The Brentwood Arts Exchange at the Gateway Arts Center presents Felix Angel, Joan Belmar, Amber Robles-Gordon, and Rafael Corzo "Intersecciones Culturales / Cultural Crossroads"

  | OPENINGS |

Opening Reception: Saturday September 18, 5pm - 8pm

Rafael Corzo Untitled (photo courtesy of Brentwood Arts Exchange)

The Brentwood Arts Exchange at the Gateway Arts Center  presents "Intersecciones Culturales: Voces de America Latina y el Caribe / Cultural Crossroads: Voices from Latin America and the Caribbean", an exhibition featuring artwork by Felix Angel, Joan Belmar, Amber Robles-Gordon, and Rafael Corzo.  Curated by Carmen Toruella-Quander and assisted by Ricardo Penuela-Pava, Cultural Crossroads is a celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, a time when we honor the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States and celebrate Hispanic heritage and culture.

Amber Robles-Gordon C wire (detail) (photo courtesy of Brentwood Arts Exchange)

Intersecciones Culturales / Cultural Crossroads is compact, with the intent to overload.   Rafael Corzo, presenting art in the gallery as well as the craft store, brings an ambitious embodiment of  youthful energy and freedom.  Amber Robles-Gordon exhibits dazzling wall sculptures evocative of Carnival, steeped in the Afro-Caribbean heritage of objects imbued with symbolism so deeply felt that even when open to intellectual interpretation, their emotional interpretation rings clear.  Joan Belmar presents an installation of abstractions rendered with incredible precision and care.  Each creates delicate illusions of space that rest on balance between external structure and the fluidity of emotions.  And, that's all before mentioning Felix Angel, who lends the exhibition nine works of undeniable power.  The most established and longest experienced of this talented group, Angel - better known in the DC region as a curator than as an artist -  brings forth refinement, eloquence, and poignance,  that are always and only the outcome of years of creation, focus and discipline.

Felix Angel Letter from Beirut (photo courtesy of Brentwood Arts Exchange)

As a whole, Intersecciones Culturales / Cultural Crossroads is an expansive, energetic and positive stand against any generalization of "Latin Art".  It steps in many directions, danced in embrace with all of life - the expression of which makes art powerful.   It is not THE voice from Latin America and the Caribbean.  It is four voices, artists varied in age and experience, creating contemporary art informed by cultural heritage from Columbia, Chile, Puerto Rico, and Mexico - places as distant and distinct from one another as from here, yet bound by language and post-colonial legacy, and by their living contribution to the fabric of our lives. 

Joan Belmar Sonogram (photo courtesy of Brentwood Arts Exchange)

The exhibit runs from September 15 through October 15, 2010

The Brentwood Arts Exchange at the Gateway Arts Center is located at 3901 Rhode Island Avenue Brentwood, MD 20722.  Call the center at 301-277-2863/ tty. 301-446-6802.  Hours are Monday through Friday: 10am - 8pm and Saturday: 10am - 6pm.