Cuatro Artistas- Identity and Difference
October 2, 2022 – January 2, 2023
Conn Gallery Art Exhibit
We are privileged to have four artists with strong, confident voices speak to us through their unique imagery. Using ceramics, printmaking, photography, drawing, and collage, these artists speak out about issues of great importance to them. Identity, social and environmental justice and activism, cultural awareness, education, and protest are all addressed using vivid images, bright colors, and passion.
Artists:
Maria Santiago:
Maria Santiago (she/her) is a St. Paul artist and retired professor from New York State. Ms. Santiago has a Master of Fine Arts from Rochester Institute of Technology, and she also taught there. Maria developed the Fine Arts Printmaking department at the College of Visual Arts, St. Paul. She has been active on Latino artist advisory panels at the Walker Art Center and the Weisman Museum at the University of Minnesota. She states that her “relatives were originally Hispanic but half Spanish, half Romani… threads all the way to India.“ Maria served in organizations such as Forecast Public Art, Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program – Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM), and was a founding member of CreArte. Maria has been recognized for her artwork in sculpture, printmaking, and painting. Has had numerous exhibitions, grants, and awards, including support from a National Endowment grant for her printmaking. A variety of Maria’s intaglio, mixed media, and experimental prints, including a very large print on fabric, will be on view.
Contact Maria Santiago at mfsantiago994@gmail.com.
Ricardo Levins Morales:
Ricardo Levins Morales (he/him) is a Puerto Rican artist and organizer born into the anti-colonial movement. Ricardo is the artist in residence, founder, and owner of RLM Art Studio and Store, in Minneapolis. He became an activist when his family moved to Chicago in 1967.
Ricardo’s art is rooted in the Latin American traditions of printmaking and truth-telling and in his activist journey through the major social movements of his life. He views his work as a medicinal practice and offers it in support of those who commit to the task of creating a just and sustainable society. His posters, educational materials for teachers, products, and puzzles will be on display and can be purchased through his store.
Contact: Ricardo Levins Morales
RLM Art Studio and Store
3260 Minnehaha Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55406 USA
www.rlmartstudio.com
Member: TNG-CWA Local No. 37002
Fermín Cervantes Montes:
Fermín Cervantes Montes (they/them) was born in Mexico. This small fact follows them and guides their art. Working with clay and words, Fermín crafts delightful functional pottery and poems as acts of love and resistance. Fermín got their Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Augsburg University. Queer and brown they continue the important task of finding joy through cultural tradition. They make small batch pottery under the name of Estudio Fermín (@estudio.fermin). Fermín currently resides in Minneapolis with their cat, Pelo. Fermin is a poet and a ceramicist, using their art to explore their identify as queer, brown, nonbinary, and as an immigrant. A variety of Fermin’s colorful, imaginative ceramics will be on display.
Contact Fermin at fermiincm@gmail.com.. Instagram: StudioFermin (@estudio.fermin).
Lucino Sosa Montano
Lucino Sosa Montano (he/him) is a Minnesota-based multidisciplinary artist whose work transcends categorization. He is a marketer/visual artist/freelance graphic artist, and a 2020 graduate of Augsburg University in studio arts and marketing. Sosa, a Mixtec native of southern Mexico, immigrated to the United States in 2005 and established his own unique blend of photography, illustration, poetry and other mediums to uncover the roots of grief, joy, and trauma. Through his art, Sosa seeks to share space with other persons of color who have systematically been excluded. Sosa’s work expresses mixed emotions and trauma that he experienced as a person of color. Lucino also uses community organizing tools to fight for human rights, and he is an active, committed mentor to youth. His large drawings/collages and photography will be on display.
Contact Lucino Sosa at sosamoon@hotmail.com.
Instagram @hedgiiee.
Twitter @Lucinososa38.
Acknowledgment: Nora Montenez helped us find young emerging artists by posting our Call for Artists on Alliance for Latinx Minnesota Artists Facebook page. Lucino Sosa answered our call and recommended his friend Fermin, a ceramicist. We are delighted he did so.
Alliance of Latinx Minnesota Artists (ALMA)
ALMA facilitates alliances among the spectrum of Minnesotan Latinx experiences in order to make visible our diverse artistic voices and practices.
https://www.facebook.com/AllianceofLatinxMNArtists/
Website https://www.allianceoflatinxmnartists.com or
Email: allianceoflatinxmnartists@gmail.com.