The Hunter Museum will present Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, a collection of modern and contemporary Latino art from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The exhibition presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-20th century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge, said officials. The Hunter Museum will host a special members’ preview on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. The exhibit opens to the public on Feb. 17.
Our America presents works in all media by nearly 70 leading modern and contemporary artists. Drawn entirely from the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, this exhibition showcases artists of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican descent, as well as other Latin American groups with deep roots in the United States. The exhibition is organized by E. Carmen Ramos, curator of Latino art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and explores how Latino artists shaped the artistic movements of their day and recalibrated key themes in American art and culture.
“We are so excited to be hosting this major exhibition from the Smithsonian American Art Museum,” noted Hunter Museum Executive Director Virginia Anne Sharber. “We look forward to welcoming people from across the region as they come to view the artwork and are eager to engage with all our guests through our extensive roster of complementary programs which will range from artist and curator talks to dance and music.”
Information about all programs and events the Hunter Museum is hosting in connection with Our America can be found at huntermuseum.org. Also available is more in-depth information about the themes of the exhibit and each of the featured artists.
The exhibition includes works by artists who participated in all the various artistic styles and movements, including Abstract Expressionism; activist, conceptual and performance art; and classic American genres such as landscape, portraiture and scenes of everyday life. Latino artists across the United States were galvanized by the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s. They created new images of their communities and examined bicultural experiences. Many critically probed American history and popular culture, revealing the possibilities and tensions of expansionism, migration, and settlement. Other Latino artists in the exhibition devoted themselves to experimentation, pushing the limits of their chosen medium. Our America presents a picture of an evolving national culture that challenges expectations of what is meant by “American” and “Latino.”
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Generous support for the exhibition has been provided by Altria Group, the Honorable Aida M. Alvarez, Judah Best, The James F. Dicke Family Endowment, Sheila Duignan and Mike Wilkins, Tania and Tom Evans, Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino, The Michael A. and the Honorable Marilyn Logsdon Mennello Endowment, Henry R. Muñoz III, Wells Fargo and Zions Bank. Additional significant support was provided by The Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Support for “Treasures to Go,” the museum’s traveling exhibition program, comes from The C.F. Foundation, Atlanta.
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art is presented in Chattanooga by SunTrust.