On view | October 6th - 31, 2022
Martin Regional Library
2601 S Garnett Road, Tulsa, OK 74129
Opening reception on Thursday, October 6 | 6-7pm
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Taking inspiration from longstanding BIPOC solidarity and community mutual aid efforts, Exchanging Horizons seeks to document points of connection between Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities in Tulsa, OK.
The project references encounters that celebrate uniqueness and that build solidarity between these distinct communities.
I aim to uplift histories that have been buried in the margins, such as when one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in town assisted victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. As a Queer Afro-Caribbean person, I am fascinated by intersecting narratives and present-day stories, especially as Tulsa is seeing a huge influx of growth in the Latinx community.
Exchanging Horizons is a visual marker of the fullness of human connection, revealing nuances about personal and material histories hence challenging monolithic identities. This project poses the questions of how big are we willing to make our world, and are we able and willing to shift our perspective?
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An Afro-Caribbean-Latinx-queer-woman raised-by-their-grandmother and hailing from The Bronx, Francheska explores slippages in-between memories, fragmentations and longing. Their aim is to explore the specific social meaning within the realm of domestic and public life of artifacts and interactions such as: hand-washing their underwear with cuaba soap while taking a shower, setting up buckets to catch rainwater to wash their hair, and peeling plátanos with the knife that has the right sharpness to follow the platano’s curve without cutting their hand. Francheska wants to use these subjective experiences to expand our capacity for pleasure, love and intra-connection. Francheska graduated with a MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University, a BFA in Painting from Hunter College, and a BA in Art History from Old Dominion University. Alcántara has shared their work at the Brooklyn Museum, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Queens Museum, La Mama Theater, Grace Exhibition Space, and BronxArtSpace.
Image Credits:
Exchanging Horizons: Poderosa (Samantha), 2022
42 x 62 x 2
Photo
Francheska Alcántara