Three photography exhibitions opened in Port Morris on Saturday, highlighting the work of some up-and-coming Bronx artists.
On June 11, arts non-profit En Foco hosted a public viewing of the new shows at their Bronx Kreate Hub on Canal Street, unveiling Reveal, a showcase for the winners of En Foco’s 2022 photo award fellowship, Night Vision, a series of black and white photos arranged as triptyches on the outside of the Kreate Hub building, and a one-day show called Reflejos/Reflections.
Reveal will remain on display until July 12, and Night Visions until October 1.
Reflejos/Reflections’ lone public viewing happened on the day the other two exhibitions opened, with a theme of family unity.
Bronx-born artist Marisol Diaz-Gordon was behind both Night Vision and Reveal.
The 10 photographers shown in Reveal, are also featured in the newest edition of the Nueva Luz photo journal. They are: Javier Álvarez, Daniel Aros-Aguilar, Dennis RedMoon Darkeem, Carlos L. Esguerra, Paola Martínez Fiterre, Diana Guerra, Carmen Lizardo, Jahi Sabater, Cinthya Santos-Briones, and Nyasia Sylvester.
A common theme between all three exhibitions, said Diaz-Gordon, is the concept of revelation.
“A lot of the issues have to do with isms,” she said. “Ageism, racism; longing, desire, but also revealing themselves to us and revealing issues maybe this country doesn’t want to deal with.”
Reflejos/Reflections, at Idelsa Mendez’s Row House Gallery in the studio, Dominican photographers Adeline Lulo and Erika Morillo explored ideas of family, community, and culture. Morillo’s main inspiration was the birth of her son.
“I became a single mother. I wasn’t expecting to have that experience early in my twenties and it was overwhelming,” said Morillo, whose photos of her son’s early childhood, and her own motherhood, make up her contribution to the exhibition, Umbral. “I think photography was the first thing I gravitated towards, as a way to investigate that.”
Lulo moved between the Bronx and the Dominican Republic until the age of 13 when she stayed in the city to work. She returned to the island nine years later, hoping to reconnect with her Dominican roots. In her film series Si Dios Quiere, she captures her return to her homeland.
En Foco’s executive director, Bill Aguado, said the South Bronx Art Tour is a prime example of the organization’s agenda: to represent the city’s minority groups’ sizable creative streak that.
“Anybody who has trouble getting through that—- Goddamn, this is what En Foco is about. To make sure they get an opportunity.”
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