Join us for the opening of 2017 ICP-Bard MFA candidate Cristina Velásquez’s solo exhibition, Montañera, at the ICP-Bard MFA Studios in Long Island City, on view from April 7 to 8.
Over the last two years, Velásquez has developed a body of work that stems from observations of life in Colombia. Montañera, the artist’s first solo exhibition, studies different ways the absurd exaggerates contradictions embedded in the everyday. Through examinations of the Colombian culture, history, and geography, Velásquez reinterprets reality, using elements of fiction and artifice to animate underlying power structures and confound assumptions and expectations.
Through photography, Velásquez explores the power—and limitations—of representation and translation between cultures of resistance. It attends to the ways in which shared notions of value are shaped and governed by images, social conventions, political relationships, and language. The artist uses her own experience as a Colombian artist and her transition into the US, as a point of reference to investigate notions of citizenship, race, and territory. In particular, Velásquez’s work considers how Colombian history and national identity have been constructed against a backdrop of colonialism and political dependence.
Bio
Cristina Velásquez (b. 1985, Colombia) is a visual artist working mainly with photography and installation. She holds a BA in industrial design from Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia) and is currently enrolled in the ICP-Bard MFA Program, where she was awarded the ICP Director’s Scholarship. Cristina has been part of several group exhibitions in New York, and participated in the School of Visual Arts Photo Residency, 2014. Her artist books Rear Door, /100, and One Way of Letting Go are part of the permanent collection of the ICP Library.
Opening Reception
Thursday, April 6 | 6–9 PM
On View
April 7–8 | 11 AM–7 PM
Directions
The ICP-Bard MFA Studios are located at 24-20 Jackson Avenue in Queens. Take the E or M train to Court Square-23rd Street, 7 or G train to Court Square, or the B62 Bus to Jackson Ave/David St.
