Margarita Cabrera: Space in Between / This Place

Director’s tour: February 27, 4:15–5pm, with Johnson-Pote Director Tracy L. Adler 
Artists in conversation: March 5, 4:30–5:30pm, walk-through and discussion with Margarita Cabrera 
Artists in conversation: April 4, 4:30–5:30pm, Wendy Ewald and Fazal Sheikh 
Bradford Auditorium, Hamilton College 
Gallery talk: April 5, 4:30–5:30pm, Wendy Ewald and Fazal Sheikh 

This spring, the Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College presents concurrent exhibitions that aim to generate dialogues around world issues including but not limited to history, geography, boundaries, immigration, citizenship, community, and culture. Margarita Cabrera: Space in Between examines the relationship between the US and Latin America, presenting the stories of people from throughout Latin America who have crossed the border between the US and Mexico. This Place explores the contested spaces of Israel and the West Bank through the eyes of 12 acclaimed photographers from around the world and present various perspectives on the region. Both exhibitions will be on view at the Wellin from February 10 through June 10, 2018.

Tracy Adler, Johnson-Pote Director, Wellin Museum of Art, notes: “As a teaching museum within a liberal arts college, the Wellin is uniquely positioned to exhibit artworks that address challenging subjects and can serve as a point of departure for an open dialogue about the political and cultural climate today, on both a global and local level. This involves visiting artists, scholars, and curators engaging with faculty, students and the community in an exchange of ideas that supports an understanding of differing perspectives. Both Margarita Cabrera: Space in Between and This Place incorporate pedagogical approaches to explore issues of community, identity, and history in two distinct parts of the world. These exhibitions are examples of how artists negotiate the difficulties presented by spaces that are fraught with complexities while taking into consideration multiple viewpoints and modes of expression.”

Margarita Cabrera: Space in Between
Margarita Cabrera: Space in Between examines the relationship between the United States and Latin America through the experiences of emigrants. A continuation of artist Margarita Cabrera’s work with Spanish-speaking immigrant communities, the project centers on the creation of artworks and promotion  of cultural dialogues revolving around themes related to community, craft, immigration, cultural identity, and labor. Using traditional Mexican sewing and embroidery techniques, the works on view are sculptural fabric forms that resemble desert plants and incorporate stories—stitched into the material itself—of the experiences of Latin Americans crossing the United States border. This project was initiated through a collaboration between the artist, the Arizona State University Art Museum, and the Desert Botanical Garden  in Phoenix.

This Place
Through the eyes of twelve internationally acclaimed photographers, This Place explores Israel and the West Bank as both place and metaphor. The highly individualized works in this exhibition combine to create not a single, monolithic vision but rather a diverse and fragmented portrait, alive to all the rifts and paradoxes of this much-contested space. Exploring innovative academic tie-ins that can be created through synergistic collaboration, This Place is part of a Teagle Foundation grant fostering pedagogical collaborations in higher education. The exhibition is presented concurrently in four parts at the Wellin Museum of Art, the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, the Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University, and the University at Albany Art Museum. Artists featured at the Wellin Museum include Frédéric Brenner, Wendy Ewald, Fazal Sheikh, and Stephen Shore. The works in the exhibition will be placed alongside an experimental classroom in the Dietrich Exhibition Gallery entitled WellinWorks to explore new pedagogical approaches and curatorial issues.