Art Exhibition: In the Spirit Y En El Espiritu: Works by Mariana Yampolsky

Through Tuesday, April 8
Bronx Kreate Hub, Bronx
Presented by En Foco, Inc.

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Bronx, NY - En Foco and Kreate Hub Bronx are proud to present Entre el Silencio: Meditations on Silence. This exhibition features a curated selection of photographs by artists Daniela Lopez-Amequita, Itzel Basualdo, Jennifer Villanueva, Luis M. Diaz, Odette Chavez-Mayo, and Roy Baizan. Curated by Xavier Robles Armas. The exhibition is part of En Foco’s mission to uplift, validate, and preserve the culture and legacy of diasporic lens-based artists. The exhibition will be on view from December 5, 2024 - April 8, 2025, at KreateHub Bronx located at 15 Canal Pl, Bronx, New York 10451, and virtually at enfoco.org. Public programs will be announced. Click here to RSVP for the opening reception. 

A companion exhibition In the Spirit Y En El Espíritu: Works by Mariana Yampolsky featuring archival portraits from the En Foco Archives and Nueva Luz Study Center is currently on view until March 31, 2025, at Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater at 575 Walton Ave, Bronx, New York 10451. 

Photography is a practice of magic, a craft that impacts the world in unpredictable ways and  finds its way into the spirit, shaping our understanding of who we are. It also reveals a psychosocial truth about the photographer, their subject, or both. The Mexican and Mexican-American artists in this exhibition speak through the ordinary, yet fantastical nature of image making. Embedded in the photographs are histories of place, ghostly memories, ritual, and contemplation. The photographers underscore themes of absence that demand to be understood despite their quietness. 

A healthy practice of photography is a relational one. It asks the receiver to understand, and to question. Photographers are asked to offer meaning in a world that often feels nonsensical. Yet it is those around us—our family, our homes, and our loved ones—that shape our life’s work. Our loved ones offer personal, immediate reminders that we exist and that life has meaning. The photographers in this exhibition also attempt to make sense of the world anchored by their loved ones. They ask: What does one make with silence, communion, and stillness? How do we find ourselves by resting and caring for another? And what might the ghostly offer for reflections on memory, space, and embodiment?

The work of these photographers shine light on topics that speak to the Mexican and Mexican-American experience of place which enable us to shift awareness to contemplation, reflection, and a silence that also demands attention and a need to be in our bodies.The quietude found in these images highlight the tensions between aspirations, pain and healing after arriving in a country hostile to immigrants. However, these artists make room for absence through the literal light and aspirations that we collectively hold alongside our loved ones.

ABOUT THE CURATOR:

Xavier Robles Armas is a multidisciplinary artist and curator with a focus on public space, photography, Mexican-American literature, and how migration shapes architecture in the U.S. He is currently the Events and Arts Manager at the Latinx Project, NYU, where he curated Tinkuy: Converging Ecologies (2023) and supported exhibitions like Re-collections (2024). A recent Leadership Institute Fellow at NALAC (2024), Xavier has also been part of the inaugural cohort of Latinx curators in the A&L Berg Foundation’s Early Stage Arts Professionals program. He has held fellowships at the Queens Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago, and worked with various institutions as a curator, educator, and programmer. Xavier is pursuing an MA in Performance Studies at NYU, holds an MFA in Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a BA in Architectural Studies from Hampshire College. Born in Zacatecas, Mexico, Xavier lives in Queens, New York—by way of Santa Ana, California.

ABOUT EN FOCO: 

En Foco, Inc. is a non-profit that supports U.S.-based photographers of African, Asian, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander heritage. Founded in 1974, En Foco makes their work visible to the art world, yet remains accessible to under-served communities. Through exhibitions, workshops, events, and publications, it provides professional recognition, honoraria, and assistance to photographers as they grow into different stages of their careers. The Nueva Luz Study Center (NLSC) makes our history accessible through the digital archives of all issues of the photographic journal since 1985.  Exhibitions, programs, and commissions are underway that focus on artists and issues that have been introduced in Nueva Luz For more information about En Foco, please visit www.enfoco.org.

ABOUT KREATE HUB:

Bronx Kreate Hub is a workspace and community incubator in Mott Haven that supports the growth and continued success of local artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs. Community members represent a diverse array of specialties, including animators, graffiti artists, photographers, designers, and community organizations like En Foco and the Mott Haven Film Festival among others. Studio spaces are available at an array of affordable price points, reaffirming Kreate Hub’s commitment to building community through access.

Image Credit: Luis M. Diaz, Detail of Untitled (Family Portrait on Dad’s Back), Canta Y No Llores series, 2022.

En Foco is supported in part with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, The Mellon Foundation, BronxCare Health System, The Joy of Giving Something, Inc., The Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, Ford Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Hispanic Federation, and Aguado-Pavlick Arts Fund.

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Schedule & Tickets

Through Tuesday, April 8 · tickets local_activity · add to calendar today 2025-01-06 09:00:00 2025-04-08 17:00:00 America/New_York Art Exhibition: In the Spirit Y En El Espiritu: Works by Mariana Yampolsky https://harlemonestop.com/event/33040/art-exhibition-in-the-spirit-y-en-el-espiritu-works-by-mariana-yampolsky Bronx Kreate Hub, 15 Canal Place, Bronx, NY, 10451