Challenging the centers: counter-historiographies of abstraction in Puerto Rico
22 October 2021
Facultad de Geografia e Historia – Universidad de Barcelona
In Puerto Rico, abstraction as a trend has brought together for decades the work of artists from inside and outside the island who, for the most part, went unnoticed not only in the official narrative of the history of “universal” art, but also in the national one.
The dichotomy between figurative art and abstraction was transferred to the political field when Art History posed a supposed correspondence between figuration and national commitment, pushing abstraction to the margins of ostracism as a synonym of political apathy and self-absorption. This correlation represents a crossroads for Puerto Rican artists who face the moral obligation to defend and reaffirm their cultural identity, both inside and outside the island.
Based on the curatorial project of the exhibition […]ENTREFORMAS and critical essays (Carla Acevedo, Dialitza Colón Pérez and Nelson Rivera), Challenging the centers: counter-historiographies of abstraction in Puerto Rico proposes to discuss aspects concerning the Puerto Rican historiographic narrative with the intention of critically exploring its discursive margins and limitations.
Abdiel D. Segarra Ríos is an artist, independent curator and art critic. He researches the effects that the ideological agenda of national revindication has had on the official narrativeof Puerto Rican art history and how this has influenced the development and visibility that the work of Puerto Rican abstract artists has received inside and outside the island. He is co-founder of Sin Norte, an independent publication focused on the dissemination of migrant chronicles in Europe, and collaborates as a cultural manager with Espacio CóMPLICES (Madrid). He directed the Plastic Arts Program of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and the 4th edition of the Trienal Poli/Gráfica de San Juan, América Latina y el Caribe. He holds a Master’s degree in Contemporary Art History and Visual Arts (UAM, UCM and MNCARS) and a Master’s degree in Cultural Management and Administration (University of Puerto Rico) and a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts (Escuela de Artes Plásticas de San Juan).
Acevedo Yates, Carla. “¿Qué nación? La Muestra Nacional, métodos curatoriales y la producción de translocalidades en contracorriente.” Certezas e Inquietudes. Revista del ICP, Tercera serie, Número III. Diciembre, 2015. (pp. 33-49)
Colón Pérez, Dialitza. “Arte y globalización: institucionalización de la diversidad, neutralización de la diferencia.” Certezas e Inquietudes. Revista del ICP, Tercera serie, Número III. Diciembre, 2015. (pp.23-31)
Rivera Rosario, Nelson. “La abstracción y las estéticas nacionales: El conflicto entre el arte puertorriqueño y el arte estadounidense.” Con urgencia: Escritos sobre arte puertorriqueño contemporáneo, San Juan: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 2009 (pp.1-11)
Jacobs. Jay. “Art in Puerto Rico.” The Art Gallery Magazine. Puerto Rico Issue. 1967. (pp-12-27)
Piotrowski, Piotr. “On the Spatial, or Horizontal Art History.” Umeni, 2008 (pp-378-384)
Rivera Rosario, Nelson. “Puerto Rico: Arte abstracto e identidad nacional.” Con urgencia: Escritos sobre arte puertorriqueño contemporáneo. San Juan: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 2009. (pp. 12-20)
Rivera Rosario, Nelson. “Arte puertorriqueño, arte latinoamericano: Posdata a los figurativos vs. los abstractos.” Con urgencia: Escritos sobre arte puertorriqueño contemporáneo. San Juan: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 2009. (pp. 21-23)
Somoza, María E. “Sinopsis Cronológica de la Abstracción en Puerto Rico.” Primera Congreso de Artistas Abstractos de Puerto Rico. ICP, 1984. (pp.8-10).
Direction and coordination: Anita Orzes (Universidad de Barcelona / Université Grenoble Alpes)
Workshop organized in the framework of FPI contract (PRE2018-085848) as well as the international platform MoDe(s) – Modernidad(es) Descentralizada(s). Arte, política y contracultura en el eje transatlántico durante la Guerra Fría and the subject “Art i Història” of the Faculty of Geography and History of the University of Barcelona.
Image: Vanessa Herández García, Partitura #3: A la manera de Agnes Martin (Madrid), 2021. Photo: Karla Santiago
