Blanka Amezkua “¡Por fin! (At last!)” Esperanza Cortes “What Was Left”

Curated by Marcos Dimas and Christine Licata
Exhibition Dates: January 23 – March 7, 2009­
Gallery Hours: Tues. thru Sat. 12-6pm, Thurs. 1-7pm, Sun. closed.

Blanka Amezkua “¡Por fin! (At last!)”
In her exhibition “¡Por fin! (At Last!)” Blanka Amezkua appropriates images of women from Mexican adult comic books transforming them into embroidered and crochet panels embellished with lace, tassels and felt. By reframing the virtues attributed to traditional domestic crafts and the perceived vices in explicit erotica, she empowers these superficial images with poignant depth and character. The conflation of these two disparate mediums transforms their anonymity and objectification into intimate artistic portraiture.

Born in Mexico City and now based in New York City, Amezkua trained originally as a painter, studying in Florence, Italy and receiving her BA from California State University Fresno. She has shown in numerous galleries, museums and biennials in the United States and Mexico including The Bronx Museum of the Arts, El Museo del Barrio, Queens Museum of Art, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, and Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA).

Esperanza Cortes “What Was Left”
In her exhibition “What Was Left” Cortes examines the incarnation of religious, cultural and political ideologies that shape our experiences. Symbolic objects imbued with spirituality, idolatry and power including gold, beads and jewels are pervasive though out Esperanza Cortes’ sculptures. Through her work these articles of faith, both secular and religious, challenge the rites and rights that accompany them. They are witnesses to the influences of unquestioned conviction. Her iconoclastic sculptures guide us through worlds of dogma and doctrine revealing the malleability of embodied beliefs.

Born in Colombia and now based in New York City, Cortes has shown in numerous galleries, museums and biennials in the United States, Asia, South America and Europe including The Mexi-Arte Museum (Austin, Texas), The Bronx Museum of Art, The Queens Museum of Art, Socrates Sculpture Park, El Museo del Barrio, The Museum of Contemporary Art, PS.1 MoMA, The Museum of Arts and Crafts (Itami-shi, Hyogo, Japan) and El Museo de Arte Moderno (Cartagena, Colombia).

For additional information about Esperanza Cortes or Blanka Amezkua please contact the Taller Boricua: tallerboricua@yahoo.com More of the artists’ work is available on their websites: www.esperanzacortes.com or www.blankaamezkua.com

About the Taller Boricua: As a highly respected community arts organization, The Taller Boricua (translation: Puerto Rican Workshop) continues to be a proactive resource for the promotion of the arts. We enable the art to function as an essential nucleus to the community by fostering and supporting creative means of expression across all mediums.

Taller Boricua Galleries 1680 Lexington Avenue, NYC, N.Y. 10029 / t: 212.831.4333 f: 212.831.6274 e: tallerboricua@yahoo.com www.tallerborica.org 6 Train to 103 Street / Free admission / Center is accessible for individuals with disabilities