The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP) invites you to the inauguration of La Poli/Gráfica de Puerto Rico: Latinoamérica y el Caribe [The Poly/Graphic of Puerto Rico: Latin America and the Caribbean], which takes place from April 19 to September 15, 2024, at the Old Arsenal of the Spanish Navy [Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española] and the Gallery of the ICP headquarters.
This event seeks to expand the category of graphics by including a diversity of media and artistic languages under the title “Bajo Presión/Under Pressure.” This edition is organized by chief curator Elvis Fuentes and Puerto Rico curator Lisa Ladner, with Ismari Caraballo Milanés, as curatorial link and director of the educational program. Events related to the Poly/Graphic will be taking place in its many satellite locations and spaces in Puerto Rico (see map at https://www.poligraficapr.com/).
Description: The Poly/Graphic of Puerto Rico: Latin America and the Caribbean is heir to the most important exhibition of the visual arts on the island: the San Juan Biennial of Latin American and Caribbean Printmaking, established by the ICP in 1970, and became the Triennial Poly/Graphic of San Juan: Latin America and the Caribbean in 2004. This edition proposes a multifaceted and multivalent vision of the artistic practices expanded in printmaking and graphic art in Latin America, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and its diasporas in the last decade.
Under Pressure takes its title from the song of the same name (“Under Pressure”) by the British rock group Queen, composed in 1981 by lead singer Freddy Mercury in collaboration with David Bowie and the other members of the band. The song refers to the existential pressures – economic, socio-political, identity and professional – that place people in situations of extreme non-conformity and anxiety, forcing them to express themselves and take to the streets in protest.
Pressure is one of the central actions in graphic arts printing processes. Whether by means of the traditional press, the most sophisticated digital printers or the rudimentary spoon, the engraved impression on a paper support, fabric or similar receiving material implies the use of a force that transforms the surface into the bearer of an imprint. This action metaphorically serves us to explore the functions of the graphic arts in contemporary aesthetic debates, from artivism and the use of hypermedia socialization platforms to the impact of climate change, migratory crises produced by poverty and socio-political violence, and artificial intelligence, which opens new paths for art while threatening the creative labor sector.
Bajo presión/ Under Pressure presents the work of 103 artists from 20 countries in two exhibition spaces: La Sede Gallery, in the Antiguo Asilo de la Beneficencia, and the Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, both in Old San Juan. The curatorial proposal is accompanied by a selection of works from the National Collection of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and a reading room with historical publications from biennials and triennials, set with furniture by Puerto Rican designers that show the versatility of the local creative industry. It is also complemented by artistic commissions subsidized by Poli/Gráfica and satellite projects presented by numerous cultural institutions throughout the archipelago.
We thank the artists, gallery owners, collectors and institutions that have generously lent their works and spaces for the realization of this national project. We also applaud the passion of the work team of the Visual Arts Program of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and the support of the Government of Puerto Rico for having conceived Poli/Gráfica as an essential project for the country, which we hope will continue the tradition of excellence that began in 1970. [. . .]
For more information, visit https://www.poligraficapr.com/
The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP) invites you to the inauguration of La Poli/Gráfica de Puerto Rico: Latinoamérica y el Caribe [The Poly/Graphic of Puerto Rico: Latin America and the Caribbean], which takes place from April 19 to September 15, 2024, at the Old Arsenal of the Spanish Navy [Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina
