FACTION Art Projects presents the inaugural exhibition “All That You Have Is Your Soul,” a group show of 17 Cuban artists linked by their responses to building identity in a foreign land. This exhibition will be on view through Saturday, March 10, 2018. FACTION Art Projects is located at
2602 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, New York.

Artists in this exhibition are: Alejandro Aguilera, Anthony Goicolea, Armando Mariño, Ariel Cabrera Montejo, Elsa Mora, Enrique De Molina, Ernesto Pujol, Geandy Pavon, Jairo Alfonso, Juan Carlos Quintana, Juan Miguel Pozo, Juana Valdés, Maria Magdalena Campos Pons, Marc Dennis, Maritza Molina, Pavel Acosta, and Quisqueya Enriquez.

Description: FACTION Art Projects presents their inaugural exhibition, All That You Have Is Your Soul, a group show of 17 artists, all of whom are tied together by their responses to building identity within a foreign land. The exhibition uses the link of heritage between the artists to present artworks that celebrate difference in identity distant descendants. This starting point, a key point of identity for some, but not for others, offers a tangible bond in their linked roots, but the overriding premise is that as a group they mean to redefine themselves within their unique circumstance.

Exhibitions on Cuban art thus far have tended to establish borders and define their subject through polarization: generations, inside/outside, national/foreign, made in the Island versus created elsewhere. In a world of fusing boundaries and erased frontiers, is there a need to be defined by these terms? The claim of “Cubanidad” for contemporary art has become in most of the cases an artificial construction that complies with commercial, institutional or political interests.

All That You Have Is Your Soul, on the contrary, invites participants to express their own opinions on what it means, fundamentally to be an artist. The struggle of being of an artist, regardless of background, is visible in the physical manifestations of their practice. Inevitably, each perspective is different, and it is only through this that we can truly begin to comprehend the complexity of human creativity. The artists gathered here come from different circumstances and their work departs from very diverse premises. With this exhibition, we want to subtract weight from the well-worn “Cuban Art” label, and in a way relativize or undermine this notion.”

A central theme of the show is the celebration of diversity. The artists involved are of a variety of ages, genders, sexualities, and races. The location of Harlem, New York is significant as a place that is thriving with a culturally diverse community. Its rich mix of people makes it a platform from which to embrace difference, without preconceived notions of race and culture. The show does not present the artificially conceptualized “national art”. The artists here reunited do belong in a certain kind of nation, but it is an expanded and infinite one; the contemporary nation of the Art World.

Throughout the show, FACTION will seek to engage with local communities of the Harlem neighborhood. This will include a series of School Workshops, Curators’ Talks, a Family Opening, Artist Workshops, Panel Discussions and a Cuban Cultural Evening. Speakers include Joaquin Badajoz, Ernesto Mendez Conde, Meyken Barreto, Armando Marino and Juana Valdes.

For more information, see https://www.harlemonestop.com/event/25888/all-that-you-have-is-your-soul