Join us for a conversation with University Art Museum exhibiting artists Ronny Quevedo and Rodrigo Valenzuela, moderated by art historian, critic, and University Art Museum curatorial consultant, Dr. Robert R. Shane.
Following the conversation there will be an Artists' Reception from 5:30–7:00 PM.
Ronny Quevedo: offside Multi-media artist Ronny Quevedo occupies the arched walls of the museum’s main galleries in a newly commissioned work, fuera de lugar (2021), comprised of diagrammatic vinyl lines that recall both dress patterns and gymnasium floors. This work is inspired by his mother’s and father’s respective careers—a seamstress and a professional soccer player. Throughout this exhibition, which includes artwork from 2012 to the present, Quevedo’s own family’s emigration from Ecuador to New York serves as a catalyst for work reflecting on socio-political issues of migration, Indigenous architecture, and communal spaces.
Rodrigo Valenzuela: Video Works Throughout his body of work, multidisciplinary artist Rodrigo Valenzuela gives visibility to unseen labor. A former day laborer in landscaping, construction, and other sectors, Valenzuela frequently draws an analogy between soccer goalkeepers and his former job on an overnight cleaning crew in office buildings: both goalies and the cleaners are invisible until something goes wrong—the opposing team scores; a trash can is left unemptied. In the two videos on view here, El Sísifo and Prole, sports continue to provide a backdrop for investigating issues of race, labor, solidarity, and workers’ agency.
Robert R Shane: The University Art Museum's Curatorial Consultant Robert R. Shane received his PhD in Art History & Criticism from Stony Brook University and is a frequent contributor to The Brooklyn Rail.
For more information, visit The University Art Museum
