 10 am–8 pm
Closed Sundays and Holidays

RELATED EVENTS:
Opening Reception
Grossman Gallery
Monday, September 17, 5–7 pm

Tuesday, September 25, 12:30 pm, Anderson Auditorium
Screening of the video Marcha triunfal hacia el Yo/Triumphant March Towards the Self by Puerto Rican artist Quintín Rivera-Toro. The video addresses issues of corporate construction of desires and excess.

Thursday, September 27, 12:30 pm, Anderson Auditorium
Screening of In Concrete and Urban Graphics in Vieques, two documentaries about Puerto Rican artist Rafael Trelles that feature his graphic art projects on walls, sidewalks, and lamp-posts throughout San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the Puerto Rican municipality of Vieques.

Thursday, October 4, 12:30 pm, Anderson Auditorium
Screening of the award-winning documentary Vieques: Una Isla Forjando Futuros/Vieques: An Island Forging Futures by Cruzan filmmaker Johanna Bermúdez Ruíz. The film highlights the peaceful resistance movement against the U.S. Navy’s bombing practices in Vieques, Puerto Rico. A conversation with Ruíz and SMFA faculty member Bonnie Donohue follows the screening.

Official Website: http://www.smfa.edu