Image credit: Maria Cristina Tavera, Promesas de Papel / Paper Promises, 2020, Woodcut, Collection of the Artist
October 30, 2020 – March 14, 2021
Experience Promesas de Papel/Paper Promises in the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art’s 360-degree virtual tour.
When OUMA curators first encountered the prints and sculptural installations of Tina Tavera in early 2019, with its savvy combination of pop culture, art history, ethnicity and politics, the artists’s location in Minneapolis was incidental to the curatorial process.
Then there was a shift. The police brutality that took the life of an African American man, George Floyd, occurred just a few blocks away from the artist’s home. At the epicenter of a tidal wave of protest, unrest and support, Tavera and her Latinx, Black and white neighbors looked to turn anguish in to action. They kept a neighborhood watch and helped the community by distributing food. Once Tavera was able to reflect on this experience and her perspective, she began to create. Several of her newest works of art are included in this exhibition.
“Maria Cristina ‘Tina’ Tavera is a Latinx artist, independent curator and activist influenced by her transnational upbringing between Minnesota and Mexico. As an artist, she creates complex compositions with historical and contemporary images to investigate constructions of race, ethnicity, gender, national and cultural identities. The visual imagery is appropriated from Latin American legends, commercial packaging, the media, politics, comics, maps, currency, graffiti and games. Tavera’s art is often humorous and yet simultaneously confronts the dark legacy and pervasive effects of colonialism and racism in the Americas.”
-Artist’s Website, mariacristinatavera.com