Puerto Rico Posts reminds us that artist Garvin Sierra’s exhibition, will open at : Pública cultural space on April 17, at 6:00pm. It will remain on view until May 15, 2024. The exhibition title, “ante la censura, saluda: Retratos de una deuda 2023-2024,” may be translated as “in the face of censorship, say hello: Portraits of a Debt 2023-2024” or “when facing censorship, salute…” : Pública is located at 1057 Ponce de León Avenue, Santurce, Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rican artist Garvin Sierra presents for the first time in Puerto Rico his new graphic proposal titled ante la censura, saluda: Retratos de una deuda 2023-2024, created as a result of a scholarship that allowed him to work in the residency studios of MassMoca, in North Adams, Massachusetts, in the summer of 2023. [. . .]

Sierra’s new proposal is a chronological account of colonial history and the $74 billion debt that Puerto Rico owes today. Retratos de una deuda 2023-2024 uses printing on thermal paper as a medium. Specifically, the paper used in purchase receipts, and printed with the same business printers, as a direct allusion to debt, and was created for a specific space of four completely covered walls.

In the words of art critic Nelson Rivera; “This very perishable medium is the best one to examine the situation that Garvin Sierra fleshes out here: the liquidating and resale of a nation. The graphic medium he chooses is, therefore, entirely consistent with the subject matter.”

Rivera adds, “Sierra addresses the problem of debt through the appropriation and regrouping of already known materials. On the one hand, images of events and portraits of figures that both yesterday and today constitute our trajectory as a nation, and on the other, the word, taken from popular texts, mass merchandise, and literature. Likewise, he intertwines our arts with the use of iconic images from the work of Francisco Oller, Antonio Martorell, Jack Delano, pop prints, and comics. In these chronicles woven together by Sierra, portraits of colonial governors, exploited workers, Taínos, and national heroes coexist in the same space, along with texts by Baby Rasta, Gringo, Tempo, Ñengo Flow, and Abelardo Díaz Alfaro. To summarize, burundanga.”

Garvin Sierra has had an artistic career of more than 20 years, during which he has contributed his critical and sharp vision on current issues, as well as deep reflections on life, social justice, and human relationships.

“If we were to summarize the characteristics that define Sierra’s art, we would say that he manifests a commitment to the political and social needs of his community. He trusts in the expressive power of both image and word. He connects technical experimentation with the critical issues on which he works. He draws on the understanding and relevance of the artistic activity that precedes him. He links his work to national history in order to influence it. Given the previous characteristics, our artist does not operate in a vacuum, since all of these also define one of Puerto Rico’s most unique gifts to humanity, Puerto Rican graphic art. Sierra has already carved out a precious space in the history of that legacy. Therefore, no graphics exhibition is complete without his work. Deprived of his art, such a display will be identical to colonial authority: fraudulent. Garvin Sierra is essential,” concludes Rivera.

“ante la censura, saluda: Retratos de una deuda 2023-2024” will be on display at : Pública until May 15, 2024. : Pública is located at 1057 Ponce de León Avenue, in the community of Alto del Cabro in Santurce. For more information you can call (787) 458-7345 or write to publicaespacio@gmail.com.

Translated by Ivette Romero. For original article (in Spanish), see https://puertoricoposts.com/abre-la-exposicion-ante-la-censura-saluda-retratos-de-una-deuda-2023-2024-de-garvin-sierra/

Also see previous post. https://repeatingislands.com/2024/04/04/forum-reflections-on-censorship-in-the-arts/