Javier Orfón, Avispas (Wasp), detail of Bientevéo (Iseeyouwell), 2018–22. Inkjet print. Collection of the artist; courtesy Hidrante, San Juan.
Ecology and Landscape
The environmental impact of Hurricane Maria cannot be overstated. The high winds and torrential rains dramatically transformed the landscape and altered the ecosystem. Many survivors remember waking up to a land stripped bare of its vegetation. In the face of so much damage, artists have responded by documenting the environment in ways that both honor the land and draw attention to its vulnerable state. Dynamic and multivalent views of the Puerto Rican landscape, often seen through the lens of memory, defy facile representations of this Caribbean nation.
Lulu Varona, Ir y venir (Come and Go), 2021. Cotton thread embroidered on cotton cloth, 25 × 37 in. (63.5 × 94 cm). Private collection; courtesy the artist and Embajada, San Juan
Sofía Gallisá Muriente, still from Celaje, 2020. Original score by José Iván Lebrón Moreira. 16mm and Super 8 film transferred to HD video; 40:57 min. Courtesy the artist
Sofía Gallisá Muriente, still from Celaje, 2020. Original score by José Iván Lebrón Moreira. 16mm and Super 8 film transferred to HD video; 40:57 min. Courtesy the artist
Sofía Gallisá Muriente, still from Celaje, 2020. Original score by José Iván Lebrón Moreira. 16mm and Super 8 film transferred to HD video; 40:57 min. Courtesy the artist
Javier Orfón, Elegía de gongolí, 2021. Acrylic and photographic transfer on canvas, 46 × 58 in. (116.8 × 147.3 cm). Private collection. Photograph by the artist
Frances Gallardo, Aerosoles (Aerosols), 2021–22. Color pencil on laser-etched paper, 12 × 17 5/16 in. (30.5 × 43.9 cm). Courtesy the artist
Installation view of no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art In The Wake Of Hurricane Maria (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 23, 2022-April 23, 2023). From left to right: Sofía Gallisá Muriente, Celaje (Cloudscape), 2020; Candida Alvarez, Jellow (Yellow), 2018; Candida Alvarez, Here to There, 2018; Lulu Varona, Mapa (Map), 2020; Lulu Varona, Ir y venir (Come and Go), 2021. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
