Color of Arts
Artist Nyugen E. Smith: Relational Undercurrents at molaa
Artist Nyugen E. Smith is one of the artists at the newest exhibition at the Museum of Latin American Art (molaa) in Long Beach, Relational Undercurrents: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Archipelago. The exhibition, now at molaa until February 25, 2018, features over 80 artists with roots in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Curaçao, Aruba, St. Martin, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, The Bahamas and Barbados. Relational Undercurrents is supported by grants from the Getty Foundation as part of their Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a self-described “…far reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles.” Pacific Standard Time is being held at more than 70 cultural institutions across Southern California from Los Angeles to Palm Springs and from San Diego to Santa Barbara.
Nyugen E. Smith
PalacioMagazine.com spoke with Mr. Smith about his work on exhibit at molaa, Bundlehouse: Borderlines no.3 / Bundlehouse: Fronteras no. 3, 2017, Pen & ink, thread, watercolor, Zambian soil on paper / Pluma y tinta, hilo, acuarela, tierra de Zambia sobre papel, 60 x 48 in Courtesy of the artist / Cortesía del artista
From www.nyugensmith.com
Drawing heavily on his West Indian heritage, Nyugen is committed to raising the consciousness of past and present political struggles through his practice which consists of sculpture, installation, video and performance. He is influenced by the conflation of African cultural practices and the remnants of European colonial rule in the region. Responding to the legacy of this particular environment, Nyugen’s work considers imperialist practices of oppression, violence and ideological misnomers. While exposing audiences to concealed narratives, he aims to destabilize constructed frameworks from which this conversation is often held.
