As part of the New Urban Landscape series, The MAC presents Forged Utopia, new works by artist Giovanni Valderas. Valderas' installation at The MAC addresses culture, history, and origins in order to bring awareness to the marginalization of Latino communities through gentrification.
In Forged Utopia, Valderas appropriates two disparate symbols - real estate signs and piñatas. These symbols are juxtaposed to create mixed-media works implying the artist's own Guatemalan, Mexican, and American lineage as well as the displacement of Latino communities in the name of economic development. Real estate signs are scattered through neighborhoods that exist somewhere between blighted and gentrified, giving a foreboding sense of the changes to come, yet oblivious to the existing community around them. Although the issues addressed seem insurmountable, Valderas' work acknowledges and empowers the viewer through the use of familiar images and vernacular.
Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on view through June 25.
As part of the New Urban Landscape series, The MAC presents Forged Utopia, new works by artist Giovanni Valderas. Valderas' installation at The MAC addresses culture, history, and origins in order to bring awareness to the marginalization of Latino communities through gentrification.
In Forged Utopia, Valderas appropriates two disparate symbols - real estate signs and piñatas. These symbols are juxtaposed to create mixed-media works implying the artist's own Guatemalan, Mexican, and American lineage as well as the displacement of Latino communities in the name of economic development. Real estate signs are scattered through neighborhoods that exist somewhere between blighted and gentrified, giving a foreboding sense of the changes to come, yet oblivious to the existing community around them. Although the issues addressed seem insurmountable, Valderas' work acknowledges and empowers the viewer through the use of familiar images and vernacular.
Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on view through June 25.
As part of the New Urban Landscape series, The MAC presents Forged Utopia, new works by artist Giovanni Valderas. Valderas' installation at The MAC addresses culture, history, and origins in order to bring awareness to the marginalization of Latino communities through gentrification.
In Forged Utopia, Valderas appropriates two disparate symbols - real estate signs and piñatas. These symbols are juxtaposed to create mixed-media works implying the artist's own Guatemalan, Mexican, and American lineage as well as the displacement of Latino communities in the name of economic development. Real estate signs are scattered through neighborhoods that exist somewhere between blighted and gentrified, giving a foreboding sense of the changes to come, yet oblivious to the existing community around them. Although the issues addressed seem insurmountable, Valderas' work acknowledges and empowers the viewer through the use of familiar images and vernacular.
Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on view through June 25.
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