no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria

Nov 23, 2022–Apr 23, 2023

A ship consumed in a large plume of blue and white smoke, against a smoky gray sky.
A ship consumed in a large plume of blue and white smoke, against a smoky gray sky.

Gamaliel Rodríguez, Collapsed Soul, 2020–21. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 84 × 112 in. (213.3 × 284.5 cm). © 2021 Gamaliel Rodríguez. Courtesy the artist and Nathalie Karg Gallery NYC. Photograph by Gamaliel Rodríguez

no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria is organized to coincide with the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria—a high-end Category 4 storm that hit Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. The exhibition explores how artists have responded to the transformative years since that event by bringing together more than fifty artworks made over the last five years by an intergenerational group of more than fifteen artists from Puerto Rico and the diaspora. no existe un mundo poshuracán—a verse borrowed from Puerto Rican poet Raquel Salas Rivera—is the first scholarly exhibition focused on Puerto Rican art to be organized by a large U.S. museum in nearly half a century.

While Hurricane Maria serves as a focal point, the exhibition is defined by a larger context in which the aftermath of the storm was further exacerbated by the chain of events that preceded and followed this (un)natural disaster, including the austerity measures implemented by the PROMESA law (also known as La Junta); the deaths of 4,645 Puerto Ricans as a consequence of the Hurricane; the protests during the Verano del 19 (Summer of 2019) that led to the ouster of governor Ricardo Rosselló; the string of earthquakes; the COVID-19 pandemic; and much more. As a response to these constant existential threats, the exhibition offers a platform to the artists and the ways they have forged paths through the wake of these legacies.

This exhibition is organized by Marcela Guerrero, Jennifer Rubio Associate Curator, with Angelica Arbelaez, Rubio Butterfield Family Fellow, and Sofía Silva, former Curatorial & Education Fellow in U.S. Latinx Art.

Please read about the exhibition’s accessibility information before visiting no existe un mundo poshuracán.

Leadership support for no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria is provided by David Cancel and the Mellon Foundation.

The exhibition is part of the Whitney's emerging artists program, sponsored by

Generous support is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Judy Hart Angelo, the Elaine Graham Weitzen Foundation for Fine Arts, and the Whitney's National Committee.

Significant support is provided by Further Forward Foundation, the Kapadia Equity Fund, and The Keith Haring Foundation Exhibition Fund.

Additional support is provided by Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund. 

Curatorial research and travel for this exhibition were funded by an endowment established by Rosina Lee Yue and Bert A. Lies, Jr., MD.


En Español

La exposición no existe un mundo poshuracán: Arte puertorriqueño después del huracán María coincide con el quinto aniversario del huracán María, una tormenta de categoría 4 que azotó Puerto Rico el 20 de septiembre de 2017. Explora cómo los artistas han respondido a los años de transformación desde ese evento, reuniendo más de cincuenta obras de arte realizadas en los últimos cinco años por un grupo intergeneracional de más de quince artistas de Puerto Rico y de la diáspora. “no existe un mundo poshuracán”, es un verso prestado por el poeta puertorriqueño Raquel Salas Rivera. Ésta es la primera exposición académica centrada en el arte puertorriqueño organizada por un gran museo estadounidense en casi medio siglo.

Si bien el huracán María sirve de punto principal, la exhibición se define por un contexto más amplio en el que las consecuencias de la tormenta se vieron exacerbadas por la cadena de acontecimientos que precedieron y siguieron a este desastre (in)natural, incluidas las medidas de austeridad aplicadas por la ley PROMESA (también conocida como La Junta); la muerte de 4,645 puertorriqueños como consecuencia del huracán; las protestas durante el Verano del 19 (Verano de 2019) que llevaron a la destitución del gobernador Ricardo Rosselló; la cadena de terremotos; la pandemia del COVID-19; y mucho más. Como respuesta a estas constantes amenazas existenciales, la exposición ofrece una plataforma a los artistas y las formas en que han forjado caminos a través de la estela de estos legados.

Esta exposición está organizada por Marcela Guerrero, Jennifer Rubio Associate Curator, junto con Angélica Arbelaez, Rubio Butterfield Family Fellow, y Sofía Silva, anterior becaria de curaduría y educación en arte Latinx de Estados Unidos.

Accede al catálogo en español de la exposición.

Por favor, lea la información de accesibilidad de la exposición antes de visitar no existe un mundo poshuracán.

El patrocinio principal de no existe un mundo poshuracán: Arte puertorriqueño después del huracán María es proporcionado por David Cancel y la Mellon Foundation.

Esta exposición es parte del programa de artistas emergentes del Whitney, patrocinado por

Se ha recibido el generoso apoyo de la Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Judy Hart Angelo, Elaine Graham Weitzen Foundation for Fine Arts y el National Committee del Whitney. 

Una contribución significativa ha sido provista por Further Forward Foundation, el Kapadia Equity Fund y la Keith Haring Foundation Exhibition Fund. 

Apoyo adicional es proporcionado por Furthermore: un programa del J. M. Kaplan Fund.

La investigación curatorial y los viajes para esta exposición fueron financiados por una donación otorgada por Rosina Lee Yue y Bert A. Lies, Jr., MD.


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Ecology and Landscape

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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.

  • A green leaf with a sketch that resembles wasps flying and feeding on a fruit spike.
    A green leaf with a sketch that resembles wasps flying and feeding on a fruit spike.

    Javier Orfón, Avispas (Wasp), detail of Bientevéo (Iseeyouwell), 2018–22. Inkjet print. Collection of the artist; courtesy Hidrante, San Juan.

  • Thread embroidered on cloth to show planes and a face peering up at them.
    Thread embroidered on cloth to show planes and a face peering up at them.

    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

  • Black and white image of a water tower with textures on top.
    Black and white image of a water tower with textures on top.

    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

  • Elderly woman does her hair in the mirror.
    Elderly woman does her hair in the mirror.

    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

  • Film reals with colors and textures.
    Film reals with colors and textures.

    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

  • An abstract collage of color and splatter including yellow, black, orange, and purple.
    An abstract collage of color and splatter including yellow, black, orange, and purple.

    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

  • Black and gray rocks float in space with a pixelated blue and yellow graphic in the background.
    Black and gray rocks float in space with a pixelated blue and yellow graphic in the background.

    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

  • Artworks in a dark gallery.
    Artworks in a dark gallery.

    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

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Black and gray rocks float in space with a pixelated blue and yellow graphic in the background.
Black and gray rocks float in space with a pixelated blue and yellow graphic in the background.

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

Hear directly from artists and curators on selected works from the exhibition.

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in the Whitney's collection

View 13 works

In the News

“…honors the past to shine a light on the future.” —The New Yorker

“It’s charged up and irrepressible.” —New York Times

“…I gleaned the constant back-and-forth of independence and statehood movements, the problems of government corruption, and the richness of creative force that seems to underlie and transcend all of this.” —New York Magazine

“Guerrero is redefining what we consider “American art”...” —The Cut

“…there is no “normal” for Puerto Rico to return to... it’s the artist’s job to imagine new ways forward.” —The Guardian

“El arte puede plantear posibilidades, y Guerrero aspira a que esta muestra motive acciones políticas y sociales para cambiar el rumbo del país.” —El País

“Los artistas de la exhibición buscan analizar las fracturas que dejó la tormenta en la estructura misma de la política, la cultura y la sociedad de Puerto Rico.” —Telemundo 47

“There is a tragic beauty here tempered by sadness and mixed with hope.” —ABC 7 New York 

“On display isn't just art. It's resistance.” —CNN Style 

“The goal of the art exhibition is to combine sentiments of anger and struggle in the aftermath of the storm but also sadness and mourning with a touch of hope for the future.” —NBC 4 New York

“El arte puede ser el faro que nos haga vislumbrar un mundo poshuracán.” —The Washington Post

“The goal of the art exhibition is to combine sentiments of anger and struggle in the aftermath of the storm, but also sadness and mourning with a touch of hope for the future.” —NBC 4 New York

“The works on view mourn the impoverishment of local institutions – schools, universities, hospitals – yet they also lend tacit or active support to the new grassroots organizations that are creating parallel infrastructures of self-governance.” —Frieze

“...the show’s strength is in its ability to complicate those images through art that is at times highly personal…” —Hyperallergic 

“...a moving and powerful statement about how Puerto Rican artists have survived and resisted, in the process creating new forms of community, protest, and art.” —ARTnews

“As the exhibition reminds us, even a calamity can breed nostalgia.” —Financial Times

“The work seeks to highlight the fractures in the structure of Puerto Rico's politics, culture and society, all strained even more following the hurricane.” —CBS News New York

Update: Current Conditions 

Hurricane Fiona made landfall on September 19, 2022 and struck Puerto Rico’s southwest coastal municipalities leaving millions without power and inundating communities. The storm arrived five years after the island experienced the devastation of Hurricane Maria. 

To learn more about Puerto Rico’s ongoing disaster recovery efforts through accessible data and a directory of initiatives and organization, please visit The Disaster Resources Hub, a project of EL CENTRO, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College. 

Access the Disaster Resource Hub

 

Actualización: Condiciones Actuales

El huracán Fiona tocó tierra el 19 de septiembre de 2022 y azotó los municipios costeros del suroeste de Puerto Rico, dejando a millones de personas sin electricidad e inundando comunidades. La tormenta llegó cinco años después de que la isla experimentara la devastación del huracán María.  

Para saber más sobre los esfuerzos de recuperación de desastres en curso en Puerto Rico a través de datos accesibles y un directorio de iniciativas y organizaciones, por favor visite: The Disaster Resources Hub, un proyecto de EL CENTRO, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies de Hunter College.

Accede a la página de recursos para desastres

On the Hour

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Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

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