Caliban: an exhibition of Puerto Rican contemporary artists

The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (NMPRAC) is pleased to inaugurate the exhibition, Caliban, artists Chemi Rosado Seijo, Karlo Andrei Ibarra, Melvin Martinez, Radames ‘Juni’ Figueroa, Jesus ‘Bubu’ Negron and Alia Farid this Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 6 pm.

The exhibition brings together a group of renowned contemporary Puerto Rican artists featured in the publication, Art Cities of the Future: 21st Century Avant-Gardes of Phaidon Press, which positions to San Juan of Puerto Rico among the twelve cities avant-garde in contemporary art worldwide.

These artists echo the contemporary production of the art scene in Puerto Rico in the last decade. They are established figures that work in different media (tradi- tional and nontraditional), but all share two qualities: a commitment to experimental art and a dedication to the local environment by exploring the artistic cultural heritage and the contemporary frame of mind of Island. They live and produce their work from the Island to the world, transcending borders. “As the only Puerto Rican museum outside of Puerto Rico, we are very excited to present Caliban as the first major exhibit coming directly from Puerto Rico to our National museum since opening our doors in September of 2015”, stated Billy Ocasio, CEO from NMPRAC. The exhibition includes a selection of representative works, and commissioned work of the artists including drawing, installation, sculpture, video and painting. “Presenting Caliban is an opportunity to offer to the community new representations in art that also belong to our culture. It also brings a chance to get to meet contemporary artists with international reach that come from the Island”, stated Bianca Ortiz Declet, Director of Exhibitions and Education Programming in NMPRAC.

Under the curatorship of Marina Reyes Franco, Caliban, arises from a postcolonial perspective and uses as reference the s Caliban, by Roberto Fernandez Retamar and El Destierro de Caliban by Ivan de la Nuez and the interpreted literary analysis of the characters in the play, The Tempest by William Shakespeare, with its references to the Caribbean and Latin American.

“Caliban, is taken as a proposal to explore a dual purpose, being a display exhibition and a space so that the narrative of the art scene is discussed by those who built it. “More than an instance of showing work is the op- portunity to retake the word about how artists in Puer- to Rico and the scene are understood and represented locally and its relevance to the art scene worldwide. The works displayed here explore various approaches thematic collaborative work, not only in the realization of parts, but the participation of the public, either through the positioning of the body or with the activation of the works in room”, stated Marina Reyes Franco.

Caliban will be presented from April 2, 2015 to July 2015. NMPRAC is located in 3015 West Division Street Chicago, IL 60622. For more information, you may contact 773.486.8345 or email Bianca Ortiz Declet biancao@nmprac.org