<h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong>October 11, 2013 to July 26, 2014</strong></h3>
Spanish speaking countries in the Caribbean and Latin America share fundamental historical and colonial roots. However, there are also unique national and cultural variations between them as a result of their own indigenous heritages and/or regional histories. Contemporary artists and crafts people, sensitive to their cultural representations, understand that their recognized icons can be used to communicate essential ideas and meanings. To fully grasp an artist’s intent, the spectator must become familiar with the significance of the culturally specific iconographic content.  This project presents the diversity of the Latino community and to deepen the understanding between Latinos of different backgrounds and ethnicities. On our website, dialogue is being further supported, encouraged and promoted through full show descriptions, artists’ bios, introductions, and explanations of the iconography in their work. The public is encouraged to share their personal experiences about cultural differences, similarities and meaning through our web site and social media outlets.

Our 2013-14 exhibition cycle, <b><i>Taken: Iconography and Intent in Contemporary Latino Art (Taken)</i></b><i>, </i>is a sampling of artworks that introduce and equip the viewer with key knowledge and tools to reach a deeper understanding of Latino culture and Non-Western art. <i>Taken </i>will consist of a series of three group shows, each with its own central focus. The first show centered on the vejigante mask making tradition, and illustrated how traditional iconography transitions into personal artistic statements. The second show features two artists who thematically incorporate distinct female cultural imagery in their contemporary works that explore transcendental and philosophical meanings. The final show exhibits five artists who use contemporary iconography to address issues that are of political importance and relevance. Participating artists and crafts people were selected from the United States and Puerto Rico with connections to Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela and Ecuador. The cycle is comprised of group shows to allow the viewers to compare and contrast the works side by side. At the end of the cycle, glossaries of terms will be packaged and made available to our program participants on our web site as an educational tool. These works strongly connect with the cultural and historical circumstances and diversity of Philadelphia’s Latino community and adds varied perspectives to the theme, helping to create bridges among different communities..

<b><i><span style="text-decoration: underline;">A Contemporary Madonna Counterpoint: Mexico and Puerto Rico</span></i> (January 31 - April 12, 2014) </b>

<b>Tlisza Jaurique</b>, born in Phoenix, Arizona, is of Basque and Yaqui origins. Her work frequently utilizes iconic female Mexican ancestral figures that reference tradition and history while blending new mediums and contemporary styles with inherited aesthetics and cultural practices. Jaurique seeks to find, as she describes, “reconciliation and equity between three influential and defining aesthetic structures--my indigenous/tribal upbringing (Yaqui and Nahua/Mexic<span style="text-decoration: underline;">a</span>), my formal Occidental/Euro/American education, and influential historic/contemporary Asian philosophies/aesthetics.” The use of glitter is central to her style as, “a medium to address concepts of reflections, multiplicity and change.” <b>Daniel de Jesus</b>, a Puerto Rican American from Philadelphia, PA, is a painter and accomplished musician. His most recent work pays homage to Puerto Rico’s African heritage. De Jesus describes his work as his way to “explore the Afro-Boricua mysticism, the resistance of assimilation, colonial life, and the Moorish presence in the island through the eyes of foreign nostalgia and extreme romanticism.” His primary imagery is the female figure presented in a dreamlike world with surrealist attributes. In this show, he plans to further investigate his heritage by <i>bringing together visual arts with his music</i> <i>on opening night</i>. Representing Mexico and Puerto Rico, this show will work to bridge the predominantly Puerto Rican community of North Philadelphia with the Mexican-dominated community of South Philadelphia through collaborations with Mexican-focused groups such as Casa Monarca and the Mexican Cultural Center.

<b><i><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Iconography of Meaning in Contemporary Art</span></i> (May 2<sup>nd</sup> – July 26<sup>th</sup>, 2014) </b>

This final exhibition features five distinct artists who use new, contemporary iconographies to convey varying ideas and feelings about cultural identity, politics and the immigrant experience. <b>Cecile Chong</b>, an Ecuadorian artist born to Chinese parents, addresses “the process of cultural assimilation and the development of individual identity.” A <i>guagua</i> is a tightly wrapped baby placed into an oversized shawl or blanket and strapped onto the mother’s back. These are familiar sights throughout the Andes, and for Chong, the <i>guaguas</i> (thumb babies) of her installations and sculptures are icons of her birthplace that, in her words, “suggest a blank slate, ready to witness and experience cultural encounter<i>.”</i> <i>Guaguas</i> effectively communicate the experience of displacement and cultural alienation she has felt. Being a child of immigrants herself, her work demonstrates how the Latino identity is not static; rather, it is continually conceived in a melting pot of perspectives. <b>Patricia Cazorla</b> and <b>Nancy Saleme</b>, a niece and aunt team of Peruvian and Venezuelan heritage will bring their project “Garden of Opportunities” to Taller. In their sculptural mixed-media installations, they draw attention to the practice of migrant child labor in farming with graphite-drawn life size cutouts of children against paisley-like forms. The imagery refers to the dangers of the immigrant experience and to their shared feelings of being far from home. “When you see yourself represented for the first time, you realize that you are not alone,” Cazorla states. <b>Ramón Lopez Colón</b> uses symbolism in his paintings specific to Puerto Rico. In a semi-autobiographical series, he has used the three main political parties’ colors (blue, red and green) and the lamb from the official seal of Puerto Rico, placed in other contexts, to depict the many political contradictions and stormy realities of modern day Puerto Rico. An example is the <i>tiffin </i>can, the working man’s lunch box of earlier times, normally an element of memory and history, which, when painted in the colors of the ineffective political parties, they depict that, as stated by Dr. Laura Bravo in a statement about Lopez Colón’s recent work, “any gleam of hope ends up in a torrent of despair.” Award winning artist <b>Favianna Rodriguez</b> is a printmaker and digital artist from Oakland who creates politically charged, timely, and striking prints. Her intention as an artist is to function as an agent of change, inspired and informed by the stylistic and radical impact of Chicano painters and printmakers. Frequently utilizing distinctly Chicano features in her representations, Rodriguez’s visual message speaks out against anti-immigrant policies, racism, homophobia, sexism and corporate irresponsibility. Rodriguez states on her website that art, “can deepen compassion and commitment, ignite outrage, elicit laughter and provoke action.”

<b><i><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Iconographies, Variations and Meaning</span></i>  (Saturday, May 17, 2014)</b>

Moderated by Dr. Susan Aberth, Assistant Professor of Art History at Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY), Taller will bring together a panel of selected artists from this cycle, all of them as diverse as the community they represent. This panel, after audiences have been exposed to the 3 shows, will explore and discuss artistic intent and the use of cultural iconography. This discussion will further the understanding between communities and how the impact of the artist’s choices can lead to increased understanding and or social change.

<em>A special thank you to our exhibition funders:</em>

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